Cashier's Office
Contact
- Phone: (847) 491-8655
- Email: norris-cashier@northwestern.edu
Regular Hours (during a term)
Monday - Friday: 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Academic Breaks and Summer
Monday - Friday: 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Location
First Floor (map)
The Cashier’s Office is located on the main floor and adjacent to the SOFO (Student Organizations Finance Office).
Please note that the protocol created to process some transactions remotely during the pandemic ended on August 31, 2021. The Cashier's Office no longer accepts transaction requests submitted by email.
The Cashier’s Office offers a bevy of financial services for the Northwestern community, including:
- Financial services for campus groups with SOFO accounts, including:
- Deposit acceptance and verification.
- Fund preparation and reconciliation for student-sponsored events. [Suspended due to non-cash handling requirements for COVID-19 environment]
- Cash-handling information and training.
- Preparation and acceptance of deposits to Northwestern University accounts.
Download the Starting Fund Request Form (PDF)
Services/Charges
- [Suspended due to non-cash handling requirements for COVID-19 environment]
| Service | Fee |
|---|---|
| Late Fee for Cash Bag Requests | $15.00 |
| Late Fee for Cash Bag Returns | $15.00 |
| Return Deposit Items | $30.00 |
| Forever Stamp Sheets | $11.00/sheet (Cash only) |
| One Day Visitor Parking Permits* | $9.00/permit (Cash only) |
* Visitor parking permits cannot be sold to faculty, staff or students. Faculty, staff and students should go directly to the Northwestern Evanston Campus Parking Services office, located at 1841 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60201, to purchase Visitor or NU parking permits.
All prices listed above are valid as of October 01, 2019, but are subject to change without notice.
Operations During Fall 2021
Due to the largely cash-based nature of its operations, the services currently offered by the Cashier's Office are unfortunately very limited for the fall quarter. Please understand that we are coming out of a period characterized by a substantial reduction in resources. Response and transactional times may still be affected as we rebuild our staffing numbers. But we will do our best to assist you.
Deposits
We cannot work with any cash at this time. We will focus on processing check deposits. Mailing checks to us for deposit is no longer an option as all transactions must now be in person. Checks must be made payable to Northwestern University and bear the student organization's SOFO account number in the endorsement section of the reverse side of the check.
Checks intended as donations to the group must be processed through Development Gift and Record Services (GRS) not the Norris Cashier's Office. All other checks may be mailed to the address specified below. Since you won't have the 4-ply deposit slip, it will be important that you provide all the necessary information to process the transaction on a separate sheet off paper. This information includes:
- Name of the Student Organization to receive the funds
- Full account number (if available)
- Purpose of the deposit
- Total being presented for deposit (if multiple checks)
- Contact information for the person making the deposit
Disposition of Debit Card (Options):
The primary use case debit cards were meant to address—flexibility for small in-person purchases that have little lead time—is affected significantly by the lack of students' presence on campus. Because of the “spend first, reconcile afterward” nature of the debit card program, it is even more important to remember the restrictions and requirements with using your group’s card(s) in these times when building community and wanting to help are foremost in our minds.
When meeting with your executive boards and advisors, please consider the following:
- If your organization will not be using the debit card for the rest of the academic year, we can return the remaining funds to your SOFO account. Doing so will prevent automatic deductions from debit card for inactivity ($3.00/month). We will return the funds to your debit card whenever on-campus classes resume.
- If your organization has recurring obligations on the group’s debit card (e.g., monthly storage fees), you can continue to reconcile and reload the cards remotely. The reconciliation and reload process stays the same - all receipts, paperwork, and vouchers must be submitted and approved through the Cashier’s Office email Norris-Cashier@northwestern.edu.
- If your group’s debit card is still needed for purchases but has expired, please contact the Cashier’s Office. We will work on assigning your organization a new debit card. - If your organization would prefer to keep the funds on the debit card, please be mindful that after three consecutive months of no use, the debit card vendor will charge a $3.00 inactivity fee. This $3.00 inactivity fee will then be charged to the card each month until the debit card is used again.
Debit Card Use
- Debit cards may not be used to make donations. All donations require prior university approval from the Office of Financial Operations and must be processed through university accounts. There are NO exceptions. As such, donations made by individuals cannot be reimbursed. Donations made by way of the group’s debit card will result in the cancellation of the card and the SOFO account being placed in frozen status until the group’s account is reimbursed for the amount withdrawn from the debit card.
- Debit cards may not be used to purchase gift cards. When working on prizes and incentives, the university recommends offering low-cost merchandise. It highly recommends NOT using gift cards because these are essentially anonymous cash transfers, require significant recordkeeping by the group, and may require reporting to the IRS. There may also be issues of equity as students employed by the university cannot receive payments outside of the university payroll system.
- Debit cards must be reconciled at least every 30 days. Failure to do so can still affect the status of the group’s SOFO account.
Please have conversations with your organizations to plan what the best option is for your group and communicate to the Cashier’s Office the option selected. As always, we will be more than happy to answer any debit card and deposit questions.
Debit cards may be suspended or canceled if their use does not comply with requirements, their handling reflects a lack of necessary controls by the group to ensure the funds are secure; their use may jeopardize the University's tax exempt status and/or reputation.