Agencies that reimburse employees for state-related hotel stays are due a refund for the associated hotel occupancy taxes. USAS automatically generates the refunds each quarter.
The hotel occupancy tax refund for August will be available on DAFR reports 8190 and 8200 on Sept. 9.
See Hotel Occupancy Tax Quarterly Refund (FPP B.006) for more information.
Fiscal 2020 travel reimbursement rates are available now for:
The 2020 General Services Administration (GSA) rates are effective Oct. 1 and are now available online. Sept. 1-30, the standard lodging rate for all locations not listed on the GSA will be $94. Effective Oct. 1, the standard lodging rate increases to $96. The maximum daily meal reimbursement rate for in-state and out-of-state locations not listed on the GSA remains $55.
See Textravel, email Expenditure Assistance or call (512) 475-0966 for more information.
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, per Texas Government Code, Section 403.273. The inventory must be completed by Aug. 31.
Agencies must then submit the Certification of Physical Inventory Conducted by Agency (73-283) form to the Comptroller’s office by Sept. 20 for fiscal 2019 with the signature of the agency head or designee.
See Certification of Physical Inventory in Chapter 2 of the SPA Process Users Guide for more information.
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.
See Salary Supplements Paid from Sources Other Than Appropriated Funds (FPP F.031) for instructions and the online report form.
Each state agency (and institution of higher education reporting to SPA) must annually reconcile SPA ending balances with its annual financial report (AFR) by certifying SPA fiscal balances and Note 2 using the Capital Asset Note Submission System (CANSS) web application. Due dates are:
See SPA Fiscal Year-End Reconciliation and Certification of Fiscal Balances in Chapter 2 of the SPA Process User’s Guide (FPP N.005) for more information.
The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts will update the USAS purchase category code (PCC) titles to align with the Statewide Procurement Division requirements and CAPPS PCC titles, and to improve reporting of Department of Information Resources (DIR) purchases. Effective Sept. 1, agencies must use PCCs I and N for DIR purchases on USAS document type 2 only.
PCC updates include:
The 86th Legislature made many changes to Article IX of the General Appropriations Act (GAA) that take effect Sept. 1. See Changes to Article IX of the GAA and Other Bills of Interest to State Agencies (FPP F.008) for a summary of these changes and major bills passed that affect state agencies.
Several Accounting Policy Statements (APSs) have been updated through acts of the 86th Legislature, Regular Session. The APSs include changes to terminology, policies, procedures and transaction coding blocks.
Review each APS carefully to ensure compliance with the most current policies and procedures.
Earned federal funds that agencies deposit into Appropriation 70000 in amounts above the level identified in GAA, Article IX, Section 13.11(b), plus benefits (13.11[g]), are appropriated subject to certain conditions and deadlines.
For defined conditions and deadlines, see the Appropriation Authority for Earned Federal Fund Collections Above the Annual Level section of Earned Federal Funds and Indirect Cost Reimbursements to the General Revenue Fund (APS 023) (FPP A.017).
Contact your agency’s appropriation control officer with any questions.
Important reminder for coding on the USAS Recurring Transaction Profile (55): Do not set an effective end date until after Sept. 26 on certain Recurring Transaction Indexes (RTIs) used during the interagency reconciliation process for the annual financial report (AFR).
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.
For 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 were 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.
Agencies should leave the effective end dates on RTIs blank unless there is an explicit need to include a date.
See the ITV/RTI Process USAS FAQs for more information.
All proceeds from the sale of surplus property, equipment and commodities must be deposited to general revenue (GR) in appropriation 99908.
An agency may reappropriate 25 percent of the receipts from surplus property sales for expenditure during the fiscal year in which the receipts occur
See Proceeds from the Sale of Surplus Property (FPP A.032) for more information.
Sept. 13 is the maintenance and corrections deadline for the fiscal 2019 fourth quarter Veteran Workforce Summary Reports (June 1 – Aug. 31). Copies of the quarterly reports will be sent via electronic file transfer (EFT) on Sept. 17. The online quarterly report acknowledgment form (with required complaint reporting included) will be available Sept. 17 and must be submitted by Sept. 24.
See Veteran Workforce Summary Reports and Veteran Complaint Reporting (FPP F.038) for more information.
The USAS annual cash-basis close for fiscal 2019 will occur Aug. 30.
