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October, 2014

Monthly Archives

Statewide Cost Allocation Due Nov. 14 [posted 10/31/14]

The Comptroller’s office bills agencies for their portion of statewide costs using the Statewide Allocated Costs and billing procedures prescribed by the Governor’s Office. Agencies indicate the basis used to allocate statewide costs and use that basis to distribute their statewide costs among sources of funding on the Statewide Cost Allocation Worksheet. The worksheet is due Nov. 14.

For agencies not submitting a worksheet, the Comptroller’s office will distribute statewide costs based on the agency’s appropriation year 2015 method of finance.

See General Revenue Reimbursement for Statewide Allocated Costs (FPP A.022) for additional information, including instructions and forms. For assistance, please contact your appropriation control officer.

ARRA Section 1512 and SEFA Reconciliation No Longer Required [posted 10/31/14]

As per section 627 of the federal Fiscal Year 2014 Omnibus Spending Bill, Section 1512 reporting was repealed effective Feb. 1, 2014. Therefore, the Web-based reconciliation is no longer required between American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Section 1512 reporting and the annual Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) for state agencies and institutions of higher education. The last required Web-based reporting period for ARRA/SEFA reconciliation was fiscal 2013. Agencies and institutions of higher education must maintain sufficient documentation to perform this reconciliation if requested.

For more information, please contact Shelly Arnold at (512) 463-4709.

User Group Meeting Set for Dec. 11 [posted 10/31/14]

The next USAS User Group Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 11, to discuss:

The meeting will be 2–4 p.m. in Room 1-100 of the Travis Building. Register in Training Center (login required) to attend in person or via teleconference.

For more information, see USAS User Group Meeting.

Note: Continuing professional education (CPE) credit will be awarded for in-person attendance, so registration is encouraged. Teleconference attendees cannot receive CPE credit.

Double-check CBA and CLIBA Payment Procedures [posted 10/31/14]

Entering procurement and travel card transactions into USAS requires special considerations for the timely reconciliation of payments. Please note these reminders from USAS Invoice Number Field Requirements (FPP E.023) for entering credit card information in the invoice number (INV NO) field:

For more information, see Processing Third-Party Transactions in USAS for Payment/Travel Cards, Direct Bill Payments and Reimbursements (FPP A.043) or your agency’s Purchase and Travel contact.

Final Copies of the EEO Report Available Nov. 14 [posted 10/31/14]

Final copies of the 2014 Equal Employment Opportunity Report (FPP F.016) will be sent to each agency and institution of higher education via electronic file transfer on Nov. 14.

Nov. 12 is the deadline for making data corrections. Corrections entered or submitted after this date will not be reflected in the final report. The Comptroller’s office will send the final report to the Civil Rights Division of the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) on Nov. 14.

Contact your HRIS, SPRS or USPS representative or the Statewide Human Resource and Payroll Assistance Help Desk at (512) 463-4008 with any questions.

Benefits Proportional by Fund Reports Due Nov. 19 [posted 10/24/14]

State agencies and institutions of higher education are required to ensure payments of benefit costs are proportional to the agency’s or institution’s funding from appropriated funds, unless another legal provision prohibits proportionality.

Benefits Proportional by Fund Reports and related adjustments are due Nov. 19.

Agencies and institutions funded with a single appropriated fund must submit a letter confirming this status by Nov. 19.

For forms and sample letters, see Benefits Proportional by Fund (APS 011) (FPP A.010).

Payroll Stuffer Promotes Texas Highways Magazine [posted 10/24/14]

A payroll stuffer for the Nov. 1 payroll — available now for download — announces a state employee rate of $12.50 for an annual subscription to Texas Highways, the official travel magazine of Texas, published by the Texas Department of Transportation.

For more information on the state employee discount program or to place an order, see the payroll stuffer. To order by phone, call (800) 839-4997 and give discount code EX5EMPL.

Reminder — Preliminary Copies of the EEO Report Available Oct. 31 [posted 10/24/14]

Preliminary copies of the 2014 Equal Employment Opportunity Report (FPP F.016) will be sent to agencies and institutions of higher education via electronic file transfer on Oct. 31. The files will be available with the agency’s regular daily downloads.

Deadlines:

Nov. 7 – The Preliminary Equal Employment Opportunity Report Acknowledgement Form is due.

