The Fiscal 2014 Fourth Quarter Post-Payment Audit Reports are available for view, print and download. For more audit resources, including Fiscal Policies and Procedures, forms and contact information, see the Audit topic page on FMX.
To receive email notification of each audit report posted, subscribe via GovDelivery.
The annual State Employee Charitable Campaign (SECC) began Sept. 1 and ends Oct. 31. During the SECC, state employees may elect to deduct contributions to participating charities from their paychecks; those contributions are then sent to the statewide federations or local campaign areas.
Payroll/personnel systems must be updated for December 2014 payrolls. Each year, changes are made to some participating groups, including mailing addresses and contact information. Payee codes and Texas Identification Numbers may also change.
For more information, see the SECC website or State Employee Charitable Campaign Participation (FPP F.033).
Final 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 Oct. 9.
For more information, including HRIS, SPRS and USPS contacts, see Annual Report (Statewide Hiring Practices for the Fiscal Year) (FPP F.005).
Oct. 15 is the maintenance/corrections deadline for the Third Quarter Veteran Workforce Summary Reports (July 1 – Sept. 30). Copies of the quarterly reports will be sent via electronic file transfer on Oct. 16.
The Veteran Workforce Summary Report acknowledgement form and complaints report must be submitted by Oct. 23.
For more, please see Veteran Workforce Summary and Veteran Complaint Reports (FPP F.038).
Security coordinators are required to certify that their records are up to date through a semiannual security verification process that is concurrent for all Fiscal Management applications.
A confirmation form will be mailed on Oct. 1 and must be returned by Friday, Oct. 31, for agency or institution security requests to continue to be accepted.
If you have any questions, please e-mail sfs.security@cpa.texas.gov or see Semiannual Verification of Users’ Security Access Levels (FPP K.009) (login required).
Encumbrance Report and Lapsing of Appropriations (APS 018) (FPP A.019) now includes expand/collapse navigation to make it easier to find the section you need, as well as the following updates:
If you have questions, please contact your appropriation control officer.
State agencies and institutions of higher education must report annual binding encumbrances and payables to the Comptroller’s office per APS 018. Because the annual reporting requirement encompasses the fourth quarter of the previous appropriation year, there is no requirement for separate fourth-quarter reporting.
Agencies must enter encumbrances and payables into USAS for AY 2014 and prior years’ appropriations by the due date for their agency type for annual financial reporting:
All agencies need to submit the online Annual Certification by Oct. 30.
By Oct. 30 each year, all agencies must lapse appropriation balances that exceed the level necessary to satisfy any outstanding binding encumbrances and/or payables.
On Nov. 1 each year, the Comptroller’s office lapses all unencumbered appropriation balances based on the binding encumbrances and payables reported.
For full details, see APS 018.
Fiscal 2015 travel reimbursement rates are available now for:
As a reminder, the in-state per diem lodging rate for locations not listed on the General Services Administration website is $85. The maximum out-of-state per diem lodging rate for non-listed locations is $83, and the in-state/out-of-state per diem meals rate is $46.
For more information, see Textravel, email Expenditure Assistance or call (512) 475-0966.
Fiscal Management has revamped the training offered on Prompt Payment and Payment Scheduling for fiscal 2015. In response to attendee evaluations, the separate policy and workshop courses were merged into one streamlined class.
State employees responsible for payment processing at state agencies or institutions of higher education can sign up for the next class (Training Center login required), scheduled for Nov. 13.
If you have already taken the policy and/or workshop courses: You will no longer be able to access the Certificate of Completion for these courses in Training Center after Oct. 15. Please print out a copy for your records, especially if you are licensed as a CPA.
If you have questions, please contact Javier Silva at fmtraining@cpa.texas.gov or (512) 463-1757.
Institutions of higher education hold appropriated funds outside the State Treasury and must enter fiscal 2014 expenditure activity into USAS by Oct. 15 for reconciliation with the Legislative Budget Board’s Automated Budget and Evaluation System of Texas (ABEST).
In addition to D23 Fund 7999 – Other Educational and General Expenditures, expenditure activity must also be entered for D22 Fund 0369 – American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, if applicable.
