Accounting Policy Meeting
Wednesday, April 28, 2021

Agenda

Time	Topic	Speaker
2:00 p.m.	Welcome and Introductions	Gaby Needham, financial reporting analyst, Fiscal Management Division, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
2:05 – 2:20 p.m.	Being Informed on FMX	Gaby Needham, financial reporting analyst, Fiscal Management Division, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
2:20 – 3:10 p.m.	GASB Statement Updates	Michael Hensley, financial reporting analyst, Fiscal Management Division, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
3:10 – 3:30 p.m.	SEFA FAQs	Amber Copeland, financial reporting analyst, Fiscal Management Division, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
3:30 – 3:55 p.m.	Questions	Gaby Needham, Michael Hensley, and Amber Copeland, financial reporting analysts, Fiscal Management Division, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
3:55 – 4:00 p.m.	Adjourn	Gaby Needham, financial reporting analyst, Fiscal Management Division, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts

Registration for Webinar

https://txcpa.webex.com/txcpa/onstage/g.php?MTID=e484596cb911af704f98ccc37507bef74

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Tips to Follow During the Webinar:

Use Google Chrome as the internet browser to avoid Webex connectivity issues.
If you lose the connection to the webinar while it is in progress, find your registration confirmation email and click the link to join the webinar again. The presentation should resume in progress.
If you are using a web browser with multiple tab functionality, open a new window with only a single tab to ensure you do not have multiple sessions open.

To End the Webinar:

At the end of the presentation, the moderator will end the webinar. Close your web browser when the webinar is over.

CPE Credit:

At this time, no CPE Credit is offered.

Contacts

If you have questions about the webinar, email the Financial Reporting section at frs@cpa.texas.gov

Questions and Answers

FMX Resources

Will there be a link or a PDF of this presentation available?

The handout is published at least one day prior to the webinar and is located on FMX’s Accounting Policy Meetings page for that specific meeting date.

Will a recording of this meeting be available later?

The Comptroller’s office does not record the APS webinars because it requires additional processes to transcribe and comply with the standards for ADA 508-compliancy. The Comptroller’s office does not currently have the additional time and resources. Instead, we are providing a text version of all Q&As.

GASB

When will the GASB Questionnaires be available?

Annual GASB questionnaires will be available no later than July 6, 2021.

Since GASB 92, 93 and 97 are implemented for Fiscal 2021, will there be something for us to complete in survey monkey?

As we progress through implementing each of these standards, we will reach out to agencies at that time for an initial survey, if necessary. Currently, there are no annual surveys related to the GASB statements mentioned in your question.

GASB 84

Is the Financial Reporting section changing the agency fund types to custodial funds for us? Will the Financial Reporting staff contact the agencies if other funds types need to be changed?

The Financial Reporting section will be updating the fund type/GAAP fund for the Fiscal 2021 Fund D23 profiles that infer fund type 09 soon. These will be changed before the profile rollover occurs in June, similar to the timing for Fiscal 2020. If your agency setup a new D23 fund in USAS inferring fund type 09 that was not present in Fiscal 2020, contact your assigned financial reporting analyst.

Are agencies going to have to change their internal systems to use different T-code for fund 0900? Earlier we were told that this would not be required.

T-Codes will not be different for suspense funds. The Funds Held for Others (GL 1149) is still in place for all T-codes that currently work in fund type 09, so the procedures and processes will not change. Agencies are responsible for reclassing Funds Held For Others (GL 1149) at fiscal year-end, as applicable. For more information, see the AFR Reporting Requirements’ Suspense Funds page.

Will agency fund T-codes be updated at the same time. Currently, T-codes are still showing GL account 1149 as the offset. Will CPA correct these Fiscal 2021 entries or will agencies have to correct USAS for the former fund type 09?

The Financial Reporting section will be correcting these entries for Fiscal 2021. The agencies are responsible for reclassing balances in Funds Held for Others (GL 1149) at fiscal year-end, as applicable. See prior question answer for more details.

Will there be instructions on what we are going to need to do for the AFR regarding GASB 84?

The T-Codes will remain with Funds Held for Others (GL 1149). However, the agencies are responsible for reclassifying to another D23 fund, liability or revenue as necessary if in a governmental fund type or fund type 22 custodial funds.

GASB 87

Is there an agency requirement to use software to track leases for GASB 87? Or can it be tracked in Microsoft Excel?

Agencies must use either the:

Official software procured by the Comptroller’s office
Software procured by the agency for this purpose

More details to come in the July and August APS meetings.

