Electronic Processing of Revenues and Expenditures, Including Texas.gov Portal Activity (APS 029)

Overview

Applicable to

State agencies and institutions of higher education.

Policy

Some state agencies and institutions of higher education accept credit cards and electronic payments as well as cash and checks. They may also accept payments over the internet. Online payments and any additional fees they may incur must be accounted for in the Uniform Statewide Accounting System (USAS), unless otherwise provided by law.

Legal Citation

Government Code, Sections 403.011, 403.023, 403.031, 2054.111(e), 2054.252(e), and 2054.252(g)(1) and (2); General Appropriations Act, Article IX, Sections 8.10, 9.04 and 9.05 (2023).

Legend

Background

Additional Fees for Some Payments

In addition to accepting checks and cash payments, various state agencies and institutions of higher education allow customers to use credit cards, electronic payments and other payment methods to pay for permits, licenses, taxes or other fees. They may also accept payments over the internet. Noncash payments may result in additional costs to the customer, the agency or both.

Depending on statutory authorization, agencies may cover this additional cost by:

• Increasing the cost of permits, licenses, taxes or other fees.
• Charging an online processing fee.
• Collecting a subscription fee.

These additional amounts collected by agencies, as well as payments by agencies for transaction fees, credit card fees and other charges associated with receiving payments, must be accounted for and reported.

Definitions

Texas.gov

Texas.gov is the name of the state web portal and program administered by the Department of Information Resources (DIR) to provide for online payments.

Online processing fees

Online processing fees are an additional charge collected from the customer, licensee or taxpayer to cover the following costs:

• Credit card merchant fees.
• Internet transactions.
• Other charges associated with receiving noncash payments.

Any cost recovery fees approved by DIR for the purpose of paying the costs associated with implementing and maintaining electronic services are also considered online processing fees. Online processing fees are recorded as revenues in USAS.

Before charging an online processing fee, the agency must ensure it has the authority to do so. Agencies using the Texas.gov portal have the authority to charge a fee to cover the costs listed above. All fees charged through the authority of Texas.gov must be approved by the DIR governing board.

Subscription fees

Subscription fees are paid by licensing entities to cover costs of implementing an electronic infrastructure. These fees are recorded as expenditures in USAS.

To pay for this cost, an additional charge is collected from an occupational licensee. These receipts are recorded as revenues in USAS.

Licensing entities that collect an additional charge for the subscription fee must include this fee in the occupational license fee issuance and renewal amount. These entities must collect the amount from all license sales, regardless of how the licensee chooses to obtain or renew their license. However, licensing entities may not charge for the subscription fee until the service the fee is applied to is available on the internet.

Revenue and Expenditure Activity

Revenue

All amounts paid by a customer, licensee or taxpayer must be accounted for as revenue in USAS unless otherwise provided by law. This includes the actual fees, taxes or other charges, and any online processing or additional charge for the subscription fee paid by the customer.

Expenditure

Transaction fees, credit card fees and other charges associated with receiving electronic payments are paid by state agencies to cover the cost of processing credit card, internet and other noncash transactions. These charges are recorded as expenditures in USAS.

Local Funds

Online processing of revenue and expenditures transacted outside the state treasury should be accounted for in USAS using generic transactions. This also applies to institutions of higher education with authority to receive and maintain online processing fees outside the state treasury. For help recording generic transactions, contact your agency’s financial reporting analyst.

Texas.gov

While this policy covers all processing arrangements, most of the specific processing and coding guidelines contained in this policy document are related to the Texas.gov portal and the associated transaction activity in USAS.

Responsibilities

Comptroller’s Office

The Comptroller’s office authorizes state agencies to accept credit, charge and debit cards for the payment of fees, taxes and other state agency-assessed charges.

When notified that an agency will accept online payments, the agency’s appropriation control officer (ACO) must verify the agency’s unique USAS coding information for processing revenue and expenditure activity.

The expenditures recorded in USAS for transaction fees and processing costs may be selected for review by the Comptroller’s post-payment audit staff. Supporting documentation for these expenses may be contained on electronic files provided by the agency.

Testing

To initiate electronic processing of revenue and expenditures in USAS, agencies must notify the Comptroller’s office to perform testing. After three consecutive successful days of error-free processing, agencies will be certified to move their application into production.

