Use of the Working Capital Fund Date: Tue, 28 Nov 1995 17:59:33 -0500 To: "A - Division Chief and Staff", "B - Branch Chiefs and Offices", "DC - All District Chiefs", "AO - All Administrative Officers" From: rhirsch@usgs.gov (Robert Hirsch) Subject: Use of the Working Capital Fund Cc: "Joanne C Taylor, Secretary (Typing), Reston, VA" , "Alice A Sabatini, Administrative Officer, Reston, VA" , "Kelly L Bradley, SUPERVISORY FINANCIAL SPEC, Reston, VA" In Reply Refer To: Mail Stop 442 MEMORANDUM November 24, 1995 To: See Distribution From: Robert M. Hirsch (signed) Chief Hydrologist Subject: Use of the Working Capital Fund In Fiscal Year (FY) 1995, the appropriation language was changed to enable the U. S. Geological Survey to use the Working Capital Fund (WCF) to fund laboratory operations, facility improvements, and equipment replacement. The WCF was developed to encourage planning for capital outlays by providing a means to spread the cost of equipment and/or facility improvements that are difficult to fund in a single fiscal year across several years. In January 1995, the Associate Director for Operations chartered a working group to develop implementing guidance for the use of the WCF. She charged the Office of Financial Management with developing methods to make the use of the fund to "carryover" funds from year to year supportable to auditors and tasked the Budget Office to work with the divisions to implement the WCF. The Water Resources Division worked hard to ensure that: (1) the fund was available for use at the lowest organizational levels; (2) minimum contribution limits be set as low as possible; and (3) delegations of authority were placed no higher than one management level above the office developing the plan. We prevailed in these efforts largely as a result of the determination and dedication of Kelly Bradley, Chief, Financial Operations and Reporting Section, Water Resources Division. Please join me in thanking Kelly for her good work. During FY 1995, the National Water Quality Laboratory's entire financial operation was moved into the WCF. This allowed the laboratory to operate like a business and to manage their analytical services without fiscal year constraints. We plan to move the financial operations of the Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility into the WCF during FY 1996. Seven districts, headquarters, and the branches of regional research, invested $1.67 million in the WCF for future ADP equipment, facility upgrades, and vehicle acquisitions during FY 1995. This is an excellent start. We encourage every district and branch to take advantage of the WCF to more efficiently manage our financial resources. Questions about the use of the WCF should be directed to your Regional Administrative Officer or Kelly Bradley (email kbradley or 703-648-5040). Distribution: A, B, DC, AO ************************************************************* Robert M. Hirsch Phone: 703/648-5215 Chief Hydrologist Fax: 703/648-5002 409 National Center Internet: rhirsch@usgs.gov U.S. Geological Survey Reston, VA 22092 *************************************************************