Establishing and Updating a UW-Madison Bank Account

All UW-Madison bank accounts and any updates must be set up and processed through the UW-Madison Cash Management Office. All UW-Madison bank accounts must have UW-System Board of Regents approval in order to the authorized. Contact Cash Management at cashmgt@bussvc.wisc.edu.

An account is authorized if it is established upon written authorization from the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System in the form of a Certification issued by the Secretary of the Board.

Any account set up without this Certification is considered “unauthorized”. An unauthorized account may not use:

  1. The University of Wisconsin's Federal Taxpayer Identification Number.
  2. The University's name in any part of the bank account name (e.g., University of Wisconsin, University of Wisconsin-Madison, or UW, or UW-System)

All UW-Madison bank accounts are set up by UW-Madison Cash Management Office. These Bank accounts are usually used for research study which continue for a year or more, and the payments to human subjects are $299 or less. These bank accounts cannot be used to purchase gift cards or to request cash withdrawals. Please see Temporary Custodian Funds section for options. If individuals are to be paid $250 and greater, please see Policy/Procedure: 101-Payments to Individuals.  If individuals are to be paid less than $100, please review the Policy: 103-Payments to Human Subjects for documentation requirements.

Custodian fund requests are based on three months of expenditures.

Any other requests for replenishable bank accounts other than use for subject study payments will require special approval through the Cash Management Office.  These accounts might be used where on-site expenses cannot be paid by purchase cards or through purchase orders.  Please contact Cash Management at Cashmgt@bussvc.wisc.edu.

All Bank accounts require, at minimum, monthly reconciliations to the bank statement, check register, and to the authorized custodian fund level. At a minimum, quarterly reporting of expenditures is required by using the Custodian Fund Accounting Form.

Check signers must be a different individual than the Bank Reconciler. Bank statements must be sent directly to the bank reconciler.

(See Opening a new Checking Account Memo | New Bank Account Information Form)

If there are changes on these bank accounts such as bank account contacts, reconcilers, signers, bank statement address changes, and bank account security updates then an Update Bank Account Information Form must be completed and sent to Cashmgt@bussvc.wisc.edu.

(See Updating a Checking Account Memo | Update Bank Account Information Form)

If additional checks need to be ordered for a current UW-Madison Checking Account, please complete the following form Check Order Form. Send completed Check Order Form to Cashmgt@bussvc.wisc.edu.

If an increase in authorized custodian funds is required based on three months of expenditures, then a new Custodian Fund Request Form and Custodian Fund Individual/Department Custodian Agreement will need to be completed for the additional custodian funds. Please complete these two forms with the custodian fund end date per the funding requirements. The Custodian Fund Request and Custodian Fund Individual/Department Custodian Agreement must be signed by the Individual Custodian, the Department, and the Dean's Office with a justification of why the increase is necessary. It is the discretion of the Department/Dean's Office to approve this request based on written justification. Forward all signed documents to Cash Management, 21 N Park St., Suite 6101, Madison, WI 53715-1218.

If a UW-Madison Bank Account will need to be closed, immediately contact Cash Management (cashmgt@bussvc.wisc.edu). Prepare and process a Custodian Fund Accounting Form for all expenses processed through the bank account and any checks written on the bank account but not yet reported on. Forward the Custodian Fund Accounting Form to your Department/Dean's Office for review and approval. Department/Dean's Office will forward approved Custodian Fund Accounting Form to Cash Management.

If a Custodian of a UW-Madison Bank Account is leaving UW or moving to a different department within UW-Madison, please contact the Department responsible for the original custodian funds and either close the bank account immediately or provide a new Custodian Fund Individual/Department Custodian Agreement with the new custodian.  If the bank account is to be closed or the custodian is changing, notify Cash Management (cashmgt@bussvc.wisc.edu) immediately.

Remember: These bank accounts are authorized to the original department only and cannot be transferred into other departments within the University.

Please prepare, complete, and send to the originating department a Custodian Fund Accounting Form within 30 days of the either closing the bank account or notifying Cash Management of the change of the custodian. Report all expenses processed through the bank account and any checks written on the bank account but not yet reported. Complete an Updated Bank Account Information Form and a Custodian Fund Individual/Department Custodian Agreement with the name and signature of the new custodian. Send all documents to your Department and then onto the Dean's Office for review and approval. All information is then forwarded onto Cash Management. (See Updating a Checking Account memo.)

Related Documents:

Related Policy/Procedure:

Return to Procedure: 301-Custodian Funds