Note: Community/junior colleges are excluded from these requirements.
For more information, see Entering Higher Education Expenditure Activity into USAS for USAS/ABEST Reconciliation (FPP B.011).
The HRIS Employees Without Reappointments Report for institutions of higher education will be available to download on Friday, Sept. 19.
For each employee listed on the report, one of the following needs to be added in HRIS:
All employee information listed on the report must be corrected by close of business Friday, Sept. 26.
It is important to reconcile the report information against your institution’s records to ensure the information in HRIS is accurate. HRIS uses this information to generate the Equal Employment Opportunity Report, Annual Report (Statewide Hiring Practices for the Fiscal Year) and Veteran Workforce Summary Report.
Fiscal Management will rerun the report weekly until all necessary corrections have been made.
For more information on the reappointment process, please see HRIS Higher Education Reporting Procedures for Reappointments (FPP M.003) or contact your HRIS representative.
Note: Institutions that do not have employees without reappointments will not receive a report.
Sept. 20 is the new deadline to enter all property transfers between external and internal agencies in SPA so simplified reporting agencies can complete their year-end reconciliations.
Note: External agencies are institutions of higher education that do not report to SPA. Internal agencies are all state agencies and institutions of higher education that use the SPA system or report to SPA via batch. Please refer to the Internal/External SPA Institutions of Higher Education List and notify your SPA analyst if your agency’s status is incorrect.
Transfers between two external agencies cannot be entered into SPA. If your institution made any applicable transfers, please submit the fiscal year-end External to External Agency Transfers In and Out Excel template to spa@cpa.texas.gov by:
See Chapter 7 “Transferring Property” of the SPA Process User’s Guide (FPP N.005) for complete instructions.
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.
The Comptroller’s office is authorized to offset state payments against a person’s state debt, as outlined in Reporting of State Debts and Hold Offset Procedures (APS 028) (FPP E.037).
If an offset occurs that results in an overage, a warrant for any remaining amount is issued. If a payee reports the warrant has not been received or is lost, the overage warrant may be canceled and reissued after 30 days from the date the original warrant was issued.
This new policy can be found in the Lost Overage Warrants section of Hold Procedures (FPP E.020).
Fiscal Management would like to notify state agencies that the size of a state warrant will change in fiscal 2015:
Your agency may want to avoid purchasing a large inventory of warrant stock envelopes. This change will occur no earlier than December 2014.
Watch FMXtra for an announcement as soon as more information is available. If you have other questions, please contact Payment Services.
Sept. 20 is the new deadline to enter all property transfers between external and internal agencies in SPA so simplified reporting agencies can complete their year-end reconciliations.
Note: External agencies are institutions of higher education that do not report to SPA. Internal agencies are all state agencies and institutions of higher education that use the SPA system or report to SPA via batch. Please refer to the Internal/External SPA Institutions of Higher Education List and notify your SPA analyst if your agency’s status is incorrect.
Transfers between two external agencies cannot be entered into SPA. If your institution made any applicable transfers, please submit the fiscal year-end External to External Agency Transfers In and Out Excel template to spa@cpa.texas.gov by:
See Chapter 7 “Transferring Property” of the SPA Process User’s Guide (FPP N.005) for complete instructions.
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).
Agencies that reimburse employees for state-related hotel stays are due a refund for the associated hotel occupancy taxes. The refunds are generated automatically through USAS each quarter.
The hotel occupancy tax refund for August will be available on the DAFR8190 and DAFR8200 reports on Sept. 9.
For more information, see Hotel Occupancy Tax Quarterly Refund (FPP B.006).
The Employees Retirement System is offering an optional Dental Discount Program beginning Sept. 1.
USPS and SPRS Application Change Requests (ACRs) migrated Sept. 1 to implement this change:
Please contact your USPS or SPRS representative if you have any questions.
Effective Sept. 1, the Employees Retirement System is excluding certain rehires from the requirement for a 90-day wait before making retirement contributions.
USPS and SPRS Application Change Requests (ACRs) migrated Sept. 1 to implement this change:
Please contact your USPS or SPRS representative if you have any questions.