The fiscal year-end close process requires shutting down the statewide fiscal systems. For more information, please see the Master Schedule of Year-End Close Events, which includes:
The 86th Legislature, Regular Session, updated the salary administration laws:
See Legislative Changes Affecting Salary Administration, 86th Legislature (FPP F.021) for more information.
Because the 86th Legislature updated salary administration provisions of the General Appropriations Act (GAA), the Comptroller’s office has issued:
See Reason Code Resources and Classification Salary Schedules (FPP R.022) to view and download these PDFs.
The 2019 Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)-4 Report summarizes state agency hiring practices. The Governor’s Office uses data from the biennial report (agency detail and summary reports) to comply with U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reporting requirements.
Final copies of the 2019 EEO-4 Report will be available to agencies via electronic file transfer on Aug. 16. Agencies must:
See Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)-4 Report (FPP G.003).
Agencies and institutions must report emergency leave use by Oct. 1 for employees granted more than 32 hours of emergency leave during the prior fiscal year.
See Emergency Leave Reporting Requirements (FPP F.040) for details on the Emergency Leave Reporting web application and the required statement for agencies and institutions not sending a report.
Note: The required report layout has changed. You must submit your fiscal 2019 report in the new format.
The final SPA processing cycle before the fiscal year-end closeout runs Friday evening, Aug. 30. SPA should be available Sept. 3 to accept both fiscal 2019 and 2020 transactions.
See SPA Fiscal Year-End Close Process (FPP N.008) for more information.
Beginning the evening of Sept. 4, the following AFR-related reports will run and electronically transmit on a daily basis:
Agencies may save or print their reports daily, if needed. Each day’s information is superseded on the following business day by the next transmission.
Contact your financial reporting analyst for more information.
Institutions of higher education must report certain information about jobs and reappointments at the beginning of each fiscal year. Submit reappointment information via electronic file transfer (EFT) by:
The HRIS September maintenance deadline is Oct. 7. See HRIS Higher Education Reporting Procedures for Reappointments (FPP M.003) for reappointment details and instructions.
Note: Fiscal Management requires an HRIS EFT Specifications form (73-162) for EFT #1, EFT #2 and EFT #3 during the fiscal year reappointment process.
Fiscal Management will host a webinar Aug. 20, 10–11 a.m., covering impacts to CAPPS, USPS, SPRS and HRIS resulting from the 86th Legislature, Regular Session.
Topics include:
See the meeting agenda for teleconferencing instructions and contact information.
An accounting policy meeting will be held Aug. 22, 1:30–4:30 p.m. in the William B. Travis Building, Room 1-100.
See the Accounting Policy Meetings page for the agenda, parking pass and webinar registration.
The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts will update the purchase category code (PCC) titles in USAS to align with the Statewide Procurement Division requirements and CAPPS PCC titles and to improve reporting of Department of Information Resources (DIR) purchases. Effective Sept. 1, agencies must use PCCs I and N for DIR purchases on USAS document type 2 only.
PCC updates include:
Sept. 20 is the deadline to enter property transfers in SPA so simplified reporting agencies can complete their fiscal year-end reconciliations.
Universities that do not report to SPA must follow the reporting requirements in Capital Asset Note Preparation to report external transfers.
Transfers between two external agencies cannot be entered into SPA.
See Transferring Property in Chapter 7 of the SPA Process User Guide for complete instructions.
Each state agency (and institution of higher education reporting to SPA) must annually reconcile SPA ending balances with its annual financial report (AFR) by certifying SPA fiscal balances and Note 2 using the Capital Asset Note Submission System (CANSS) web application. Due dates are:
See SPA Fiscal Year-End Reconciliation and Certification of Fiscal Balances in Chapter 2 of the SPA Process User’s Guide (FPP N.005) for more information.
State agencies and institutions of higher education can request the use of Statewide Financial Systems (SFS) web services. Available services are PING (used to test web service connectivity with the Comptroller’s office) and Payee ID Status (VSTA) (provides a Texas Identification Number).
See Procedures for Agencies Requesting SFS Web Services (FPP N.010) (login required) for detailed instructions.
All simplified and full reporting agencies must complete and submit every GASB questionnaire by Aug. 15. The Reporting Requirements’ GASB Questionnaires page provides:
Contact your financial reporting analyst for questions about any GASB questionnaire.