Gayle, I've had some experience with this, particularly in the Distribution
realm. My recommendation is to charge the point of contact or point of
direct service (in this case, Finance) for the service. Finance can then
pass that charge to the requesting department - a fairly standard accounting
practice - they are, after all, providing a service to the requesting
department, for which your charges are part of the cost. That is the easiest
solution for yourself and your staff. Indirect billings can become a real
mess - the department billed may argue whether or not they actually
requested the service, you have no way of proving they did or didn't, and
you get stuck in the middle between two departments "word" as to what
happened. And, what happens if Finance requests the wrong records for
delivery to the requesting department? Who gets billed then? Trust me, you
don't want to go there! You can document Finance's request, and they can
document the other department's request. The billing process should follow
that documentation.

Dwight Wallis, CRM
Multnomah County Records
2505 SE 11th Avenue
Portland, OR 97202
ph: (503)988-3741
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