Transparency Requirements: State Revenue and Spending Tools

Overview

Applicable to

State agencies and institutions of higher education.

Background

House Bill 3430 enacted by the 80th Legislature required the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts to create an online state expenditure database to make state spending transparent to the public by Oct. 1, 2007. The Comptroller’s expenditure database is accessible through the State Revenue and Expenditure Dashboard, formerly known as Where the Money Goes database.

Policies

Link to State Expenditure Database

State agencies and institutions of higher education that have a generally accessible website must include a link to Transparency: State Revenue and Spending web page on their websites. Full link: https://comptroller.texas.gov/transparency/revenue/

Confidentiality Requirements

The liability for the release of confidential information due to an incorrect confidentiality indicator lies with the agency submitting the confidential transaction. See USAS and CAPPS Financials Confidentiality Indicator (FPP E.045).

Class and Item Reports

To the extent maintained by their accounting systems in a reportable format, agencies and institutions are required to provide the Comptroller’s office quarterly reports on purchases by class and item as defined by the National Institute of Governmental Purchasers (NIGP codes, previously known as TBPC class and item codes). This information is used for the purchasing code search available on the State Revenue and Expenditure database. Class and item data report transmission instructions are available.

Data Center and Information

The availability of raw data is essential to an accountable and open government. In recognition of this, the Comptroller’s office maintains an Open Data Center as part of its commitment to government transparency. See the Open Data Center on the Comptroller’s website for details.

Legal citation

Texas Government Code, Section 403.024

Legend

Check Register Search Tools

The Comptroller’s office implemented the State Revenue and Expenditure database on Oct. 1, 2007, as required by state law. This web-based, searchable database is available to the public.

The system includes expenditure data from the current fiscal year's expenditure information, plus the previous nine fiscal years.

Information available to the public includes:

• Transaction amount.
• Date the payment was processed.
• Name of the agency making the payment.
• Name of the payee (company, individual, organization or governmental unit).
• Object category.
• Comptroller object.

The Comptroller’s office does not allow public access to the payee address through the database. In addition, the Comptroller’s office does not allow public access to information identified as confidential in the Uniform Statewide Accounting System (USAS) or Financials application of the Centralized Accounting and Payroll/Personnel System (CAPPS Financials) by a state agency or institution of higher education. Transactions identified as confidential and employee salaries are included in the database only to provide payment information summarized by comptroller object. Only the agency, object, date and amount are displayed when the transaction is for an employee’s salary or the USAS confidentiality indicator field value is Y (regardless of the comptroller object).

Database payment transaction search tools for payments made in the last 10 fiscal years include detailed data as follows:

• Agency
• Payee Name
• Object
• Date
• Amount

The database also includes search tools for state agency travel expenses and more detailed information about spending at the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). The TxDOT searches include grant awards, budget and expenditures, and payment transactions.

Open Data and Information

The Comptroller’s Open Data Center is designed to provide direct, public access to machine-readable, platform-independent data files and a variety of databases, data visualizations and additional data sources about Texas. This effort augments existing reporting systems and makes importing information easier for external users. See the Open Data Center on the Comptroller’s website for details.

Data Catalog

Here is a partial list of the financial data files included:

• Expenditure details by fiscal year (masking confidential information).
• Revenue details by fiscal year.
• Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) Report.
• Code tables to support financial information such as:
  • Comptroller object.
  • Appropriation numbers and titles.
  • Appropriated fund numbers and titles.

Note:It is important that agencies carefully select the correct confidentiality indicator for each transaction in USAS and CAPPS Financials. Although the Comptroller’s office can accommodate requests to reclassify a transaction as confidential on the database, it may be too late if the information has been downloaded already.

External Data

The External Data section of the Data Center features additional data sources and information about Texas. Examples of databases included are the Legislative Budget Board’s “Texas Contracts Searchable Database” and Texas Education Agency’s “TAKS Region, District, and Campus Level Raw Data Files.” State agencies are welcome to submit additional sites to include by filling out this form.

Confidentiality Indicator Field

To ensure payments in the State Revenue and Expenditure database are treated correctly with respect to confidentiality, agencies must appropriately flag transactions as confidential in USAS and CAPPS Financials. For detailed information about marking USAS transactions confidential, see USAS and CAPPS Financials Confidentiality Indicator (FPP E.045).

Note: The liability for the release of confidential information due to an incorrect confidentiality indicator lies with the agency submitting the confidential transaction.

Transactions will be treated as follows on database reports and the Data Center downloads depending on what value an agency enters in the confidentiality indicator field.

Value in USAS Confidentiality Indicator Field*	Transaction Display
Blank – No confidential information N – No confidential information S – Some confidential information	Transactions are shown individually and include payee name, comptroller object, transaction amount, payment written date and paying agency number.
Y – Yes, transaction is confidential	Transaction amounts are combined by paying agency number, comptroller object and payment date. The payee name displays as Confidential.

*Note: When data from CAPPS Financials is uploaded to USAS, the values entered in the Confidentiality Indicator field are converted to the valid values for USAS (Y, S or N).

Reclassifying Transactions as Confidential

Agencies that submit a transaction and mistakenly fail to mark the transaction as confidential may request the Comptroller’s office to reclassify the transaction as confidential for the State Revenue and Expenditure database. Please note: Please note:

• This reclassification applies to the database only and not USAS. There is no procedure to adjust USAS history.
• Reclassification does not apply to information already downloaded from the Data Center.

To send a request to reclassify an expenditure as confidential for the database, please email statewide.accounting@cpa.texas.gov and include the following information:

• Your agency name, agency number and agency contact (email and phone).
• A brief explanation of the confidentiality issue.
• The payee or payees exactly as they appear.
• The comptroller object containing the confidential information.
• The date or date range involved.
• The dollar amount(s).
• The USAS Document number(s) and any other details to identify the specific records to reclassify.

A Comptroller’s office representative will contact you to confirm your request and go over any details.

Budget and Finance Search Tools

The public can also view:

• State expenditures against agency budget appropriations using tools developed in partnership with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT).
• An estimated vs. actual expenditures report requested by a legislator to provide transparency on the legislative budgeting process.

  Note: Agencies can add agency-specific text to the budget and expenditure reports listed below. If you wish to add an explanation for any of the data displayed on your agency’s report, please email statewide.accounting@cpa.texas.gov.

Budget Lookup Tools available on the Comptroller’s website include:

Search:	Updated Daily From:
Agency Budget vs. Actual Expenditures Shows how an agency’s total spending tracks against its strategy appropriation budgets	USAS appropriation table
Expenditures by Agency Strategy Compares spending by expenditure category for each agency appropriation	USAS cash expenditures general ledger account
Expenditures by Funding Source Shows agency spending by expenditure category by appropriated fund	USAS cash expenditures general ledger account

Class and Item Data Report Transmission Instructions

Some agencies and institutions may need file transfer protocol (FTP) access to upload quarterly reports on purchases by class and item as defined by the National Institute of Governmental Purchasers (NIGP codes, previously known as TBPC class and item codes). This information is used for the purchasing code search available on the State Revenue and Expenditure database.

Request FTP access from your agency security coordinator. Security coordinators should refer to the Security Coordinator Reference (login required) for instructions.

After the security access has been granted, follow the instructions at Submitting Class and Item Data Report (login required). The data report must be cumulative of the quarters in the current fiscal year.

Contact the Comptroller’s Help Desk at (512) 463-4357 with questions.