In Reply Refer To:

Mail Stop 270

MEMORANDUM

July 9, 1999

To: Director’s Office, Biological Resources Division, Geologic Division, National Mapping Division,Water Resources Division, Office of Program Support

From: John J. Blickley /s/ John J. Blickley

Acting Chief, Office of Financial Management

Fiscal Year 1999 Close-Out Procedures

This memorandum describes the closing procedures for fiscal year (FY) 1999 to be used by offices using remote data entry (RDE). These instructions are also available electronically. Please review these instructions and deadlines carefully. The attached document contains references to RDE documents; abbreviations are used for the multiple document types rather than spelling out each possible document type (e.g., *A is used, rather than 3A, 4A, 6A, 7A and 8A). All documents forwarded to the Office of Financial Management (OFM) by established deadlines must be received by 5:00 pm EDT unless otherwise specified. Documents received after the established dates will not be processed as FY 1999 transactions. Documents are addressed under the following headings:

A. Cancellation of Budget Fiscal Year (BFY) 1994 Funds

B. Obligation/Payment Documents

C. Accounts Receivable

D. Travel

E. Standard Voucher

F. Memorandum Inquiries

G. Payroll

H. Accrued Expenditures

I. Reston Service Center Closing for Year-End Inventory

J. Report Availability and On-Line FFS Access

The processing status of documents can be reviewed in various FFS tables. The tables are listed under each topic as appropriate. Attachment 1 provides a summary listing of these tables.

A. CANCELLATION OF BUDGET FISCAL YEAR (BFY) 1994 FUNDS

As of September 30, 1999, BFY 1994/Fund 0804 will no longer be available as a source of funding. The following is required to ensure all BFY 1994 payments are processed by Treasury on or before September 30, 1999:

B. OBLIGATION/PAYMENT DOCUMENTS

All commitments/requisitions for annual or expiring 2-year funds ("*R" documents) will be canceled in FFS on September 17, 1999. No BFY 99 commitments should be entered after that date.

Account managers are responsible for reviewing obligated balances, including those of prior years, for validity. The tools to do this include: 285 Report, Detail Status of Prior Year Documents; Federal Financial System (FFS) on-line tables OBLH (Orders Header Table) and OBLL (Purchase Order Accounting Line Table); and the 268 Report, Monthly Status of Project Funds and Transactions.

Adjustments to obligations for grants, cooperative agreements, purchase orders, contracts and delivery orders must be coordinated with the procurement office administering the award. These obligating documents must be deobligated by a formal modification or amendment issued by a contracting officer. Since they require a formal modification, a requisition requesting the deobligation is typically required. For adjustments to current year purchase orders, contact the purchasing office administering the award for a determination of whether the deobligation should be requested by memorandum or by requisition. For adjustments to prior year purchase orders and GSA schedule orders, once it is ascertained that no further charges will be billed against the obligation, the division account manager can send a memorandum requesting deobligation directly to OFM.

Requests for deobligations, modifications, and purchase order amendments must be received in your servicing procurement office by the due date established by that office. Please allow time for processing by procurement and entry into FFS. Deobligations involving contracts, grants, cooperative agreements, purchase orders entered into FFS as MO documents, and Government Bills of Lading (GBL) must be entered by OFM. Any adjustments to documents which were originally obligated in OFM (MO transactions) must also be entered by OFM. These documents must be received in OFM by September 28, 1999.

Deobligations, modifications, and purchase order adjustments entered at remote sites must be entered and accepted in FFS by 3:00 pm EDT on October 1, 1999.

Formal obligations such as purchase orders, amendments, training orders, General Services Administration (GSA) work orders, Government Printing Office printing and binding requisitions, interagency agreements and letters of agreement must be entered into FFS by 3:00 pm EDT on October 1, 1999. Obligations interfaced to FFS from IDEAS (e.g., contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements) must be recorded in IDEAS by 7:00 pm EDT on September 30, 1999. Any rejects from the IDEAS-FFS interface will be manually entered into FFS by OFM on October 1, 1999. Additionally, any obligations entered into FFS by OFM (e.g., GBLs) must be received in OFM by Noon September 30, 1999. Transactions covered by these documents must not be recorded as accruals.

