What's New? on FMX

January, 2014

Monthly Archives

To: CAPPS FIN Level 1 Agency Support Staff [posted 01/31/14]

CAPPS Financials maintenance hours on Sunday, Feb. 2, will be extended, from 5 a.m. to 12 noon, in preparation for the CAPPS Financials 9.2 upgrade.

The following Non-Production environments will be unavailable during this time:

These systems will be restored to service when the maintenance has been completed.

If you have questions or problems, please contact the CAPPS Help Desk at (512) 463-CAPPS (2277) or CAPPS.Help@cpa.texas.gov.

*Note: CAPPS Financials User Acceptance Test (FSUAT) and Portal UAT (EPUAT) will be available during the maintenance period.

TINS Mid-Day Validation File Layouts Available to Prepare for Testing [posted 01/27/14]

As a result of the Payee Number Conversion project, TINS will provide agencies with a mid-day validation tool effective March 3. Before issuing payments, agencies can learn:

Agency testing for the mid-day validation process in Agency Setup will be available Feb. 3. The TINS Mid-Day Validation File Layouts (login required) are being provided in advance to allow agencies to prepare for testing. The issue/solution page for ACR 44302 – TINS with additional information on the process will be published next week.

If your agency plans to test, you must email a request to payee.conversion@cpa.texas.gov before submitting test files.

Subscribe to Receive Substantive Changes to Comptroller Manual of Accounts [posted 01/27/14]

Subscribers to the online Texas Comptroller Manual of Accounts (FPP Q.009) will be emailed a list of substantive changes in the coming weeks. The list will include entries that have been added, deleted or significantly modified.

The manual provides current information on state agencies, appropriated funds and accounts and object codes to be used in properly recording accounting transactions. Users can subscribe to receive update notifications of real-time updates made to the Manual of Accounts.

For questions, please contact Samuel.Miller@cpa.texas.gov.

Payroll Stuffer Provides Information on Earned Income Tax Credit [posted 01/17/14]

A payroll stuffer on the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) for the Feb. 1 payroll is now available for download in both English and Spanish. If your agency uses the Employee Information System (EIS) for direct deposit, your employees can find a link to the stuffer on the EIS menu page.

The EITC is a refundable tax credit that may lead to a refund for qualified taxpayers. Each year, the EITC brings more than a billion federal income tax dollars back into the Texas economy. For more information, see the Window on State Government website, call the IRS toll free at (800) 829-1040 or simply dial 211.

Reminder – Action Needed on Updated SPA Class Codes [posted 01/17/14]

Phase Two of the SPA Class Code Changes for Fiscal 2014 is effective March 1. The changes affect all state agencies and universities, including:

Note: These changes need to be addressed before conducting the fiscal 2014 physical inventory.

March 1–2 Confirmed for Comptroller System Conversion [posted 01/10/14]

During the weekend of March 1–2, 2014, the Comptroller’s office is converting the payee numbers in TINS that begin with 2 to randomly assigned numbers that begin with 7. Please mark your calendar:



Note: The rules outlined in the Matrix for TINS Payee Number Conversion (Excel) go into effect April 7. Unless an extension was approved, agencies must use/send 7 numbers for payee maintenance (according to Matrix rules) and for USAS payments (except when the four-day grace period applies).

The Payee Number Conversion page provides a summary of helpful resources, including:

Production Conversion Cross Reference Extracts Available Without a Request [posted 01/10/14]

State agencies and institutions of higher education do not need to request the production TINS Conversion Cross Reference Extracts: Initial Conversion (XRF) or Daily (DLY).

The production XRF extract file will be available for all agencies to “get” from the Comptroller mainframe server as soon as the Comptroller system conversion is complete during the March 1–2 conversion weekend.

If needed, contact the Comptroller’s Help Desk to request subsequent XRF file extracts after conversion at:

Note: Please request the “TINS Application” in your call or email to the Help Desk.



The production DLY extract file will be available daily beginning March 4 if you have new payee master and/or mail code setups.

Testing still requires a request. If your agency has not yet tested in Agency Setup for the conversion, please submit the TINS Cross Reference XRF and DLY File Extract Request (login required) form.

For more information, see the Extract Availability Timeline.

Please email payee.conversion@cpa.texas.gov or call the Payment Services Help Desk at (512) 936-8138 if you have any questions.

New Transparency Website Now Available [posted 01/10/14]

The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts has expanded the award-winning Texas Transparency website with more financial reports and new features. The site was rebuilt from the ground up for improved organization and navigation. The redesign expands on the Comptroller’s commitment to providing taxpayers with tools that help them look deep into the coffers of government finance. The site continues to offer the same set of transparency look-up tools.

Take a look at the new site that:

Reminder: Since the URL to Where the Money Goes changed with the redesign, your agency needs to change its link to the main page of the website: http://www.texastransparency.org/

CAPPS FIN and HR/Payroll Environments Briefly Unavailable Tonight [posted 01/08/14]

To: CAPPS FIN and HR/Payroll Level 1 Agency Support Staff

CPA Infrastructure will be performing server maintenance that may cause a brief interruption in service sometime between 7:30 pm and 8:00 pm. All batch and interface jobs are expected to run normally as scheduled.

The following FIN database environments will be affected: The following HR/Payroll database environments will be affected:

Submit ARRA Section 1512 Reporting by Jan. 10 [posted 01/03/14]

This quarter’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Section 1512 Reporting (FPP B.009) is due Jan. 10. Before marking a report final, please see Final Awards and Common ARRA Section 1512 Federal Agency Comments for guidance.

Deadlines Approaching for Fourth Quarter Veteran Workforce Summary Reports [posted 01/03/14]

The maintenance/corrections deadline for the Fourth Quarter Veteran Workforce Summary Reports (Oct. 1 – Dec. 31) is Jan. 15. Copies of the quarterly reports will be sent via electronic file transfer (EFT) on Jan. 16.

The electronic acknowledgement form and complaints report must be submitted by Jan. 23.

For more information, see Veterans Workforce Summary and Veteran Complaint Reports (FPP F.038).

ACR Migrates to Create Reassociation Trace Numbers in TINS and USAS [posted 01/03/14]

ACR 43829 – TINS made direct deposit changes for healthcare Automated Clearing House payments effective Jan. 3, including the new requirement for a Reassociation Trace Number.

This ACR makes TINS and USAS compliant with the new Electronic Funds Transfer rules from the National Automated Clearing House Association and U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. If you have questions, please contact Payment Services.

Reminder – Last Day to Request an Extension for Submission of New 7 TINs [posted 01/03/14]

State agencies and institutions of higher education must be ready to accept the new assigned TINs the Monday immediately following the Comptroller system Payee Number Conversion in March 2014. All agencies have up to one calendar month to start submitting the new assigned TINs.

Your agency head can apply for an extension to delay submission of the new TINs up to Sept. 1, 2014. Extension requests will be accepted until the close of business on Monday, Jan. 6.

Please see How to Request an Extension to the Deadline for Submitting New Assigned TINs for instructions.