Finance and Budget

University Controller’s Office

Operating Service Agreements

Operating Service Agreements (OSA) are executed annually to support charges to VCUHS for services provided by VCU. The VCU Controller’s Office is responsible for gathering updates and coordinating with the VCUHS for approval of the OSA. This activity is recorded as revenue in banner in orgs that start with ‘H’. The unit will need to charge the appropriate expenses to these same orgs once the OSA is approved for the fiscal year. Below is a rough timeline for the process:

Typical timeline - the process starts in the fall for agreements for the upcoming fiscal year

  • October/November:
    • VCU AVP/Controller, Associate Controller and Senior Cost Analyst meet to discuss process and assign responsibilities.
    • Senior Cost Analyst sends link to instructions and goggle sheet with prior year information to the units for updates.

  • December:

    • Units return updated sheets before winter break with VP or unit had approval.

  • January:

    • Senior Cost Analyst reviews all sheets; compiles summary sheet with explanations for any significant deviations, either increase or decrease; follows up with units as needed for questions that arise from review with AVP Finance/Controller and Associate Controller.

  • February/March:

    • AVP for Finance/Controller reviews with VCU CFO.
    • VCU AVP/Controller, Associate Controller and Senior Cost Analyst meet with Jeff and Beth for initial review; follow-up on any items based on discussion.
    • Any changes made during this process require an updated approval from the VCU AVP or unit head.

  • VCUHS drives timeline and process for review with VCUHS CFO.
  • April/May:

    • Senior Cost Analyst updates sheets for any salary and fringe adjustments based on General Assembly actions; provides final summary to VCUHS and budget amounts to VCU budget office.

Google sheets are used to document the cost of the services being provided. The unit is responsible for determining the appropriate metric to be used. In most cases, personnel effort is expressed as FTE % and any operating costs are added. Some units have other metrics such as ridership for P&T or number of calls for police. If you need assistance with determining the appropriate metric, please reach out to the Senior Cost Analyst in the Controller’s Office at (804) 828-5757.

Senior Cost Analyst will reach out to each unit to have the sheets updated annually. If a school or unit is new to the process and needs to establish an OSA for the first time they should reach out to the Senior Cost Analyst at 804-828-5757 for a sample Google sheet and assistance with the process. A new Banner index will also need to be established.