Expenditure Approvals and Certification

Certification of Expenditures

An individual (an officer or employee of a state agency) releasing a batch of documents for processing is responsible for the truth and accuracy of the following statement with respect to each document and transaction in the batch:

I approve each purchase, travel and payroll document in this batch. Employees at my state agency have determined the following: (1) each document within the batch complies with applicable law, including the General Appropriations Act and the rules of the Comptroller of Public Accounts; (2) the goods and services covered by the batch correspond in every particular with the contracts under which they were purchased; (3) the invoices for the goods and services are correct; and (4) each document that involves the payment of compensation to a state officer or employee is correct and unpaid. My state agency has authorized me to make this statement for the agency, and I accept responsibility for it.

The chief fiscal officer of a state agency must ensure that each individual who releases a batch for the agency understands the legal significance and potential legal consequences of the release. No procedure exists for an individual to release a payment batch for processing without being bound to the statement. If an individual does not want to be responsible for the statement about a batch, then the individual must not release the batch.

Approval and Release of Documents by Non-Employees

An individual who is not an officer or employee of a state agency may not approve and may not be designated to approve that agency’s expenditures. This includes contractors, temporaries, outside accounting staff, and officers and employees of other state agencies.

Under certain circumstances, the Comptroller will allow an individual who is not an officer or employee of a state agency to release USAS payment and USPS or SPRS documents, based on approval of the agency’s expenditures by authorized or designated agency individuals. The agency must contract with the non-employee or entity for the release of its payment batches, and the Comptroller must approve that contract before the non-employee or entity will be allowed to release.

The contract must meet the requirements of Texas Administrative Code, Title 34, Section 5.61(q)(6)(C) before the Comptroller may consent to the contract. Those requirements include, but are not limited to:

• The agency must prove to the Comptroller’s satisfaction that the security provided under the contract is at least equivalent to the security that would exist if the agency released its own payment, SPRS, or USPS documents.
• The agency must prove to the Comptroller’s satisfaction that the agency has established an internal system for properly authorizing or designating individuals to approve the agency’s expenditures before their release.

Please consult Texas Administrative Code, Section 5.61(p)-(q) if your agency needs to enter into this type of contract.

Payments resulting from batches released into USAS, USPS or SPRS by a non-employee in the absence of an approved contract are unapproved.

If your agency needs to submit a contract to the Comptroller for approval under Texas Administrative Code, Section 5.61(q), please contact Roslyn Harris at (512) 463-4258 or roslyn.harris@cpa.texas.gov.

Unapproved Expenditures

If the Comptroller determines an individual approved an expenditure after the individual’s authority or designation to approve it has ended, the Comptroller may take any necessary steps to prevent a warrant from being issued or an electronic funds transfer from being initiated until the expenditure is properly approved. If the Comptroller is unable to prevent a warrant from being issued or an electronic funds transfer from being initiated, then the Comptroller may take any necessary steps to prevent the warrant from being honored or to reverse the electronic funds transfer. The state agency whose unapproved payment, USPS or SPRS document results in the warrant or electronic funds transfer shall cooperate fully with the Comptroller per Texas Administrative Code, Section 5.61(f)(3), (k)(6).

Only users listed on an agency’s voucher signature cards (an officer or employee of a state agency), or non-employees/entities authorized by a contract to which the Comptroller has consented, have release capabilities for payment voucher batch types. Any person who releases transactions for more than one agency must have the authority to approve payment vouchers for all the agencies whose batches the person is releasing.

Non-employees may not be designated to approve an agency’s payment vouchers. Therefore, persons who are not employed by a state agency may not be listed on an agency’s voucher signature cards. However, as previously stated, arrangements can be made where non-employees release vouchers for an agency based on approval of the agency’s expenditures by authorized or designated agency individuals.