If an agency needs to change the USAS coding information to an existing certified application, the agency must first complete three consecutive successful days of error-free processing for all coding lines associated with the fee code being updated. (Examples would include changes to comptroller object, agency object, program cost account [PCA], index and transaction code [T-code].)

Changes to transaction amount only require one error-free day of processing.

Changes to appropriation year designation or inferred elements do not require additional testing.

Changes to the agency vendor or the system it uses to process transactions require one error-free day of processing for one fee code.

Riders

Agencies with General Appropriations Act (GAA) riders titled Appropriations Limited to Revenue Collection or Contingent Revenue must cover the cost of their appropriations through the revenue they collect. Agencies that can adjust license fees to cover costs must consider these riders when determining fees.

For compliance with the Appropriations Limited to Revenue Collection rider, all revenues collected (including online processing fees) must cover all costs incurred by the agency.

For any Contingent Revenue riders, the online processing fee revenue collected to cover the cost of processing credit card, internet and other noncash transactions is accounted for separately and will not be included to determine compliance with this rider. Only the amounts deposited in unappropriated general revenue and not accounted for separately as online processing fees will be considered when determining compliance with the Contingent Revenue rider(s).

Online Processing Fees

Appropriation Authority

The authority to appropriate online processing fees is in the GAA, HB 1, Article IX, Section 8.10 (2023). This section also includes unexpended balance authority to move online processing fees between biennia.

Reporting Requirement

The online processing fee COBJ 3879 must be separated from the permit, license, tax or other fee that is being collected.

Program Cost Accounts

If charging an online processing fee, the agency contacts its ACO to establish a unique appropriation number to account for receiving the fee.

The agency must establish a unique program cost account (PCA) to record this activity. The PCA must infer a program code in the Other Activity structure (399X) so the expenditures captured by the PCA are not reported for ABEST/USAS reconciliation purposes.

The agency may consider a unique PCA for each type of fee collected. The fund used with the new unique PCA(s) must infer a GAAP fund type 01 (if general revenue) or GAAP fund type 02 (if a special revenue fund).

Revenue Coding Information

The agency must determine the proper coding to record receipt of payments for permits, licenses, taxes and other charges in USAS. The coding block is the same whether the customer pays by cash, check or electronic means.

Note: The appropriated fund for the online processing revenue and expenditure should match the appropriated fund for the receipt of the permits, licenses, taxes and other charges in USAS.

While the agency defines some of the coding information, the agency does not enter the electronic receipt in USAS; it is automatically generated through the Texas.gov/USAS interface via an F8 document number.

For those agencies charging a customer an additional amount identified as an online processing fee, unique USAS coding is required. The USAS coding block below is used to record online processing fees.

Agency Number	T-Code/Title	Appropriation Number	COBJ	Appropriated Fund/Agency Fund/PCA
Affected Agency	179/Deposits in Excess of Revenue Budget	97768	3879	Determined by Agency

Expenditure Coding Information

The following coding block is used to record the payment of transaction fees, credit card fees and other charges associated with receiving payments if an online processing fee was collected to fully cover the agency’s costs. While the agency defines some of the coding information, the agency does not enter the electronic payment in USAS; it is automatically generated through the Texas.gov/USAS interface via a W8 document number using:

Agency Number	T-Code/Title	Appropriation Number	COBJ	Appropriated Fund/Agency Fund/PCA
Affected Agency	265/Fees Paid by Treasury Outside USAS	97768	7219	Determined by Agency

If no online processing fee is collected, the following coding block is used when the agency pays for processing payments from existing appropriations:

Agency Number	T-Code/Title	Appropriation Number	COBJ	Appropriated Fund/Agency Fund/PCA
Affected Agency	265/Fees Paid by Treasury Outside USAS	Determined by Agency	7219	Determined by Agency

Manual Payments

If the online processing fee collected is to pay other cost recovery expenses billed by DIR, the agency must manually issue a payment on receipt of a Texas.gov invoice from DIR.

Also, if the Texas.gov deposit (F8) transaction does not successfully process in USAS (posts to default fund 9000), no W8 expenditure document is generated. Refer to Processing Exceptions – Default Deposits – Texas.gov Transactions Submitted to the State Treasury in this APS for more information.

Processing Subscription Fees – Current Texas.gov Agencies

Processing Steps – Existing Applications

Step 1: Setting Up the Budget

Current Texas.gov agencies have a strategy defined as “Texas.gov” contained in their bill pattern in the GAA. The agency will establish the Texas.gov budget as a collected original budget entry in USAS using the coding information below with a document type B, batch type 1.

