What's New? on FMX

The Uniform Statewide Payroll/Personnel System (USPS) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) page has been updated with payroll questions. More topics will be added in the future. If you have a potential FAQ question that you think would help other agencies, please contact your USPS representative.

A new payroll stuffer encourages state employees to listen to clips of weekly radio announcements on Texas history that can be purchased as CDs or listened to online. The General Land Office brings to life these weekly 60-second radio clips. The stuffer is available now for download. For more information on the program, call 800-998-4GLO or visit Save Texas History.

As mandated by House Bill 3106, 80th Leg., R.S., the Comptroller has been reviewing state agency and institution of higher education projects involving financial, human resource and payroll systems that meet the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) review criteria. For planning purposes, the Comptroller is also interested in learning about projects that agencies and institutions are considering for the 2012-13 biennium. Please complete the one-page Agency ERP Project Request form  for each project that you are considering by April 23. If you are not considering any projects, an e-mail confirmation is requested.

FPP B.009

On March 22, the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued M10-14, Updated Guidance on American Recovery and Reinvestment Act  that affects the Requirements for ARRA Section 1512 Reporting. The OMB updated the reporting timeline, identified administrative/technical data quality issues, listed final reporting criteria and added new requirements for federal agencies.

Please note these changes before submitting your report for the April 10 deadline:

• Guidance and Review — Links to the new OMB guidance and the updated FederalReporting.gov User Guide have been included for reference.
• Reporting Timeline — Days 11 through 12 are the agency review period, and days 13 through 29 are the federal agency review period.

The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts is creating the Open Data Center to offer power users access to large blocks of state information as part of the continuing transparency initiative. The download center will provide platform independent data on a new agency Web site. This effort augments existing reporting systems and makes importing information easier for external users. The Open Data Center will be rolled out in phases beginning in April. Updated information will be posted on Where the Money Goes (FPP G.004).

Note: Please ensure all confidential transactions are properly marked when submitted to the Uniform Statewide Accounting System. Although the Comptroller's office can accommodate requests to reclassify a transaction as confidential for Where the Money Goes, it may be too late if an external user has already downloaded that information.

All state agencies and institutions of higher education have been asked to reduce spending by five percent in their 2010-11 appropriations from General Revenue and General Revenue Dedicated. Agencies and institutions identifying reductions from appropriations made for fiscal 2010 should complete profiles and transactions in the Uniform Statewide Accounting System (USAS) by August 2010. Please see Processing Appropriation Reduction Transactions in USAS (FPP A.047) for details.

The State Property Accounting System (SPA) User Group has scheduled a meeting in Austin on Friday, March 26, from 1:00 to 3:30 p.m. at the William B. Travis Building, 1701 N. Congress, Room 1-100. The meeting agenda and additional information can be found on the SPA User Group page.

The March 7, 2010 HRIS Payroll compliance report had a slight formatting issue. The March pay date calculations were correct, however they were inadvertently reported for the month of April rather than March. This issue has been corrected and you will receive a corrected report with your daily download on Thursday March 11, 2010. If you have any questions, please contact your HRIS Representative.

Requirements for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) Section 1512 Reporting (FPP B.009) have been revised to reflect new job estimate instructions and other changes. Please review the requirements before submitting your report for the April 10 deadline.

Note these additions:

• Guidance and Review — The Office of Management and Budget has published the FederalReporting.gov User Guide, and the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board and General Accountability Office have provided other resources.
• Reporting Timeline — The timeline includes information on the new continuous quality assurance program.
• Key Reminders — The Comptroller's office prepared these reminders to help ensure the accuracy of the state Section 1512 reports.

Supplemental information is also available:

• Common ARRA Section 1512 Reporting Federal Agency Comments — This is a summary of comments from federal agency reviewers on awards from the January 2010 reporting period.
• ARRA Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) — Section 1512 questions have been updated and added.

Citizen-centric reporting of government financial information is a growing national trend, and another way the state of Texas is informing citizens in plain language on how their tax dollars are being spent. A Report to the Citizens of Texas is our citizen-centric report, highlighting state of Texas financial information in a concise, easily understood format. For more information, see A Report to the Citizens of Texas.

The Comptroller's GASB 51 policy has been updated to include information on changes to the State Property Accounting (SPA) System resulting from GASB 51 implementation. Multiple new property class codes and annual financial report (AFR) categories have been established to meet the reporting requirements of this new standard. For more information, including a table of new codes and categories, see GASB 51 SPA Information.

The Comptroller's Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) 51 transition requirements for assets obtained before Sept. 1, 2009, have been revised. It is now acceptable to report intangible assets capitalized under previous capitalization thresholds. These assets are no longer required to be restated for the purposes of GASB 51 implementation. See GASB 51 Effective Date and Transitions Requirements.

The Texas Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) is published annually to provide a thorough picture of the state's financial condition. The CAFR is compiled from information in the statewide financial systems and individual agency annual financial reports. It includes the financial statements for the primary government along with the component units of the state, management's discussion and analysis and a statistical data section.

The Payroll Policies and Procedures Guide is currently being updated and reorganized to allow for easier access and searching. Six additional policy statements have been revised and are now available at Payroll Policies and Procedures (FPP F.027).