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University Bursar

Accounts Receivable Operations (ARO)

ARO manages the University of Illinois System's current receivables portfolio in the Banner Accounts Receivable module (Banner AR). ARO is responsible for:

  • The integrity of all receivable transactions posted in Banner AR;
  • Timely and accurate billing of all student (SAR) and general (GAR) accounts receivable;
  • Third Party Billing on behalf of sponsored students;
  • Processing College Illinois! and other pre-paid tuition plans on behalf of plan holders;
  • Processing departmental payments submitted on the Student Account Payment Request Form;
  • Processing Banner AR User Requests;
  • IRS Form 1098-T reporting for all qualifying students;
  • Providing training and support to all departmental users of Banner AR;
  • Monitoring departmental compliance with the University of Illinois Receivables Policy.

Banner AR Billing Schedule

  • GAR bills are mailed on the first business day of the month.
  • SAR bills are generated on the first business day of the month.
    • Email notification is sent to all enrolled students with billable SAR activity;
    • Paper bills are mailed to all non-enrolled students with billable SAR activity.
  • Payment due date for all bills (GAR and SAR) is the 28th of the month.

Banner AR Payment Options

  • GAR:
    • Online via ACH/e-check or credit card (if department authorizes and agrees to pay the merchant fees) at https://ipay.uillinois.edu/gar/welcome.cfm
    • Via check mailed to the remittance address on the billing statement at:

      University of Illinois Payment Center
      General A/R
      28394 Network Place
      Chicago IL 60673-1283

      • All check payments must be clearly identified by noting the customer's nine digit account number (which usually begins with @) on the check, and accompanied by the billing statement stub; payments less than the full amount billed must clearly identify which invoices are being paid.
      • Payments mailed to the above address will be applied to the oldest charge(s) first (FIFO).

    Note: Banner Finance records the revenue when payment is applied.

  • SAR: 
    • All students are encouraged to remit payment electronically via ACH/e-check or credit card using Student Self-Service.
    • All SAR payments are applied to the oldest charge(s) first (FIFO).
    • Effective Fall semester 2011, the only exceptions to the FIFO rule are Federal Title IV financial aid payments which may be applied only to current year charges and to prior year charges up to $200. Thus a student's current year Title IV aid will not apply to prior year charges in excess of $200.

College Illinois!

All students who wish to use College Illinois! benefits to pay for their tuition and/or fees must complete the College Illinois! Authorization in the "Account Billing Information" section of Student Self-Service

Departmental Payments to Students

All departments wishing to make a payment to a student must first read all the information presented in the Payments to University of Illinois Students and Payments to Foreign Nationals (if applicable) sections of the OBFS website.

Banner AR User Requests (Category Codes, Detail Codes, C-FOAPS, GAR Accounts)

Category codes are used to help administer your unit's security and reporting. Detail codes are unique, four digit, alpha/numeric codes used to place and identify charges and credits on both GAR and SAR accounts in Banner AR. Detail codes link Banner AR to the Banner General and/or Operating Ledgers. Every detail code is mapped to two C-FOAPs so that when used it always generates the appropriate two-sided accounting distribution that records the transaction in the University of Illinois' General and/or Operating Ledgers according to the pertinent Finance rules.

For training on Banner AR User Requests, review our Accounts Receivable Processing (AR103) training found on our Accounts Receivable Training Materials website. 

IRS Form 1098-T Reporting

The purpose of IRS Form 1098-T is to determine whether the student, or the person who claims the student as a dependent, may be able to claim an education credit on Form 1040 or 1040A for the qualified tuition and related expenses that were actually paid that year. For more information about the credit, see the current versions of IRS Publication 970, Tax Benefits for Education; Form 8863, Education Credits; and Form 1040 or 1040A Instructions.

Last Updated: July 22, 2022

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