Agency Number	T-Code/Title	Appropriation Number	COBJ	Appropriated Fund/Agency Fund/PCA
Affected Agency	001/Establish Orig. Exp. Budget 003/Establish Orig. Rev. Budget	Determined by Agency	7000 3000	Determined by Agency

Step 2: Depositing License and Subscription Fees

Agencies may continue to use coding blocks currently established to deposit occupational license fees. The portion related to subscription fees will be deposited into the Texas.gov appropriation. If an agency wants to change any existing coding block element, the agency must consult with DIR and the Comptroller’s office.

Agencies may choose to deposit the whole occupational license fee (including the subscription fee portion) into one coding block. If this method is used, the agency must reclassify the subscription fee portion to the Texas.gov appropriation on at least a monthly basis by the last working day of the month.

Note: It is very important to reclassify revenue by month’s end, especially if your agency uses sweep account appropriation 99906 for the initial deposit, as the fees can be swept at month’s end and will be unavailable for reclassification.

Step 3: Paying Subscription Fees

For occupational licenses, the payment of the subscription fees to DIR via RTI is not automated. Agencies must submit a monthly report of subscription activity as directed in the Interagency Contract Agreement with DIR. The submitted report will be used to generate an invoice, which includes payment terms and RTI instructions.

The payments are made in USAS using the coding information below with a document type T, batch type 4. Subscription fee payments will have a unique RTI; refer to the invoice for the appropriate RTI number before processing payment.

Agency Number	T-Code/Title	Appropriation Number	COBJ	Appropriated Fund/Agency Fund/PCA	RTI
Paying Agency	225/Establish Vouchers Payable	Determined by Agency	7219	Determined by Agency	Refer to DIR Invoice

Step 4: Reviewing the Budget at Year-End

Near the end of each fiscal year, subscription fee collections must be compared with the budget established. Agencies may need to increase their budget authority. The Texas.gov appropriation is estimated and nontransferable.

To increase budget authority, agencies must use T-codes 006/009 for an amount equaling the additional received revenues. Conversely, if an agency did not collect all the estimated revenues, the original budget must be lapsed using T-code 039.

Processing Steps – New Applications

As agencies add applications to Texas.gov for new classes of licenses, testing and verification of coding block elements must be performed. The existing Texas.gov appropriation will be used for new applications.

Step 1: Submitting Data and Determining the Finding of Facts

After taking actions to assess or increase occupational license issuance or renewal fees, a licensing agency must (for each fiscal year appropriation request) furnish copies of:

• The board meeting minutes.
• An annual schedule of the number of license issuances or renewals and associated annual fee total.
• Any other information supporting the estimated revenues to be generated for each biennial year under the revised fee structure.

Those documents must be sent to:

• The Comptroller’s office, attention Revenue Estimating Division.
  – and –
• DIR, attention chief fiscal officer.

If the Comptroller’s office finds the information sufficient to support the projection of increased revenues, it will issue a notification letter and make the contingent appropriation available. The Comptroller’s office will send a copy of the notification letter to the agency after reviewing the license fee data.

Step 2: Setting Up the Texas.gov Coding

After approval notification, the agency has the opportunity to establish a new PCA for each new application. Establishing new Texas.gov coding elements is optional. The agency may use existing coding elements.

Step 3: Establishing Texas.gov Budget

The agency submits an adjusted budget transaction to USAS with amounts identified in the notification letter.

The coding block below is used to record the subscription fee budget in USAS with a document type A, batch type 1.

Agency Number	T-Code/Title	Appropriation Number	COBJ	Appropriated Fund/Agency Fund/PCA
Affected Agency	006/009 Adjust Orig. Budget	Texas.gov Appropriation	7000/3000	Determined by Agency

Step 4: Setting Up the Online Processing Fee Coding

Licensing agencies can charge a reasonable online processing fee to cover costs if the maximum increase in the subscription portion on the occupational license is insufficient. The maximum increase is:

• $5 for an annual occupational license.
• $10 for a biennial occupational license.

After agency notification, an ACO establishes a new online processing fee appropriation in USAS. Agencies must establish a unique PCA inferring the new online processing fee appropriation (97768) and an Other Activity program code of their choice. The PCA must infer a program code in the Other Activity structure (399X) so that the expenditures captured by the PCA are not reported for ABEST/USAS reconciliation purposes.