Nov. 12 – Data corrections are due.

Data corrections entered or submitted after Nov. 12 will not be reflected on the final report, which will be issued on Nov. 14. Contact your HRIS, SPRS or USPS representative or the Statewide Human Resource and Payroll Assistance Help Desk at (512) 463-4008 with any questions.

Reminder — Benefit Replacement Pay Leveling Election Due [posted 10/24/14]

State agencies that permit eligible employees to level their benefit replacement pay (BRP) must update their payroll/personnel systems for December payrolls paid in calendar year 2015.

While statute determines which state employees and state-paid judges are eligible to receive BRP, individual state agency policy dictates whether employees have the choice of receiving their BRP in equal monthly payments over the course of a calendar year. This choice is called leveling and must be exercised before the beginning of each calendar year.

For more information, see Benefit Replacement Pay (BRP) Leveling Election (FPP F.035).

Reminder — Automated Lapse of Unencumbered Budget Takes Place Nov. 1 [posted 10/24/14]

By Oct. 30 each year, state agencies and institutions of higher education must lapse appropriation balances that exceed the level necessary to satisfy any outstanding binding encumbrances and/or payables.

All agencies need to submit the online Annual Certification by Oct. 30.

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 Encumbrance Report and Lapsing of Appropriations (APS 018) (FPP A.019).

CAPPS Maintenance on Oct. 26 [posted 10/23/14]

Multiple CAPPS environments will undergo scheduled maintenance on Sunday, Oct. 26.

CAPPS Financials Production (FSPRD) and HR/Payroll Production (HRPRD) environments will undergo scheduled maintenance from 5 a.m. until noon in order to migrate to new Shared Storage hardware running updated software.

Reports trying to post to a reporting repository or interface jobs trying to write to the shared storage directories will not run during this time. These jobs will complete successfully once the maintenance is complete.

Additionally, the CAPPS Financials Business Objects Production (BO PROD) environment will be unavailable from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. while a patch is installed on the server to resolve an issue with clients running Java 1.7. During this time, all Business Objects reports will be unavailable, including CAPPS Reports.

The CAPPS Financials Production (FSPRD) and HR/Payroll Production (HRPRD) environments will be available during this time.

SWCAP Worksheet Submission Delayed [posted 10/17/14]

The submission deadline for the Statewide Cost Allocation Plan (SWCAP) worksheet has been delayed this year.

Each year agencies are asked to allocate a portion of statewide costs to the appropriate source of funds. The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts uses the SWCAP and billing procedures prescribed by the Governor’s Office to bill agencies for the portion of statewide costs allocated to them.

An updated timeline for submission will be provided once final figures are available.

Preliminary Copies of the EEO Report Available Oct. 31 [posted 10/17/14]

Preliminary copies of the 2014 Equal Employment Opportunity Report (FPP F.016) will be sent to agencies and institutions of higher education via electronic file transfer on Oct. 31. The files will be available with the agency’s regular daily downloads.

Deadlines:

Nov. 7 – The Preliminary Equal Employment Opportunity Report Acknowledgement Form is due.

Nov. 12 – Data corrections are due.

Data corrections entered or submitted after Nov. 12 will not be reflected on the final report, which will be issued on Nov. 14. Contact your HRIS, SPRS or USPS representative or the Statewide Human Resource and Payroll Assistance Help Desk at (512) 463-4008 with any questions.

ARRA Section 1512 and SEFA Reconciliation Begins Nov. 4 / Due Nov. 20 [posted 10/17/14]

Reconciliation is required between American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Section 1512 reporting and the annual Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) for state agencies and institutions of higher education that receive ARRA funding.

The SEFA/ARRA Reconciliation option within the SEFA Web application will be available Nov. 4, with the reconciliation due Nov. 20.

For more information, see SEFA/ARRA Reconciliation. If you have questions, please contact Thanh Quach at (512) 463-4703.

Reminder – Confirmation Form for Semiannual Verification of Users’ Security Access Levels Due Oct. 31 [posted 10/17/14]

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. The confirmation form must be returned by Friday, Oct. 31, for agency or institution security requests to continue to be accepted.

If you have any questions, please email sfs.security@cpa.texas.gov or see Semiannual Verification of Users’ Security Access Levels (FPP K.009) (login required).