Your entry of requisition information into FFS does not obligate the funds; you must enter in FFS a "*O" transaction in order to have a valid obligation on record. Account managers are responsible for carefully reviewing their September Preliminary 268 Report and FFS on-line tables OBLH and OBLL to ensure that all obligations have been entered in FFS.

Payment transactions ("*V" documents) entered into FFS by 3:00 pm EDT on October 1, 1999 will appear on the Preliminary September reports. Payments charged to BFY 2000 funds cannot be entered until October 4, 1999.

All FY 1999 OPAC charges for which no formal obligations are established (such as the Office of the Secretary Bill, Office of Aircraft Services, FEDSTRIP charges, Federal Telephone System (FTS) charges, Motor Pool charges, and GSA Rent) which are received in OFM by September 30, 1999 will be entered into FFS by 3:00 EDT on October 1, 1999. Offices using the Division on-line input option of accrued expenditure reports can begin accruing OPAC charges which do not appear in the Project Spending by Period Reference Table (PSDP) on October 3, 1999 as soon as FFS is available, and may continue entering accruals until 3:00 pm EDT October 8, 1999. Ensure that all accrual documents entered into FFS after October 1, 1999 are posted in accounting period "13 1999."

NOTE: GSA Final Rent Adjustments will not be received in OFM by October 1, 1999. Offices must accrue these charges.

Assuming daily invoicing is in place, the need for bankcard accruals should be minimal. If a FY 1999 bankcard transaction has not been received on an interface file by September 28, 1999, then an accrual will be necessary. All bankcard accruals should be recorded as "*A" (self-reversing) or "*B" (manual-reversing) transactions. If the accrual relates to a fixed asset transaction, then the "*B" transaction must be used. The appropriate information (custodian, etc.) must be faxed to the Property Management Branch (PMB) where the Fixed Asset record will be established in the system, allowing the "*B" transaction to be processed.

The last bankcard interface file load for FY 1999 will take place on September 28, 1999. By 3:00 pm EDT on October 1, 1999, all adjustments must be made on the CARD table in order to post to accounting period 12 1999. Further adjustments will not be allowed until October 4, 1999 and these will post to FY 2000.

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has billed USGS for three billing periods through May 21, 1999. The third USPS billing covers the period February 27, 1999 through May 21, 1999 and will appear on the July 268 report. Postal purchases for FY 1999 through May 1999 or outstanding from prior years that do not appear on the Pre-Preliminary 268 Report must be accrued.

The USPS fourth billing period for FY 1999 runs from May 22, 1999 through September 30, 1999, and will be released to Government agencies during the first quarter of FY 2000. Therefore, all USPS transactions occurring after May 21, 1999 must be accrued. In addition to reporting the purchase of meter postage, stamps, and envelopes, account managers should project the use of special mailing services such as business reply, merchandise return, and permit imprint and include these costs in the accrual.

Accruals for USPS and special service transactions should be categorized using the following object classes:

EXCEPTION: Fourth quarter center mail transactions for Reston, Denver, and Menlo Park will be finalized as of September 30, 1999. These costs do not require accrual. The Branch of Materials Management will prepare the appropriate standard vouchers for inclusion on the September Preliminary Report.

Each account manager must accrue shipping charges for express overnight service. Federal Express charges incurred after September 10, 1999, must be recorded in FFS as accrued expenditures by 3:00 pm EDT on October 1, 1999. Any freight shipments originating on Form 9-114, which do not appear on the September Preliminary 268 Report should be accrued.

USGS Instructional Memorandum No. OFM 99-03 announces the closure of Imprest Funds as of August 31, 1999; however, it allows for waivers under specific circumstances. These closeout guidelines apply only to those Imprest Funds that receive a waiver and continue to opearate at fiscal year end. The last day travel advances will be paid from the Imprest Funds for FY 1999 will be September 17, 1999. (Do not record accrued expenditures for travel advances.)