The fund used with the new unique PCA must infer a GAAP FUND TYPE 01 (if general revenue) or GAAP FUND TYPE 02 (if a special revenue fund).

Step 5: Deposit of License, Subscription and Online Processing Fees

Revenues received by agencies must be split into multiple coding blocks. The occupational license fees are deposited to the coding block(s) currently in use. The additional portion relating to subscription fees is deposited to the Texas.gov appropriation using new PCA(s).

The coding block below is used to record an additional charge related to subscription fees in USAS.

Agency Number	T-Code/Title	Appropriation Number	COBJ	Appropriated Fund/Agency Fund/PCA
Affected Agency	195 – Record Deposited Revenue in Treasury	Texas.gov Appropriation	XXXX*	Determined by Agency
* The comptroller object is the same as the occupational license fee object.

For online processing fees, the comptroller object 3879 and T-code 179 are used, along with appropriation 97768. Online processing fees are only due if the license is obtained or renewed via the Texas.gov portal and step 4 applies.

Agencies must consider any automated collection methods used (such as Lockbox and Texas.gov) to split deposits. Unique coding blocks may be needed to ensure the portion that is subscription fee and/or online processing fee is segregated.

Agencies may deposit the whole occupational license fee — including the subscription fee portion — into one coding block. If they do, they must reclassify the subscription fee portion to the appropriate appropriation on at least a monthly basis by the month’s last working day.

Note: It is very important to reclassify revenue by month’s end, especially if your agency uses sweep account appropriation 99906 for the initial deposit, as the fees can be swept at month’s end and will be unavailable for reclassification.

Step 6: Paying Subscription Fees

For occupational licenses, the payment of subscription fees to DIR via RTI is not automated. Agencies must submit a monthly report of subscription activity as directed in the interagency contract agreement with DIR. The submitted report will be used to generate an invoice that includes payment terms and RTI instructions.

The payments are made in USAS using the following coding information with a document type T, batch type 4. Subscription fee payments will have a unique RTI; refer to the invoice for the appropriate RTI number before processing payment.

Agency Number	T-Code/Title	Appropriation Number	COBJ	Appropriated Fund/Agency Fund/PCA	RTI
Paying Agency	225/Establish Vouchers Payable	Texas.gov Appropriation	7219	Determined by Agency	Refer to DIR Invoice

Step 7: Paying the Online Processing Fee

If an online processing fee was collected to cover the agency’s costs, a different coding block is used to record the payment of transaction fees, credit card fees and other charges associated with receiving payments. While some of the coding information is defined by the agency, the agency does not enter the electronic payment in USAS; it is automatically generated through the Texas.gov/USAS interface via a W8 document number.

This online processing fee payment will be made to DIR on an automated, daily basis using the USAS coding block below:

Note: The payment is automated if the transaction does not post to default fund 9000. If the transaction posts to default, refer to Processing Exceptions – Default Deposits – Texas.gov Transactions Submitted to the State Treasury in this APS for more information.

Agency Number	T-Code/Title	Appropriation Number	COBJ	Appropriated Fund/Agency Fund/PCA
Paying Agency	265/Fees Paid by Treasury Outside USAS	97768	7219	Determined by Agency

Step 8: Reviewing the Budget at Year-End

Near the end of each fiscal year, subscription fee collections are compared with the original budget established, and agencies may need to increase their budget authority. To increase budget authority, agencies must use T-codes 006/009 for an amount equal to the additional revenues received. Conversely, if an agency does not spend all the additional revenue, the budget is reduced using T-codes 009R/006R (see step 3 for more information).

Processing Subscription Fees – New Texas.gov Agencies

Processing Steps

Agencies that are new to the Texas.gov portal and have no existing online applications must follow the steps outlined below.

Step 1: Submitting Data and Determining the Finding of Facts

After taking actions to assess or increase occupational license issuance or renewal fees, the licensing agencies must (for each fiscal year appropriation request) furnish copies of:

• The board meeting minutes.
• An annual schedule of the number of license issuances or renewals and associated annual fee total.
• Any other information supporting the estimated revenues to be generated for each biennial year under the revised fee structure.

Agencies must send those documents to:

• The Comptroller’s office, attention Revenue Estimating Division.
  – and –
• DIR, attention chief fiscal officer.