Reminder – Deadline Approaching for Third Quarter Veteran Workforce Summary Reports [posted 10/17/14]

The Veteran Workforce Summary Report acknowledgement form and complaints report must be submitted by Oct. 23.

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

APS 011 Has Been Updated [posted 10/10/14]

Benefits Proportional by Fund (APS 011) has been updated.

Changes include removing federal funds and trust funds from the assessment of the benefits proportional requirement and updating report exemption requirements.

Agencies Can Now Secure Mail Codes with Security Level 1 [posted 10/10/14]

TINS Application Change Request 42272 allows agencies to secure mail codes with Security Level 1 online or via batch effective Oct. 10. Mail codes secured with Level 1 may be viewed by any agency, but the information can only be changed by the securing source agency.

Agencies are still required to submit a Payee Change Request form (74-157) to secure a confidential mail code with Level 2, which allows only the securing source agency to view or change the information. The securing source agency can change the Security Level from 2 to 1 or 0 or from 1 to 0.

If you have questions, please contact Payment Services.

Benefit Replacement Pay Leveling Election Due [posted 10/10/14]

State agencies that permit eligible employees to level their benefit replacement pay (BRP) must update their payroll/personnel systems for December payrolls paid in calendar year 2015.

While statute determines which state employees and state-paid judges are eligible to receive BRP, individual state agency policy dictates whether employees have the choice of receiving their BRP in equal monthly payments over the course of a calendar year.

This choice is called leveling and must be exercised before the beginning of each calendar year.

For more information, see Benefit Replacement Pay (BRP) Leveling Election (FPP F.035).

Reminder – Automated Lapse of Unencumbered Budget Takes Place Nov. 1 [posted 10/10/14]

By Oct. 30 each year, state agencies and institutions of higher education must lapse appropriation balances that exceed the level necessary to satisfy any outstanding binding encumbrances and/or payables.

All agencies need to submit the online Annual Certification by Oct. 30.

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 Encumbrance Report and Lapsing of Appropriations (APS 018) (FPP A.019).

Reminder – New Prompt Payment Class Replaces Policy and Workshop Courses [posted 10/10/14]

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.

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.

CAPPS FIN and HR/Payroll Maintenance Oct. 12 [posted 10/10/14]

Multiple CAPPS environments will undergo scheduled maintenance on Sunday, Oct. 12 from 5 a.m. to 12 noon.

The CAPPS Financials Maintenance and Sandbox environments will be unavailable in order to apply required quarterly AIX UNIX patches.

The following environments will be unavailable:

CAPPS Financials and HR/Payroll Production environments will be migrating to new Shared Storage hardware running updated software. The environments will be available during this maintenance window. Reports trying to post to a reporting repository or interface jobs trying to write to the shared storage directories will not run during this time. These jobs will complete successfully once the maintenance is complete.

The following environments will be affected but will remain available:

Ensure Compliance with USAS Invoice Number and Description Requirements [posted 10/03/14]

The Transaction Entry screens in USAS allow state agencies and institutions of higher education to enter payment-related information in the invoice number and description fields. Review your agency’s procedures to ensure compliance with USAS Invoice Number Field Requirements (FPP E.023).

Under no circumstances should agencies and institutions enter confidential or sensitive information such as complete or partial Social Security numbers or information covered by the Protected Health Information (PHI) Prohibition.

Data items described in Business and Commerce Code Section 521.002 must not be entered into a field not specifically created for that information unless explicitly allowed by Comptroller policy. This includes:

Personal Safety Exception to Open Records Requests Available [posted 10/03/14]

The Fiscal Management Division responds to a number of open records requests for payment-related data in any given year. Many of these requests deal with information directly related to state employees. Government Code Section 552.152 provides an exception for employees who would be under substantial threat of physical harm if information such as work location were to be made public.

Note: This provision is situation specific, but the Comptroller’s office has held that a personal safety exception may require a protective order to be in force. A protective order fits the guidelines of the statute that “disclosure of the information would subject the employee or officer to a substantial threat of physical harm.”

If your agency has an employee who qualifies for the personal safety exception, contact Ruth Soucy at (512) 475-0411 or open.records@cpa.texas.gov.

See also Confidential Employee Information for Open Records Requests Requiring Agency Input (FPP L.004).