The TINS Warrant Hold Web-based training for state agency staff entering, maintaining or releasing warrant hold information has been updated to reflect changes made by the TINS Payee Number Conversion.
The TINS Warrant Hold Web-based training for state agency staff entering, maintaining or releasing warrant hold information has been updated to reflect changes made by the TINS Payee Number Conversion.
Preliminary copies of the fiscal 2014 Annual Report (Statewide Hiring Practices) will be sent to each state agency and institution of higher education via electronic file transfer on Sept. 16.
Acknowledgment forms must be returned by Sept. 23. Agencies and institutions have until Oct. 8 to review the preliminary report and enter or submit changes.
For more information, including detailed instructions and forms, see Annual Report (Statewide Hiring Practices for the Fiscal Year) (FPP F.005).
Per Texas Government Code, Section 403.273, the property manager of each state agency must conduct an annual physical inventory of the trust, capitalized and controlled personal property (excluding libraries and historical arts and treasures) in the agency's possession.
State agencies must submit the Certification of Physical Inventory Conducted by Agency (73-283) form for fiscal 2014 with the signature of the agency head or designee to the Comptroller's office by Sept. 20.
State agencies and institutions of higher education that award a state grant in an amount greater than $25,000 from funds appropriated through the General Appropriations Act are required to publish the purpose for which the grant was awarded on the agency's public website.
Has your agency or institution awarded new grants that fall under this requirement? If you have not already done so, email state.grants@cpa.texas.gov your agency's single link to a Web page that provides the purposes of all applicable grants. The State Grant Listing of links to the agency grant information is available on TexasTransparency.org.
Note: The Comptroller's office does not need to be notified of new applicable grants. However, if the URL of the agency Web page changes, notify the Comptroller's office at state.grants@cpa.texas.gov.
Please see Requirement to Publish Purpose of State Grants (FPP S.010) for more information.
Each state agency (and university choosing to report to SPA) is responsible for ensuring that its fiscal year-end capitalized asset balance(s) reflected in SPA are accurate and materially correct. The balance(s) must reflect the agency’s financial position when reported in the annual financial report, Capital Asset Note (Note 2).
Effective fiscal 2014, agencies and universities certify SPA fiscal balances and Note 2 using the Capital Asset Note Submission System (CANSS) Web application rather than on the Certification (Reconciliation) of SPA Fiscal Balances form (74-198).
Complete instructions are available in the SPA Process User’s Guide (FPP N.005), including:
This is an important reminder about coding on the Recurring Transaction Profile (55) in USAS. Do not set an effective end date on certain Recurring Transaction Indexes (RTIs) used during the interagency reconciliation process for the annual financial report (AFR) until after Sept. 26.
Interagency Transaction Voucher (ITV) transactions must process successfully during the interagency reconciliation process for the AFR. An RTI (receiving) agency that sets an effective end date on the 55 profile will prevent a transaction/paying agency from processing any ITV transactions past that effective end date.
Example: A transaction entered on Sept. 2 using an RTI with an effective end date of Aug. 31 would not process, even if the effective date on the transaction is backdated to Aug. 31. To avoid problems, the RTI agency should not set an effective end date on the 55 profile until after the completion of the interagency reconciliation process.
The Comptroller’s office recommends that agencies leave the effective end dates blank on RTIs unless there is an explicit need to include a date.
For more information, please see the ITV/RTI Process section of USAS Frequently Asked Questions.
Institutions of higher education must report certain information about jobs and reappointments to HRIS at the beginning of each fiscal year. Due dates for when institutions must submit reappointment information via electronic file transfer (EFT) are:
The last day to submit HRIS September maintenance is Oct. 7.
See HRIS Higher Education Reporting Procedures for Reappointments (FPP M.003) for details, including instructions for reporting reappointment information.
Note: During the fiscal year reappointment process, Fiscal Management still requires an HRIS EFT Specifications form (73-162) for EFT #1, #2 and #3.
The final SPA processing cycle prior to the year-end closeout will run on Friday evening, Aug. 29. SPA is expected to be available on Tuesday, Sept. 2, to accept both fiscal 2014 and fiscal 2015 transactions.
For more information, see SPA Fiscal Year-End Close Process (FPP N.008).
Note: Updated instructions for the Capital Asset Note Submission System that include SPA certification will be published Aug. 22. Effective fiscal 2014, the Certification (Reconciliation) of SPA Fiscal Balances form (74-198) is no longer used.
The fiscal year-end close process requires shutting down several online systems beginning at 5 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 29.