If the Comptroller’s office finds the information sufficient to support the projection of increased revenues, it will issue a notification letter and make the contingent appropriation available. The Comptroller’s office will send a copy of the notification letter to the agency after reviewing the license fee data.

Step 2: Setting Up the Subscription Fee Coding

After approval notification, an ACO establishes a new subscription fee appropriation in USAS.

Agencies must establish a unique PCA inferring the new appropriation and a direct strategy program code of their choice. The program code must infer a direct strategy so the associated expenses will be included for ABEST/USAS reconciliation purposes. The fund used with the new unique PCA(s) must infer a GAAP FUND TYPE 01 (if general revenue) or GAAP FUND TYPE 02 (if a special revenue fund).

Step 3: Establishing Subscription Fee Budget

The agency submits an original budget transaction in USAS with amounts identified in the notification letter. The ACO reviews and approves the transactions once the agency enters the document into USAS.

The coding block below is used to record the subscription fee budget in USAS with a document type B, batch type 1.

Agency Number	T-Code/Title	Appropriation Number	COBJ	Appropriated Fund/Agency Fund/PCA
Affected Agency	001/Establish Orig Exp. Budget 003/Establish Orig Rev. Budget	27993 (Renewals) or 28993 (Initial)	7000/ 3000	Determined by Agency

Step 4: Setting Up the Online Processing Fee Coding

Licensing agencies can charge a reasonable online processing fee to cover costs using COBJ 3879 if the maximum increase in the subscription portion on the occupational license is insufficient. The maximum increase is:

• $5 for an annual occupational license.
• $10 for a biennial occupational license.

After agency notification, an ACO establishes a new online processing fee appropriation in USAS. Agencies must establish a unique PCA inferring the new online processing fee appropriation (97768) and an Other Activity program code of their choice. The PCA must infer a program code in the Other Activity structure (399X) so that the expenditures captured by the PCA are not reported for ABEST/USAS reconciliation purposes. The fund used with the new unique PCA must infer a GAAP FUND TYPE 01 (if general revenue) or GAAP FUND TYPE 02 (if a special revenue fund).

Step 5: Deposit of License, Subscription and Online Processing Fees

Revenues received by agencies must be split into multiple coding blocks. The occupational license fees are deposited to the coding block(s) currently in use. The additional portion relating to subscription fees is deposited to the newly established appropriation(s) using the new PCA(s).

The coding block below is used to record an additional charge related to subscription fees in USAS.

Agency Number	T-Code/Title	Appropriation Number	COBJ	Appropriated Fund/Agency Fund/PCA
Affected Agency	195 – Record Deposited Revenue in Treasury	Texas.gov Appropriation	XXXX*	Determined by Agency
* The comptroller object is the same as the occupational license fee object.

For online processing fees, comptroller object 3879 and T-code 179 are used, along with appropriation 97768. Online processing fees are only due if the license is obtained or renewed via the Texas.gov portal and step 4 applies.

Agencies must consider any automated collection methods (such as Lockbox and Texas.gov) used to split deposits. Unique coding blocks may be needed to ensure the portion that is subscription fee and/or online processing fee is segregated.

Agencies may deposit the whole occupational license fee (including the subscription fee portion) into one coding block. If they do, they must reclassify the subscription fee portion to the appropriate appropriation on at least a monthly basis by the month’s last working day.

Note: It is very important to reclassify revenue by month’s end, especially if your agency uses sweep account appropriation 99906 for the initial deposit, as the fees can be swept at month’s end and will be unavailable for reclassification.

Step 6: Paying Subscription Fees

For occupational licenses, the payment of the subscription fees to DIR via RTI is not automated. Agencies must submit a monthly report of subscription activity as directed in the interagency contract agreement with DIR. The submitted report will be used to generate an invoice, which includes payment terms and RTI instructions.

The payments are made in USAS using the coding information below with a document type T, batch type 4. Subscription fee payments will have a unique RTI; refer to the invoice for the appropriate RTI number before processing payment.

Agency Number	T-Code/Title	Appropriation Number	COBJ	Appropriated Fund/Agency Fund/PCA	RTI
Paying Agency	225/Establish Vouchers Payable	Determined by ACO	7219	Determined by Agency	Refer to DIR Invoice

Step 7: Paying the Online Processing Fee

A different coding block is used to record the payment of transaction fees, credit card fees and other charges associated with receiving payments if an online processing fee was collected to cover the agency’s costs. While some of the coding information is defined by the agency, the agency does not enter the electronic payment to USAS; it is automatically generated through the Texas.gov/USAS interface via a W8 document number. This online processing fee payment will be made to DIR on an automated, daily basis using the USAS coding block below.

