Accounts Receivable & Billing (ARB) Module

The Accounts Receivable and Billing (ARB) modules allow the university to:

  • Bill (i.e., invoice) external sponsors for sponsored project awards or for external sales of U-M goods and services (i.e., general receivables)
  • Record invoices as receivable items and the payments on invoices as revenue, summarizing the financial data in the M-Pathways General Ledger
  • Track and report on receivable items, activity, and payments

Use of the ARB modules reduces invoicing time for external receivables and improves the university’s cash flow processes.

ARB Responsibilities

U-M Finance is responsible for entering and maintaining customer data, invoices, and payment data in the ARB modules. See External Billing & Receivables for Fin Ops ARB business process information.

Your unit is responsible for regularly monitoring your receivables via ARB reports if:

  • You have sponsored project/grants
  • You invoice external customers through the Fin Ops - General Accounts Receivable department

Monitoring Your Receivables

U-M credits the Chartfields for your unit or project/grant when an invoice (receivable) is entered in ARB. This transaction appears on your Statement of Activity report as a BI journal entry.

The journal entry doesn’t mean the customer/sponsor has paid the invoice. You monitor the receivable to verify activity towards full payment or closure of the receivable. In the case of invoicing errors or non-payment by customers, your Chartfields will be debited by Fin Ops.

There are two ways you can monitor your receivables in M-Pathways:

  • Item Activity Summary in M-Pathways Financials
    Use to review outstanding invoices from a specific customer or to inquire about a particular invoice balance.
  • ARB Reports
    There are three M-Pathways ARB reports:
    • Aging Detail shows the number of days outstanding for your open receivable items (i.e., billing invoices)
    • AR/Billing Detail displays detailed invoice data related to the summarized billing journal posted to the General Ledger. This report is used in conjunction with Statement of Activity reconciliation.
    • Statement of Receivables lists the activity (e.g., payments, credit memos) applied to your open receivable items.