“What’s New” on FMX

The deadline for the fiscal 2020 annual financial report (AFR) is Nov. 20. The Financial Reporting section strongly recommends that agencies make and release all USAS entries related to the AFR by 7 p.m. on Nov. 19.

Agencies that need to make entries in USAS on Nov. 20 must use USAS Batch Edit Mode 2 for all entries. No entries for fiscal 2020 may be made after Nov. 20 in USAS.

All entries for the fiscal 2020 AFR must be backdated using an effective date of 08322020.

Contact your financial reporting analyst for questions related to the AFR submission requirements and deadlines.

An exception to open records requests is available for employees who would be under substantial threat of physical harm if information such as work location were made public. See Confidential Employee Information for Open Records Requests Requiring Agency Input (FPP L.004) if your agency has employees who might qualify for the exception.

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

Benefits Proportional by Method of Finance Reports and related adjustments are due Nov. 19.

Agencies and institutions funded with a single method of finance must submit a letter confirming this status by Nov. 19

See Benefits Proportional by Method of Finance (APS 011) (FPP A.010) for more information, including forms and sample letters.

State agencies that permit eligible employees to level their benefit replacement pay must update their payroll/personnel systems for December payrolls paid in calendar year 2021.

See Benefit Replacement Pay (BRP) Leveling Election (FPP F.035) for more information.

Entering procurement and travel card transactions in USAS or CAPPS Financials requires special considerations for timely payment reconciliation.

Agencies should review the procedures for entering credit card information into USAS and CAPPS invoice number fields as detailed in the section on central bill account (CBA) and corporate liability individual bill account (CLIBA) numbers in USAS and CAPPS Financials Invoice Number Field Requirements (FPP E.023).

See Processing Third-Party Transactions in USAS for Payment/Travel Cards, Direct Bill Payments and Reimbursements (FPP A.043) (login required) for more information. Contact Expenditure Assistance with questions.

Per Encumbrance Report and Lapsing of Appropriations (APS 018) (FPP A.019), state agencies and institutions of higher education must submit the online Annual Certification form by Oct. 30. (The recommended due date for GR consolidated was Sept. 30.)

An automatic lapse program will run in USAS as early as the Nov. 1 nightly cycle.

The effective start date for USAS budget T-codes 001, 003, 006, 009, 012, 015, 018, 021, 036, 039, 040, 041, 042 and 043 will be changed to “09012020” at 7 a.m. on Nov. 2.

Fiscal Management’s Financial Reporting section verifies general revenue (GR) information submitted by state agencies and needs to ensure that agencies cannot backdate entries, which would change the agency’s GR amount.

The GR Reconciliation Certification is due on Nov. 1. Contact your financial reporting analyst with questions.

State agencies that permit eligible employees to level their benefit replacement pay must update their payroll/personnel systems for December payrolls paid in calendar year 2021.

See Benefit Replacement Pay (BRP) Leveling Election (FPP F.035) for more information.

A CAPPS HR/Payroll user group webinar will be held Oct. 27, 9-11 a.m.

A CAPPS Financials user group webinar will be held Oct. 29, 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.

The latest top 10 audit findings in post-payment audits are available on FMX. Findings include a description of the audit issue, proper procedure and links to more information.

See the FMX Audit topic page to view purchase policies and procedures, post-payment audit reports and more.

Per Encumbrance Report and Lapsing of Appropriations (APS 018) (FPP A.019), state agencies and institutions of higher education must submit the online Annual Certification form by Oct. 30. (The recommended due date for GR consolidated was Sept. 30.)

An automatic lapse program will run in USAS as early as the Nov. 1 nightly cycle.

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.

• Review the instructions for the Semiannual Verification of Users’ Security Access Levels (FPP K.009) (login required)
• Download and review the Agency Security Coordinator Reports (login required)
• Complete and return the Attestation form (73-326) to the Comptroller’s office by Nov. 12

If you have questions, email sfs.security@cpa.texas.gov.

The Comptroller’s office has entered into a data-sharing agreement with the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) to provide information on active state employees under the authority of Texas Government Code, Chapters 403 and 771. The information includes Social Security number, date of birth, employment date and name but does not include salary or benefit information. Information for individuals in non-employment job classes, such as board members and state active-duty service members, is not included.

TWC will only use this data to help identify fraudulent payments related to unemployment benefits, and is required to keep the data confidential. Agencies will also continue to receive notices of unemployment insurance claims and should continue to respond to them.

The Comptroller’s office will begin sharing data the week of Oct. 12 via an encrypted file transfer. The file will be produced daily to allow TWC to account for changes in state employment status.

For questions about the shared data, contact the Comptroller’s Payroll Policy team at payroll.policy.mail@cpa.texas.gov.

For questions about identity theft fraud, see TWC’s Reporting Fraud page. For questions about unemployment claims, visit TWC’s Claim Management page.

An accounting policy webinar will be held Oct. 27, 1-3 p.m. See the Accounting Policy Meetings page for the webinar registration.

This page will also be updated with:

• Agenda and meeting materials, available the day before the meeting
• Q&As, available two to three weeks after the webinar

Note: Use Google Chrome as the internet browser to avoid Webex connectivity issues.

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.

By Oct. 30 each year, state agencies and institutions of higher education must lapse appropriation balances above the level needed to satisfy outstanding binding encumbrances and/or payables. All agencies must also submit the online annual certification form by Oct. 30. (Sept. 30 is the recommended due date for GR consolidated to lapse appropriation balances and submit annual certifications.)

An automatic lapse program will run in USAS as early as the Nov. 1 nightly cycle to lapse all unencumbered nonconstruction appropriation balances for all prior appropriation years.

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

The effective start date for USAS budget T-codes 001, 003, 006, 009, 012, 015, 018, 021, 036, 039, 040, 041, 042 and 043 will be changed to “09012020” at 7 a.m. on Nov. 2.

Fiscal Management’s Financial Reporting section verifies general revenue (GR) information submitted by state agencies and needs to ensure that agencies cannot backdate entries, which would change the agency’s GR amount.

The GR Reconciliation Certification is due on Nov. 1. Contact your financial reporting analyst with questions.

The transaction entry screens in USAS and CAPPS allow state agencies and institutions of higher education to enter payment-related information in the invoice number and description fields.

Agencies and institutions must never enter confidential or sensitive information such as complete or partial Social Security numbers or information covered by the Protected Health Information Prohibition.

See USAS and CAPPS Financials Invoice Number Field Requirements (FPP E.023) for more information and to review your agency’s procedures for compliance with field requirements.

Preliminary copies of the 2020 Equal Employment Opportunity Report (FPP F.016) will arrive at agencies and institutions of higher education via electronic file transfer on Oct. 15 with each agency’s regular daily downloads.

Deadlines:

Oct. 22 – Preliminary Equal Employment Opportunity Report Acknowledgement form due

Oct. 26 – Data corrections due

Data corrections entered or submitted after Oct. 26 will not be reflected in the final report issued on Oct. 28.