Note: The payment is automated if the transaction does not post to default fund 9000. If the transaction posts to default, refer to Processing Exceptions – Default Deposits – Texas.gov Transactions Submitted to the State Treasury in this APS for more information.

Agency Number	T-Code/Title	Appropriation Number	COBJ	Appropriated Fund/Agency Fund/PCA
Paying Agency	265/Fees Paid by Treasury Outside USAS	97768	7219	Determined by Agency

Step 8: Reviewing the Budget at Year-End

Near the end of each fiscal year, subscription fee collections are compared with original budget established, and agencies may need to increase their budget authority. To increase budget authority, agencies must use T-codes 006/009 for an amount equal to the additional revenues received (see step 3 for more information). Conversely, if an agency does not spend all the original revenue, the budget must be lapsed using T-code 039.

Additional Processing Arrangements – Texas.gov Agencies

Requirements

Agencies may enter into other agreements with vendors that may integrate with Texas.gov processing. Coordination between the agency, Comptroller’s office, DIR and the Texas.gov contractor must occur to establish the processing requirements.

Coding Information

USAS coding blocks are determined based on the type of activity being established by the agency. Depending on the activity, the agency and/or the agency’s ACO may need to establish additional USAS profiles. Additionally, agencies must ensure authority exists to collect the proposed revenue and pay any potential expense.

Processing Exceptions

Default Deposits – Texas.gov Transactions Submitted to the State Treasury

Texas.gov deposit (F8) and refund/charge-back (R88) transactions may not successfully process in USAS with the coding block provided by the agency. Instead, they may post to the default fund 9000 (F8) or 9001 (R88) for the following reasons:

• Texas.gov deposits and refunds with original document numbers (F8xxxxxx or R88xxxxx) that have a default coding block because:
  • The total of the detail records and the summary record amount sent to the Comptroller’s Treasury Operations Division by the Texas.gov vendor do not equal each other. These are flagged as being defaulted (D) on the Texas.gov complete file that Treasury Operations sends to the agency.
  • At the time Treasury Operations receives funding notification from the bank, there are no supporting details received from the Texas.gov vendor. These will be identified via an email from Treasury Operations to the affected agency. These transactions will not be included on any complete file. Treasury Operations will notify DIR and the Comptroller’s Fiscal Management Division when defaults occur for this situation. DIR will enter a Texas.gov program ticket on behalf of the impacted agency asking the Texas.gov payment processing vendor to provide transaction details about the defaults, which will be shared with DIR and the agency. Impacted customers with authorized access can request default transaction details by entering a request through the Shared Technology Services portal.
• The coding block sent on the Texas.gov deposits (F8) to USAS is invalid in USAS, causing a default deposit to be generated in USAS using a default document number YFxxxxxx (instead of the original F8xxxxxx document number) and a default coding block of fund 9000.
• The coding block for R88 docs sent via Texas.gov refunds is invalid in USAS, causing the transaction to error off and requiring Treasury Operations to correct the transaction so it can process in USAS.

Note: Online processing fees should be identified separately during default correction, as DIR will invoice agencies for the Texas.gov online processing fees related to all transactions that post to default.

Refunding Revenue

A revenue refund is initiated by the agency when a customer requests refunded monies that were paid previously. Many refunds are requested because of duplicate customer payments. The amount of the refund will include the amount for the permit, license, tax or other charge, and online processing fee (if charged). The online processing fee is returned to the customer, but the agency will not receive a refund of processing costs on the original transaction. Data from the Texas.gov payment engine may be used to process a refund in USAS.

If an agency processes refunds in the Texas.gov payment engine, the specific trace number related to the original receipt must be recalled. There are two Texas.gov payment engine refund screens an agency may encounter. Depending on the refund screen presented, the steps required to perform the refund will vary.

At a high level, an agency should review three fields from each USAS coding block for accuracy:

• Amount
• USASOTHER
• T-Code

The table below identifies original USAS T-codes and the changes required to T-code or USASOTHER when refunds are processed.

