General Provisions – Statutory Authority of the Comptroller
Approval and Submission of Vouchers

All expenditures made from appropriated funds, except for appropriated local funds, must only be issued on warrants or electronic funds transfers (EFTs) initiated by the Comptroller’s office. The Comptroller's office may not issue a warrant or initiate an EFT until:

• The requesting state agency has submitted a voucher to the Comptroller’s office.
• The state agency has approved the voucher in compliance with applicable statutes (see sources below).
• The Comptroller’s office has audited and approved the voucher as required by law.

Any purchase voucher other than the official Comptroller purchase voucher must be approved by the Comptroller’s office before use. Agencies must retain documentation of this approval in their files. Submit vouchers for approval by sending the voucher template to the Comptroller’s Expenditure Assistance section at expenditure.assistance@cpa.texas.gov. You will be notified of approval or any required changes. It is the responsibility of each agency to create/update any custom purchase voucher when administrative or statutory changes occur. Agencies and institutions are required to include all required fields for USAS processing on the purchase voucher.

Definition:

State agency

• A department, board, commission, committee, council, agency, office or other entity in the executive, legislative or judicial branch of state government, the jurisdiction of which is not limited to a geographical portion of the state. Texas Government Code Annotated Section 2103.001 (Vernon 2000).
• An institution of higher education, as defined by Texas Education Code Annotated Section 61.003 (Vernon Supp. 2007).

The source statutes (see sources below) also state the requirements for the approval of vouchers by state agencies.

Sources [+]