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.
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 Sept. 9.
See Hotel Occupancy Tax Quarterly Refund (FPP B.006) for more information.
BlueZone Web-to-Host 5.2 will be decommissioned Sept. 8. Customers must upgrade to BlueZone Web-to-Host 7.1 before that date. See Requirements for Transmitting Comptroller Information (FPP N.007) (login required) for installation instructions.
Note: If you have trouble connecting to the FMX site or downloading BlueZone, contact your IT support to determine if your agency security policies or firewalls are blocking access.
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.
State agencies (and institution of higher education reporting to SPA) must annually reconcile SPA ending balances with their annual financial reports (AFRs). Due dates for certifying SPA fiscal balances and Note 2 using the Capital Asset Note Submission System (CANSS) web application 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.
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.
BlueZone Web-to-Host 5.2 will be decommissioned Sept. 8. Customers must upgrade to BlueZone Web-to-Host 7.1 before that date. See Requirements for Transmitting Comptroller Information (FPP N.007) (login required) for installation instructions.
The following Accounting Policy Statements (APSs) have been updated:
Review each APS to ensure compliance with current policies and procedures.
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 the sale of surplus property for expenditure during the fiscal year in which the receipts are received.
See Proceeds From the Sale of Surplus Property (FPP A.032) for more information.
The fourth-quarter general revenue (GR) reimbursement deadline for statewide allocated costs for agencies listed in Fiscal 2020 Statewide Cost Allocation Summary of Fixed Costs by Agency is Aug. 30.
See General Revenue Reimbursement for Statewide Allocated Costs (FPP A.022) for instructions, contacts and forms.
The 87th Legislature updated Article IX of the General Appropriations Act (GAA); changes 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 GAA changes and other legislation that affects state agencies.
The 87th Legislature updated salary administration provisions of the General Appropriations Act (GAA), so the Comptroller’s office has issued:
See Reason Code Resources and Classification Salary Schedules (FPP R.022) to view and download these PDFs.
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) 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 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.
Sept. 15 is the maintenance and corrections deadline for the fiscal 2021 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.
A CAPPS HR/Payroll user group webinar will be held Aug. 24, 9-11 a.m.
A CAPPS Financials user group webinar will be held Aug. 26, 9-11 a.m.
See CAPPS HR/Payroll User Group Meetings or CAPPS Financials User Group Meetings for information. The agenda and meeting materials will be posted one day before the meeting.
The USAS annual cash-basis close for fiscal 2021 occurs on 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:
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.
BlueZone Web-to-Host 5.2 will be decommissioned on Sept. 8. Customers must upgrade to BlueZone Web-to-Host 7.1 before that date. See Requirements for Transmitting Comptroller Information (FPP N.007) (login required) for installation instructions.
Customers using BlueZone Web-to-Host 5.2 can leave that version installed; it will not conflict with version 7.1.
After Sept. 8, BlueZone Web-to-Host 5.2 will no longer connect to the CPA mainframe and will redirect to a Comptroller.Texas.Gov welcome page.
Agencies and institutions may also use other TN3270E emulation software equivalent to BlueZone. See Alternative Emulator Configuration Settings (login required) in FPP N.007 or contact Information Technology Support at your agency or institution for assistance.
The 2021 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 2021 EEO-4 Report will be available to agencies via electronic file transfer on Aug. 18. Agencies must:
See Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)-4 Report (FPP G.003).
Beginning Sept. 3, the following AFR-related reports will be available via secure file transfer protocol (SFTP):
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.
Enter property transfers in SPA by Sept. 20 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.
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.
The 87th Legislature, Regular Session, updated:
See Legislative Changes Affecting Salary Administration, 87th Legislature (FPP F.021) for more information.
The last SPA processing cycle before the fiscal year-end close runs Aug. 31. SPA will be available Sept. 2 to accept both fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2022 transactions.
See SPA Fiscal Year-End Close Process (FPP N.008) 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 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.
All GR consolidated and full reporting agencies must complete and submit every GASB questionnaire by Aug. 15. The AFR website’s GASB Questionnaires page provides:
Contact your financial reporting analyst for questions about any GASB questionnaire.