Original Value T-Code	Original Value USASOTHER	New Value T-Code	New Value USASOTHER
195	XXXXX	153	No change to USASOTHER
188	XXXXX	156	No change to USASOTHER
179	XXXXX	179	Append |REV*R| to USASOTHER contents
173	XXXXX	173	Append |REV*R| to USASOTHER contents
265	XXXXX	265	Append |REV*R| to USASOTHER contents

• When the original value of T-code is a 195, the new value for T-code should be 153.
• When the original value of T-code is a 188, the new value for T-code should be 156.
• The new value of USASOTHER is not required to change when the T-code becomes a 153 or a 156.

T-codes 179, 173 and 265 work differently than T-codes 195 and 188:

• When the original value of T-code is a 179, the new value for T-code should remain 179 but the new value of USASOTHER must be changed. The value of |REV*R| must be appended to the existing contents of USASOTHER.
• When the original value of T-code is a 173, the new value for T-code should remain 173 but the new value of USASOTHER must be changed. The value of |REV*R| must be appended to the existing contents of USASOTHER.
• When the original value of T-code is a 265, the new value for T-code should remain 265 but the new value of USASOTHER must be changed. The value of |REV*R| must be appended to the existing contents of USASOTHER.

To process in USAS, a R88 document will be generated automatically. If the refund involves a payment transaction, a W88 document will be generated automatically also.

It is possible for the R88 document to fail due to lack of funding. In this instance, the R88 document will process against agency fund 9001 instead of the original coding block. After the W88 document processes, increasing funding in the original coding block, the agency will need to transfer the amount from agency fund 9001. The coding information below must be used in USAS to clear the amount with a document type J, batch type 2.

Agency Number	T-Code/Title	Appropriation Number	COBJ	Appropriated Fund/Agency Fund/PCA
Affected Agency	153R/Returned Items – State Treasury Deposit	00000	3789	Determined by Agency/9001/99901
Affected Agency	153/156/173R/179R*	Determined by ACO or Agency	XXXX*	Determined by Agency
* The T-code used to clear the refund must have the same general ledger and budget effect as on the original deposit. The comptroller object is the same as on the original deposit.

Charge Back

A charge back occurs when a customer requests a refund through a credit card issuer rather than the agency. Once the charge back is processed through the automated system, the Comptroller’s office will generate a transaction that is identical to the normal return item process. The charged back amount will include the amount for the permit, license, tax or other charge as well as the online processing fee (if charged). The online processing fee is returned to the customer, but the agency will not receive a refund of processing costs on the original transaction.

To process in USAS, a R88 document will be generated automatically. The R88 document will process against agency fund 9001. Because the charge back decreases revenue, the agency transfers this reduction against the original received revenue. The following USAS coding information must be used to clear the amount with a document type J, batch type 2.

Agency Number	T-Code/Title	Appropriation Number	COBJ	Appropriated Fund/Agency Fund/PCA
Affected Agency	153R/Returned Items – State Treasury Deposit	00000	3789	Determined by Agency/9001/99901
Affected Agency	153/156/173R/179R*	Determined by ACO or Agency	XXXX*	Determined by Agency
* The T-code used to clear the charge back must have the same general ledger and budget effect as on the original deposit. The comptroller object is the same as on the original deposit.

Charge Back Credit

If an agency successfully disputes a charge back, then a credit transaction will be generated automatically in USAS using an F8 document. This transaction will deposit funds to agency fund 9000.

Because the charge back credit increases revenue, the agency transfers this amount to where the original deposit was received. The following coding information must be used to clear the amount in USAS with a document type J, batch type 2.

Agency Number	T-Code/Title	Appropriation Number	COBJ	Appropriated Fund/Agency Fund/PCA
Affected Agency	195R/Record Deposit of Revenue in Treasury – Reverse	00000	3788	Determined by Agency/9000/99900
Affected Agency	188/195/173/179*	Determined by Agency	XXXX*	Determined by Agency
* The T-code used to clear the charge back credit must have the same general ledger and budget effect as the original deposit. The comptroller object is the same as on the original deposit.

Coding Errors

If an automated deposit or expenditure posts to the wrong coding block in USAS, use normal correction activity to correct it.

For revenues, agencies must ensure consistency with comptroller objects, appropriation years, budget impact and general ledger posting.

For expenditures, refer to Correcting Bookkeeping and Cost Allocation Entries (APS 021) (FPP A.013) for policy and coding block information.