For more information, see Online Systems Will Be Unavailable During Year-End Close 2014.
Institutions of higher education must report certain information about jobs and reappointments to HRIS at the beginning of each fiscal year. Due dates for when institutions must submit reappointment information via electronic file transfer (EFT) are:
The last day to submit HRIS September maintenance is Oct. 7.
See HRIS Higher Education Reporting Procedures for Reappointments (FPP M.003) for details, including instructions for reporting reappointment information.
Note: During the fiscal year reappointment process, Fiscal Management still requires an HRIS EFT Specifications form (73-162) for EFT #1, #2 and #3.
Junior/community colleges must certify estimates of state matching contribution funds for employees participating in the Optional Retirement Program (ORP) by Aug. 15. Please note the state contribution rate for the 2014-15 biennium is 50 percent of the state contribution of 6.6 percent of the total covered payroll for public community and junior colleges for each fiscal year. For more information, see Annual Certification of Estimated ORP State Contributions (FPP A.003).
Note: Please do not send any confidential information such as Social Security numbers as this information is not required.
The login page to the Security Request System will be updated soon. Once security coordinators log in, the procedure to request user security will remain the same.
If you have the Security Request System included in your Favorites or Bookmarks, you will need to update the URL when the new login page is available. There will be a redirect from the current URL.
The migration date for the new login is pending. Please email sfs.security@cpa.texas.gov if you have other questions.
Security coordinators can now request security for the new Lease Note Submission System (LNSS) Web application. Please see the LNSS page (login required) in Security Coordinator Reference (FPP K.005) for instructions.
LNSS will be available Sept. 2 for the submission of certain lease note disclosures during the annual financial report process.
An annual certification on pollution remediation activity is required under GASB 49, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Pollution Remediation Obligations. To comply with this requirement, all state agencies and institutions of higher education must complete the GASB 49 Questionnaire by Sept. 1. Submission of the questionnaire is an acknowledgment that you have reviewed your agency’s operations for potential Pollution Remediation Obligations.
If you have questions, please contact your financial reporting analyst.
Institutions of higher education must report certain information about jobs and reappointments to HRIS at the beginning of each fiscal year. Due dates for when institutions must submit reappointment information via electronic file transfer (EFT) are:
The last day to submit HRIS September maintenance is Oct. 7.
See HRIS Higher Education Reporting Procedures for Reappointments (FPP M.003) for details, including instructions for reporting reappointment information.
Note: During the fiscal year reappointment process, Fiscal Management still requires an HRIS EFT Specifications form (73-162) for EFT #1, #2 and #3.
To provide proper tracking about certain revenue collections, a new policy requires agencies to use specific object codes when depositing administrative and/or civil penalties:
The current practice of depositing these penalties under the object code for which the penalty was assessed overstates the fee revenue. This new policy, effective Sept. 1, will ensure proper tracking of these penalties and provide transparency regarding revenue collections.
Subscribers to Texas Comptroller Manual of Accounts updates will receive an email listing the identified revenue objects affected by this new policy.
For more information, see Change in Recording Administrative and Civil Penalties (FPP Q.016).
If you have questions on classifying these penalties in USAS, please contact your assigned appropriation control officer.
State agencies and institutions of higher education that award a state grant in an amount greater than $25,000 from funds appropriated through the General Appropriations Act are required to publish the purpose for which the grant was awarded on the agency’s public website.
Has your agency or institution awarded new grants that fall under this requirement? If you have not already done so, email state.grants@cpa.texas.gov your agency’s single link to a Web page that provides the purposes of all applicable grants. The State Grant Listing of links to the agency grant information is available on TexasTransparency.org.
Note: The Comptroller’s office does not need to be notified of new applicable grants. However, if the URL of the agency Web page changes, notify the Comptroller’s office at state.grants@cpa.texas.gov.
Please see Requirement to Publish Purpose of State Grants (FPP S.010) for more information.
The recording of the 2014 AFR Update Webinar from July 17 is now available.
The video segments available are:
You can view the recordings broken out by topic. No CPE credit will be offered for viewing these recordings.
State agencies and institutions of higher education must report certain salary supplements to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, the State Auditor’s Office and the Secretary of State no later than Sept. 15.
The online Salary Supplementation Report form must be submitted electronically to the Comptroller’s office and a hard copy must be mailed to the office of the Secretary of State no later than Sept. 15 to allow for the processing of September payrolls.
For additional information including instructions and the online report form, see Salary Supplements Paid From Sources Other Than Appropriated Funds (FPP F.031).