AW-12 · Revenue, Pricing, Sponsorship and Cost Recovery

1. Purpose and scope

Purpose. To ensure that every service IoL delivers to an external party is costed in full, priced under an approved proposal, approved at the applicable DOA level before any price is published or quoted, contracted where required, invoiced through HQ Finance on a complete request, followed through to collection and classified at invoicing so that the institution can report it correctly; that sponsorship is received only under an approved agreement and acquitted to the sponsor; and that services delivered to Dubai Health and University entities are cost-attributed by memo before delivery and never invoiced as revenue. IoL does not receive money directly; its control is over the cost model, the request and the follow-up.

Scope statement. This procedure manages IoL external revenue and internal cost recovery from the identification of an opportunity to the quarterly report of revenue, collections, sponsorship and cost attribution, with HQ Finance's systems as the system of record.

Applies to. Costing and pricing of external programmes, short courses and services; CPD, CME and short-course participant fees; industry-client billing for commissioned training and consultancy; sponsorship receipt and acquittal; invoicing and collection follow-up; refunds, cancellations and waivers; invoicing requests for learner sponsors raised through AW-18; cost attribution for services delivered to Dubai Health and University entities.

Does not apply to. Tuition and degree fees, which are retained by the Board and reach IoL only through AW-18. Academic design of external offerings (WF-21). Research grant income. Cash or card handling, which IoL does not perform. The accounting and collection procedures of HQ Finance.

Rules that hold throughout. Prices are based on full cost. Revenue and sponsorship are never offset against cost when determining the approval authority. No price is published or quoted before approval at the applicable DOA level. Services to Dubai Health and University entities are cost-attributed, not invoiced. Sponsorship is received only under an approved agreement and acquitted after the activity. SDO follows each external invoice through to collection. A pricing proposal returned for revision and not resubmitted within 10 working days is closed.

2. Trigger, boundary and interfaces

3. Roles and accountability

Process owner. Head of Administration and Operations (HAO). Custodian. Administration Affairs (SDO), which operates the procedure and keeps its records. The Senior Manager, A4L [SDO to define: A4L] or Program Lead who identifies an opportunity provides market input and manages the client relationship; the table names that role as the Program Lead.

The DOA approver reached through HQ is the CEO at Level 2 for prices for short courses and the University Vice President or the Level 3 officer for a change of the University events fee structure. A transaction in which the Dean is the client contact or beneficiary is endorsed by the Dean's superior, named in AW-05.

[CONTROL] Segregation. The Program Lead who identifies an opportunity and runs the activity does not prepare its cost model, approve its price, approve its refunds or waivers, or confirm receipt of its income. Receipt is confirmed only against HQ Finance's receipting record, never against the request, and the HAO countersigns the monthly receivables tracker [SDO to confirm: IOL-OPS-011 v0.1 assigns the invoice request and the receivables review to the SDO Head of Finance with no second check; this procedure adds the HAO countersignature because the same person otherwise raises, tracks and reports the income]. No one in IoL receives, holds or refunds money.

[CONTROL] Delegation tiers. Endorsement of a pricing proposal, a client agreement, a refund or waiver and an attribution memo is by the HAO, or the Dean above the HAO's limit (AW-05). The price itself is not tiered inside IoL: prices for short courses are approved at Level 2 (CEO) and a change of the University events fee structure by the University Vice President or at Level 3, in both cases through HQ. A revenue-generating contract is countersigned by the relevant Level 3 officer under AW-23. The HAO limit is stated in AW-05 [HAO to state; not yet stated in any document].

4. Procedure

Five routes share the procedure: costing and pricing (steps 1 to 6) for every external offering; contracting and invoicing (steps 7 to 10) for every external client or participant; sponsorship (step 11), entered from an approved sponsorship agreement; attribution (steps 12 and 13), entered when a Dubai Health or University entity requests a service; reporting (step 14), which closes every route.

1. Identify the opportunity. The Senior Manager, A4L or Program Lead records the client or market, the scope, the expected volume and the timing in an opportunity note, and the Department Chair accepts it for a departmental activity. Decision point. External client or market: step 2. Dubai Health or University entity: step 12. Sponsorship offered: the agreement is processed under AW-23 and the sponsorship enters at step 11. Not pursued: the note is closed and the lead informed.

2. Prepare the full cost model. The SDO Head of Finance prepares the cost model covering direct and indirect costs, staff time, venue, materials and overheads, consulting the Program Lead on the delivery design from WF-21 or AW-21. [CONTROL] The model states full cost; expected revenue, sponsorship or in-kind support is shown separately and never netted against cost. Next: step 3.