The agency should re-verify coding information it electronically submits if the miscoding is a continual problem. Additional Texas.gov/USAS interface testing is required if coding information must be changed.

Starting Sept. 1 of each fiscal year, transactions received in USAS will process with the new appropriation year. Due to timing of transactions received at the end of each fiscal year, items may not process because of coding errors. Agencies may need to perform normal correction activities to post to appropriate USAS coding blocks.

Reconciliation

Reconciling Program and Accounting Records

Agencies must reconcile agency program and accounting records to the transaction detail provided by the Comptroller’s office, USAS and payment processors so:

• Transactions are accurately recorded in agency accounting and program records.
• Fees due to agencies are properly accounted for and recorded.
• Fees paid to payment processors are properly accounted for and recorded.

The source and types of detail vary with agencies’ payment and processing options.

Daily Activity Reconciliation

To assist with the daily activity reconciliation, the system-generated USAS document numbers for the revenue and expenditure transactions are linked to each other.

For the receipt of revenues (including online processing fees), the generated documents are formatted as F8XXXXXX.

For the payment of transaction fees, credit card fees and other charges associated with receiving payments, the generated documents are formatted as W8XXXXXX.

Note: The XXXXXX is system-generated, but identical for the related F8 and W8 documents.

The processing of W8 expenditure documents occurs in the next USAS cycle following the processing of the corresponding F8 revenue documents. On Aug. 31, the W8 documents process in the same Aug. 31 USAS cycle as the corresponding F8 documents to allow the revenues and expenditures to match in the same appropriation year.

All online processing fees received daily are posted into USAS as a lump sum. Multiple F8 and W8 documents can be created each day if multiple user applications are operational and the trace numbers received through the Texas.gov/USAS interface are uniquely identified.

Daily Reconciliation of Revenue Refund Activity

To assist with the daily reconciliation of revenue refund activity, the system-generated USAS document numbers for the revenue refund and expenditure reversal transactions are also linked to each other.

For the refund of revenue, the generated documents are formatted as R88XXXXX.

For the reversal of transaction fees, credit card fees and other charges associated with receiving payments (i.e., expenditures), the generated documents are formatted as W88XXXXX. The expenditure reversal occurs only if an automatic payment is made at the time of the original transaction.

Note: The XXXXX is system-generated, but identical for each day’s R88 and W88 documents.

The processing of W88 expenditure documents occurs in the next USAS cycle following the processing of the corresponding R88 revenue documents. On Aug. 31, the W88 documents process in the same Aug. 31 USAS cycle as the corresponding R88 documents to allow the revenue and expenditure refunds to match in the same appropriation year.

Chargebacks are included in regular refund documents R88XXXXX. Chargeback credits are included in regular deposit documents F8XXXXXX. Both chargebacks and chargeback credits and the associated original trace numbers are noted in an automated email notification to the respective agency personnel.

Electronic Files

Agencies receive two electronic files that contain electronic processing activity:

• The first file, a raw file, provides detailed transactions, including certain credit card data.
• The second file, a complete file, contains the same data, including USAS document number assignment.

Agencies can use these files to perform the reconciliation tasks discussed above.

USAS Reports

All successfully processed Texas.gov transactions are reported on the USAS:

• DAFR7690 – Document Activity for Post Audit by ACO
• DAFR8190 – Daily Document Activity Report
• DAFR8200 – Daily Pre-Enc/Enc/Expend Transaction Register (2)
• DAFR8200 – Daily Revenue/Receipts Transaction Register (3)

To receive any of the reports, agencies must establish a request on the USAS Report Request Profile (91). Various special selects are available to customize the reports.

Note: The DAFR018F – Deposit Corrections This Cycle (F Docs) is a USAS control report that will only generate if processing errors exist.

More Information

GAA Information

The authority to appropriate online processing fees can be found in the GAA, HB 1, Article IX, Sections 8.10 and 9.05 (2023). These sections appropriate revenue to pay the charges assessed for accepting payment by a credit or debit card. They also appropriate cost recovery fees approved by DIR for the purpose of paying the costs associated with implementing and maintaining electronic services.

The authority to appropriate subscription fees can be found in the GAA, HB 1 (2023) within the bill patterns of multiple agencies and Article IX, Section 9.04. This section appropriates an increase in revenue for occupational license fees by an amount sufficient to cover the cost of the subscription fee charged by DIR.