(a) Definitions. The following words and terms, when
used in this section, shall have the following meanings, unless the
context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) Appropriation year--The year that the legal authorization
for the charge was granted by the legislature. Multiple appropriation
year activity may occur within a single fiscal year.
(2) Chief administrative officer--The appointed or
elected individual who is authorized by law to administer a state
agency that is not headed by a governing body or the executive director
or other individual with an equivalent title who administers a state
agency headed by a governing body.
(3) Comptroller--The comptroller of public accounts
for the State of Texas.
(4) Comptroller object code--The four-digit code that
indicates in USAS the type of expenditure made.
(5) Delivery date--The date goods are delivered to
a state agency.
(6) Governing body--The board, commission, committee,
council, or other group of individuals that is collectively authorized
by law to administer a state agency.
(7) Include--A term of enlargement and not of limitation
or exclusive enumeration. The use of the term does not create a presumption
that components not expressed are excluded.
(8) Institution of higher education--Has the meaning
assigned by Education Code, §61.003.
(9) May not--A prohibition. The term does not mean
"might not" or its equivalents.
(10) Non-payment document--The paper or electronic
document that a state agency submits to the comptroller for the purpose
of requesting the comptroller to post or correct certain accounting
information in USAS. The term does not include a payment document.
(11) Order date--The date that a state agency enters
into a contract for goods or services.
(12) Texas identification number--The 11-digit number
that the comptroller assigns to each payee of a warrant issued or
electronic funds transfer initiated by the comptroller.
(13) Mail code--The three digit number associated with
a Texas identification number that documents disbursement instructions.
(14) Payment document--The paper or electronic document
that a state agency submits to the comptroller for the purpose of
requesting the comptroller to make one or more payments on the agency's
behalf. The term includes a document that uses the appropriated or
other funds of a state agency to make a payment to another state agency.
The term does not include a non-payment document.
(15) Purchase document--The type of payment document
that the comptroller requires a state agency to submit when requesting
payment of certain claims against the agency.
(16) Service date--The date the provision of services
to a state agency ends.
(17) State agency--A department, board, commission,
committee, council, agency, office, or other entity in the executive,
legislative, or judicial branch of Texas state government, the jurisdiction
of which is not limited to a geographical portion of this state. The
term includes an institution of higher education.
(18) Payment transaction--A state agency's request
to the comptroller for the comptroller to make one payment to one
payee on behalf of the agency. A payment document always contains
at least one payment transaction or one adjusting entry to a payment
transaction.
(19) USAS--The uniform statewide accounting system.
(20) Fiscal year--The accounting period for the state
government which begins on September 1 and ends on August 31.
(b) Submission of purchase documents to the comptroller.
(1) A state agency may submit a purchase document to
the comptroller only by submitting the document to USAS.
(2) A state agency must submit a purchase document
to USAS electronically unless the comptroller has specifically authorized
the agency to submit the document on paper. A state agency may electronically
submit a purchase document through on-line, direct entries into USAS
or through reporting into USAS by a magnetic media device.
(c) General responsibilities of state agencies and
their officers and employees.
(1) The officers and employees of a state agency are
responsible for:
(A) being knowledgeable about Texas laws and rules
concerning expenditures;
(B) ensuring that the agency's expenditures comply
with those laws and rules;
(C) determining the agency's legal authority for making
each payment that would result from a purchase document before the
document is submitted to the comptroller;
(D) ensuring that for each purchase document, the agency
maintains necessary documentation for proving that each payment resulting
from the document is legal, proper, and fiscally responsible; and
(E) ensuring that each purchase document complies with
the processing requirements of USAS.
(2) An officer or employee of a state agency may not
submit a purchase document to the comptroller if the officer or employee
has any doubts about the legality, propriety, or fiscal responsibility
of any payment that would result from the document.
(3) The chief administrative officer of a state agency
is responsible for ensuring that the agency's officers and employees
understand and comply with this subsection. However, the chief administrative
officer's failure to fulfill this responsibility does not relieve
those officers and employees from the obligation to comply.
(4) The comptroller's responsibility to audit a state
agency's purchase documents does not relieve the agency's officers
and employees from the responsibilities listed in paragraphs (1) -
(3) of this subsection. Therefore, those officers and employees may
not rely on the comptroller's audit to prevent a questionable payment
from being made or to discover or reverse an invalid payment after
it has occurred.
(d) Content of purchase documents and payment transactions.
For each payment transaction included in a purchase document, the
document must specify or contain:
(1) the Texas identification number and mail code of
the individual or entity being paid or reimbursed;
(2) the amount of the payment or adjusting entry;
(3) the proper comptroller object code;
(4) the appropriation year to be charged for the payment
or adjusting entry;
(5) the agency number of the agency whose funds are
being used to make the payment or adjusting entry;
(6) the proper transaction code for crediting or debiting
the appropriate general ledger accounts;
(7) the proper program cost account;
(8) the number of the fund from which the payment or
adjusting entry will be made;
(9) the number of the appropriation from which the
payment or adjusting entry will be made;
(10) the disbursement method for making the payment
or adjusting entry;
(11) the service or delivery date, which must be entered
into the service date field;
(12) the order date, which must be entered into the
document date field;
(13) the approval and certification of the document;
and
(14) any other information deemed necessary by the
comptroller.
(e) Supporting documentation for purchase documents.
(1) The comptroller may require a state agency to make
available to the comptroller documentation to support the legality
and fiscal responsibility of each payment that results from a purchase
document if the payment is made out of the agency's funds. Supporting
documentation must be made available whenever:
(A) the comptroller's purchase guide, eXpendit, or
a successor publication specifically requires the documentation to
be made available; or
(B) the comptroller notifies the agency that the documentation
must be made available.
(2) Supporting documentation must be made available
to the comptroller in the manner required by the comptroller. The
comptroller may require the documentation to be made available during
a post-payment audit, a prepayment audit, or at any other time.
(3) The types of supporting documentation that the
comptroller may require include purchase orders, requisitions, contracts,
invoices, and receipts.
(4) A state agency must maintain documentation in its
files to support the legality and fiscal responsibility of each payment
resulting from a purchase document if the payment is made out of the
agency's funds. The documentation must be maintained even if the comptroller
does not require the agency to make it available to the comptroller.
(5) A state agency's supporting documentation must
satisfy all the following requirements.
Cont'd... |