3. Prepare the pricing proposal. The SDO Head of Finance prepares the pricing proposal: the price, discount terms, concessions and group rates, market benchmarks, the break-even volume and the cancellation and refund terms to be published, consulting the Program Lead, the Chair and A4L on market input. [CONTROL] The approval authority is identified from the full-cost figure, with no offset for revenue or sponsorship. Next: step 4.

4. Operational Committee review. The Operational Committee (AW-01) reviews the cost model and the proposal, with the Chair consulted and the HAO and the Dean informed. Decision point. Recommended, or amended with the amendment recorded: step 5. Returned for rework: step 3. Rejected: the proposal is closed and the Program Lead and the Chair informed. Timeout. Not resubmitted within 10 working days: the proposal is closed.

5. Endorse the pricing proposal. The HAO, or the Dean above the HAO's limit (AW-05), endorses the recommended proposal for submission through HQ. Decision point. Endorsed: step 6. Returned with comments: step 3. Declined: the proposal is closed and the Program Lead and the Chair informed.

6. Obtain DOA approval and publish the terms. The HAO or the Dean submits the endorsed proposal through HQ Finance: prices for short courses to Level 2 (CEO) under Chapter 9; a change of the University events fee structure to the University Vice President or Level 3. SDO records the approved price, informs the Chair and only then releases the price, what it includes and the cancellation and refund terms to WF-21, AW-21 and AW-22 for the registration information, so that a participant or client agrees to them before any invoice is raised. [CONTROL] No price is published, quoted or invoiced before approval at the applicable DOA level; an unapproved price is a breach reported through AW-24. Decision point. Approved: step 7. Returned by HQ: step 3. Rejected: the proposal is closed and the Program Lead and the Chair informed.

7. Execute the client agreement. Where the service is delivered to an organisation, SDO processes the revenue-generating agreement under AW-23 (Chapter 2), approved by the HAO, or the Dean above the HAO's limit, after HQ Contracting and Procurement review and HQ Legal clearance, and countersigned at Level 3. The client's legal name and partner type are taken from the WF-24 register, or agreed with the partnerships office for a new organisation. [CONTROL] No service is delivered to an organisation before the agreement is signed; an invoicing request to an organisation is raised only against a signed agreement, an accepted quotation at the approved price or a completed registration, never an email intention. Decision point. Agreement signed, or none required (open-enrolment registration at the approved price): step 8. Not concluded: the opportunity is closed and the Program Lead informed.

8. Request the invoice and classify at source. On registration, agreement signature or milestone the SDO Head of Finance submits the invoice request to HQ Finance with the agreement or registration reference, the participant details, the approved price, the amount, the course or event code, the payer's legal name and billing contact and the due date; HQ Finance issues the invoice and returns the reference. Where a sponsor pays for a participant, the sponsor letter (AW-18 for learners on accredited programmes; this procedure for CPD and short-course participants) states who pays, for what and how much; the invoice goes to the sponsor and the participant is told in writing what happens if the sponsor does not pay. For income spanning a year end or several milestones the SDO Head of Finance supplies the delivery dates and records the recognition period HQ Finance confirms, so that AW-02 and WF-24 use the same date. [CAPTURE] The request records the client organisation's legal name, its partner type from the WF-24 approved list, the contribution category (industry course or training revenue, consultancy, sponsorship, scholarship) and, for a scholarship, the sponsor type (government entity or non-government) and, for a government entity, the reference to the employment-intent evidence in the agreement, or "none". [CONTROL] A blank partner type is an incomplete request; a new organisation is classified with the partnerships office before release, not guessed. Next: step 9.

9. Follow up collection. The SDO Head of Finance reviews outstanding receivables monthly against HQ Finance's receipting record, records receipt date and amount per invoice, escalates overdue amounts to HQ Finance and the client contact and informs the HAO, who countersigns the tracker. IoL does not chase in parallel with HQ Finance's collection procedure. Per the published terms, IoL decides whether an unpaid participant attends, receives a certificate (WF-21) or has a hold applied (AW-18). [CONTROL] Certificates are not issued against unpaid fees unless the process owner approves a documented exception. Decision point. Received in full: step 14. Short-paid or overdue: escalated and held at step 9 until collected or written off by HQ Finance, and reported at step 14. Refund, cancellation or waiver requested: step 10.