Has the Comptroller’s office procured a software product for GASB 87, or is the plan still to modify the existing lease web application?

The Comptroller’s office will be procuring a software for agencies to use if an agency decides not to procure its own. There is no requirement for agencies to procure their own software.

Can you share which software the state purchasing for leases?

Since the Comptroller’s office is still in the procurement process, we do not have details at this time.

I thought the Comptroller’s office was providing agencies software to use?

The Comptroller’s office will be providing a software to use. However, some agencies are planning to procure their own software, therefore, we need to identify which software category each agency will fall into.

When will the Reporting Requirements be updated for Fiscal 2021 AFRs? And will the updates including the GASB 87 implementation policies.

FMX’s AFR Reporting Requirements are updated on a continual basis. As for GASB 87, please follow the current operating lease requirements for Fiscal 2021. The plan is to update these sometime after the Nov. 20 reporting deadline.

SEFA

Several years ago, the initial certification deadline was Sept. 14 or 18 (don’t remember exact date). Why was it changed to Sept. 1, since most agencies don't have the information ready?

The initial certification deadline was moved to Sept. 1 to allow agencies additional time to complete pass-through certification. The earlier date also encourages agencies to complete as much SEFA entry activity as possible, thereby avoiding conflicts with other SEFA and AFR deadlines.

What if the SEFA has been Finalized?

The SEFA does not get restated after the State Auditor’s Office (SAO) has submitted the SEFA (as part of the Single Audit package) to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse (FAC). The Fiscal 2020 SEFA was submitted in March 2021, therefore no changes or restatements may be made to the Fiscal 2020 SEFA.

For changes to federal guidance that occur after the final certification deadline in November, but prior to the SAO’s submission to the FAC, the Financial Reporting section enters the required changes in the SEFA web application on the agency’s behalf. The Financial Reporting section may contact your agency if additional information is required – an example is the release of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Compliance Supplement Addendum in December 2020, which required changes to some agencies’ Fiscal 2020 SEFA in order to comply with the new COVID-19 SEFA reporting requirements.

The Financial Reporting section may also make changes to an agency’s SEFA after the final certification deadline because of audit findings from the SAO and statewide independent auditor (currently Clifton Larson Allen).

Regarding pass-through accruals, what if the receiving agency wants to record or adjust their accrual after the Sept. 28 due date. Will the disbursing agency still have to allow the accrual? Seems like a cut-off date should be allowed, since we’ve had agencies wanting to adjust accrual all the way to early November.

Yes, the disbursing agency must allow the accrual. The receiving agency determines the accruals. All pass-through activity including accruals are finalized in both the SEFA and USAS prior to the pass-through certification deadline. However, audit findings and/or other activity may result in the need for an accrual to be recorded after the pass-through certification deadline. If this occurs, the Financial Reporting section will coordinate the entry with both the receiving and disbursing agencies.

Will SEFA guidance have a CARES/HEERF section?

The AFR Reporting Requirements’ COVID-19 and the CARES Act page was created in Fiscal 2020 and updated in April 2021 for Fiscal 2021. These updates include the requirement to report:

HEERF and other Education Stabilization Fund awards by subprogram in SEFA
Lost or foregone revenue as an incurred cost in the SEFA records

Contact your financial reporting analyst if you have additional CARES Act or HEERF questions.

Any word on whether we will have special reporting for COVID-19 Funds? Is it similar to what we did for ARRA?

For COVID-19 SEFA reporting requirements, see the AFR Reporting Requirements’ COVID-19 and the CARES Act page. Expenditures of COVID-19 funds must be identified in SEFA by either:

Using C (special funds indicator) for batch entries
Selecting the COVID-19 indicator for individual record entry

Currently, the Financial Reporting section is not aware of a requirement for a reconciliation that is similar to the ARRA reconciliation. However, the OMB should release the Fiscal 2021 Compliance Supplement this summer, which may include:

Updates to the COVID-19 SEFA requirements.
Additional SEFA reporting guidance for the COVID-19 Provider Relief Fund

The Financial Reporting section will continue to update the COVID-19 and the CARES Act page with any new federal requirements.

General

For Fiscal 2021, will universities be able to continue using the alternate method of calculating the Tuition & Scholarship Allowance? Asking because NACUBO is withdrawing its support for it, but the guidance on FMX is still based on the alternate method.

The guidance on the AFR Reporting Requirements’ Tuition and Scholarship Allowances page on FMX is based on the alternative method because, as per NACUBO, the alternative method is still allowed for Fiscal 2021.

Accounting Policy Meeting Wednesday, April 28, 2021

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