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“What’s New” on FMX

August, 2020

Emergency Leave Reporting Due

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.

Fiscal 2021 Travel Rates

The 2021 General Services Administration (GSA) rates are effective Oct. 1 and are now online. Fiscal 2021 travel reimbursement rates are available for:

  • In-state or out-of-state meals and lodging
  • In-state or out-of-state non-overnight meals
  • Automobile mileage
  • Aircraft mileage 

Standard lodging and meal reimbursement rates remain the same for fiscal 2021. The standard lodging rate for all locations not listed on the GSA is $96, and the meal reimbursement rate for locations not listed on the GSA is $55.

See Textravel, email Expenditure Assistance or call (512) 475-0966 for more information.

Reminder — Report on Certain Salary Supplements Due

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 by Sept. 15.

See Salary Supplements Paid From Sources Other Than Appropriated Funds (FPP F.031) for instructions and the online report form.

Reminder — SPA/AFR Reconciliation Deadlines

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:

  • Oct. 20 – Full reporting agencies
  • Nov. 1 – Consolidated university systems (applies only to institutions of higher education reporting to SPA)

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.

GASB 84 Implementation

To implement GASB Statement No. 84, Fiduciary Activities (GASB 84), the Comptroller’s office will be modifying all USAS D23 fund profiles that infer fund type 09 (FT09) for fiscal 2020 and 2021 by Oct. 31. Agencies do not need to make any modifications in USAS related to FT09 at this time. For more details and agencies’ responsibilities, see the AFR Reporting Requirements’ FAQs page.

Contact your assigned financial reporting analyst with questions.

Hotel Occupancy Tax Refund Reports

Agencies that reimburse employees for state-related hotel stays are due a refund for 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.

Fourth Quarter Veteran Workforce Summary Reports Due

Sept. 15 is the maintenance and corrections deadline for the fiscal 2020 fourth quarter Veteran Workforce Summary Reports (June 1 to Aug. 31). Copies of the quarterly reports will be sent via electronic file transfer (EFT) on Sept. 16. The online quarterly report acknowledgment form (with required complaint reporting included) will be available Sept. 16 and must be submitted by Sept. 23

See Veteran Workforce Summary Reports and Veteran Complaint Reporting (FPP F.038) for more information.

Community/Junior Colleges Fourth Quarter Veteran Workforce Reporting Due

Public community and junior colleges must provide quarterly data on veteran hiring and employment by completing the Comptroller’s electronic Veteran Workforce Reporting for Public Community/Junior College form. The online form (with required veteran complaint reporting included) will be available Sept. 16 and must be submitted by Sept. 23.

See Public Community and Junior Colleges Veteran Workforce Reporting Criteria in Veteran Workforce Summary Reports and Veteran Complaint Reporting (FPP F.038) for more information, including form criteria, instructions and quarterly reporting deadlines.

Do Not Set Effective End Date on Certain RTIs

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 vouchers (ITVs) 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 this, the RTI agency should not set an effective end date on the 55 profile until the interagency reconciliation process is complete.

Agencies should leave the effective end dates on RTIs blank unless there is an explicit need to include one.

See the ITV/RTI Process USAS FAQs for more information.

Accounting Policy Webinar

An accounting policy webinar will be held Aug. 25, 1-3 p.m. See the Accounting Policy Meetings page for the agenda and webinar registration.

CAPPS User Group Webinars

A CAPPS Financials user group webinar will be held Aug. 20, 9-11 a.m.

A CAPPS HR/Payroll user group webinar will be held Aug. 25, 9-11 a.m.

See CAPPS HR/Payroll User Group Meetings or CAPPS Financials User Group Meetings for webinar information. The agenda and meeting materials will be posted one day before the meeting.

Reminder — Systems Unavailable During Year-End Close

The USAS annual cash-basis close for fiscal 2020 occurs Aug. 31.

The fiscal year-end close process requires shutting down the statewide fiscal systems. See Master Schedule of Year-End Close Events for more information, including:

  • Processing deadlines
  • System maintenance dates and times
  • Support contacts

Reminder — Annual Certification of Estimated ORP State Contributions Due

Junior/community colleges must certify estimates of state matching contribution funds for employees participating in the Optional Retirement Program (ORP) by Aug. 15.

See Annual Estimate of Optional Retirement Program (ORP) State Contributions (FPP A.003) for complete information including instructions and forms.

AFR Ad Hoc Reports

Starting on the evening of Sept. 2, the following AFR-related reports will run and be available via secure file transfer protocol (SFTP) the following day:

Agencies may save or print their reports daily, Monday through Friday. Each day’s information is replaced on the following business day by the next transmission.

Contact your financial reporting analyst for more information.

Property Transfers Deadline

Sept. 20 is the deadline to enter property transfers in SPA so GR consolidated 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.

Note: 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.

Reminder — All 2020 GASB Questionnaires Due

All GR consolidated agencies and full reporting agencies must complete and submit every GASB questionnaire by Aug. 15.

The AFR website’s GASB Questionnaires page provides:

  • Links to each GASB questionnaire
  • Descriptions and PDF previews of each GASB questionnaire
  • Links for more information on the AFR website specific to each GASB statement

Contact your financial reporting analyst for questions about any GASB questionnaire.

Reminder — HRIS Reappointments Due

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:

  • Sept. 9: EFT #1 — Class codes and carriers
  • Sept. 11: EFT #2 — Reappointments for fiscal 2021
  • Sept. 16: EFT #3 — Terminations for fiscal 2020

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 either an email to hrismail@cpa.texas.gov OR an HRIS EFT Specifications form (73-162) for EFT #1, EFT #2 and EFT #3 during the fiscal year reappointment process.