10. Process refunds, cancellations and waivers. The SDO Head of Finance assesses the request against the published terms and the approved discount terms. The HAO, or the Dean above the HAO's limit (AW-05), approves or declines it, never the Program Lead, and HQ Finance executes a refund to the original payer. Cancellation of a course by IoL triggers full refund and a participant notice from WF-21 or AW-21. [CONTROL] No refund to a party other than the original payer; no waiver outside the approved terms except a goodwill adjustment authorised by the process owner within delegation and logged. Decision point. Approved: HQ Finance executes and the outcome is recorded for step 14. Declined: the payer is informed and the invoice returns to step 9.

11. Receive and acquit sponsorship. Sponsorship is received by HQ Finance under the sponsorship agreement approved under AW-23, applied by the SDO Head of Finance in accordance with its terms and acquitted to the sponsor after the activity in an acquittal report accepted by the HAO. The sponsor record carries the sponsor's legal name and partner type for WF-24. [CONTROL] No sponsorship is received, and no sponsor benefit delivered, without an approved agreement. [CONTROL] The terms of a sponsorship govern the use of the funds and the sponsor's acknowledgement, never the content of an educational activity, which stays with WF-21 and the CME accreditation standards it applies. Next: step 14.

12. Prepare the attribution memo. Before delivery of a service to a Dubai Health or University entity the SDO Head of Finance agrees the scope, the full cost and the benefiting cost centre in writing with the benefiting entity, and the HAO, or the Dean above the HAO's limit (AW-05), approves the memo. [CONTROL] No internal service is delivered before the memo is signed and accepted, and no internal service is invoiced as revenue. Decision point. Approved and accepted: step 13. Scope or cost not agreed: the memo returns to the benefiting entity and the service is not scheduled; not agreed within 10 working days of the requested delivery date, the request is closed and the entity informed. Declined by the approver: the request is closed and the entity informed.

13. Process the cost attribution. After delivery HQ Finance charges the cost to the benefiting entity in accordance with HQ procedures and confirms the attribution to the SDO Head of Finance, who records it against the memo and passes the credit to AW-02. Next: step 14.

14. Reconcile and report. Within 20 working days of the course end, event end or final milestone the SDO Head of Finance reconciles expected income (registrations times price, plus agreement and sponsorship values) against received, listing waivers, refunds, overdue amounts and any difference, and passes the actuals to AW-02. Each quarter the SDO Head of Finance issues a report of revenue, collections, sponsorship and cost attribution, with the cost recovery ratio, to the HAO, the Dean, the Operational Committee and the Department Chairs, and hands the KPI 3.4 lines to WF-24 as a classified extract. [CONTROL] An unexplained difference is investigated before sign-off, not carried forward. End: revenue collected and reported, sponsorship acquitted, cost attributed.

Exception routes. Sponsor withdraws after the participant has started: the participant is informed, the published terms are applied and the overdue amount follows step 9. Fee dispute: the published terms decide; the process owner may authorise a goodwill adjustment within delegation, logged at step 10. Price needed faster than the DOA route allows (a client tender with a closing date): no route exists in IOL-OPS-011 v0.1 [HAO to confirm whether HQ provides an expedited Level 2 route; until then a quotation is issued only as indicative, subject to approval, never as a price]. Client refuses or is unable to pay: HQ Finance leads recovery; IoL records the loss for AW-02 and the impact for AW-06. Sponsor seeks a say in content: declined under step 11 and referred to WF-21.

5. Service standards

6. Records, retention and controls

Records are kept in the Administration Affairs (SDO) central repository and in the systems named below, and retained for a minimum of seven years or the period required by the Dubai Department of Finance, whichever is longer.

Key controls. (1) Every price rests on a full cost model with no offset for revenue or sponsorship. (2) No price is published, quoted or invoiced before approval at the applicable DOA level. (3) The Program Lead does not price, approve refunds for or confirm receipt of the activity they run. (4) No invoicing request to an organisation without a signed agreement, an accepted quotation or a completed registration. (5) Partner type, contribution category and sponsor type are recorded at invoicing, never at reporting. (6) Receivables are reviewed monthly and the tracker countersigned. (7) No refund to a party other than the original payer. (8) Sponsorship is received only under an approved agreement, acquitted after the activity and never reaches content. (9) Internal services carry a signed attribution memo before delivery and are never invoiced as revenue. (10) Every course, event or agreement is reconciled and signed. (11) No money is received or held in IoL.

OBEF touchpoint capture rule. Client legal name, partner type, contribution category, sponsor type and the employment-intent evidence reference are recorded on the invoicing request by the SDO Head of Finance at step 8, validated against the WF-24 register, and passed to WF-24 in the reconciliation extract at step 14. They are not reconstructed at OBEF submission. Appendix B of the OBEF guide allows the Ministry to demand the underlying agreements and invoices for KPI 3.4.

7. Performance measures

8. Change control