Imprest fund cashiers must enter their final FY 1999 Reimbursement Voucher, SF-1129, in FFS by 3:00 pm EDT on October 1, 1999.

C. ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE

2. Forms 9-2048, OPAC Billings Requests - In order to meet Treasury's processing deadline, copies of completed Forms 9-2048 must be received in OFM by

September 22, 1999. Forms 9-2048 for expenditure refunds (those crediting a 9-digit account number) not mailed in time to be received in OFM by September 22, 1999, must be included on the September 9-803 as a credit to the account and object class indicated on the form.

 

3. OPAC Interface Datafiles - OPAC datafiles prepared by OPS-Denver and EDC for processing into FFS and GOALS must be received by September 21, 1999.

2. DIRECT STATE SERVICE VOUCHERS (WRD Only)

Direct State service vouchers must be mailed in time to reach OFM by September 29, 1999. Vouchers not mailed in time to reach OFM by this deadline are to be accrued using transaction code "4C" transaction type "02" and budget object classes 252G and 255C.

3. SF-215, DEPOSIT TICKETS

In order to meet Treasury deadlines, SF-215, Deposit Tickets, must be received in OFM by September 29, 1999. The SF-215 Deposit Interface prepared by EDC must be received in OFM by September 28, 1999.

Advance payments received for BFY 2000 agreements prior to the opening of accounting period 01 2000 will be deposited by OFM as an advance to the current BFY 1999 agreement. If a BFY 1999 agreement is not recorded in FFS, OFM will obtain from the appropriate division an agreement number/BFY in order to post the collection.

OFM will provide a list to the appropriate division of the collections received for BFY 2000 agreements and the agreement number/BFY where the advance was deposited. Divisions will be responsible for notifying OFM to move the advances after the BFY 2000 agreement has been established in FFS.

Travel vouchers must be received in OFM by September 20, 1999. Travel vouchers received after that date will not be processed before October 1999. The following instructions apply for any vouchers not mailed in time to reach OFM by September 20, 1999: Travel vouchers ("TV" and "T8" documents) which have not been sent to OFM in time to be processed before close-out must be accrued using the "*A" or "*U" document. These accruals will be automatically liquidated when the travel voucher is processed. Travel vouchers that are accrued should be clearly marked "ACCRUED" on the face of the travel voucher before being sent to OFM. Note: For the accruals to automatically liquidate the accrual document number and the travel voucher number must be the same. For detailed instructions on the "*U" document, see Section 15 of the Remote Data Entry manual.

If an employee has been approved to accept travel expenses from a non-Federal source for travel during FY 1999, but the travel voucher has not been received in OFM by September 20, 1999, the funds (credit) must be recorded in FFS as an accrued expenditure ("*A" document) by 5:00 pm EDT on October 8, 1999.

A distinction must be made between transportation and per diem for temporary duty travel that crosses fiscal years. Transportation costs should be charged to the fiscal year in which the travel originates. Per diem costs, on the other hand, must be charged to the fiscal year in which the charges are incurred.

Travel Manager Interface vouchers must be received by September 29, 1999. After September 29, 1999, these vouchers must be accrued using a "*U" document. These accruals will be automatically liquidated when the vouchers are processed.

Travel orders for PCS must be accepted in FFS by 3:00 pm EDT on October 1, 1999. An estimate for Relocation Income Tax allowances to be paid in subsequent fiscal years should be included in the amount obligated. All expenses in connection with change of headquarters are to be obligated in the year in which the travel authorization is issued. If an employee's reporting date is FY 1999, the travel authorization should be issued in FY 1999.

Remote users must review obligation ("*T" transactions) balances to ensure estimates are accurate for travel commencing by September 30, 1999. If the balances are incorrect, remote users must enter modifications to the "*T" documents to adjust the balances. Deobligations must be recorded in FFS by 3:00 pm EDT on October 1, 1999. For detailed instructions on modifying "*T" documents, see Section 13 of the Remote Data Entry users manual.

Travel Advance requests, excluding Imprest Fund, for travel which will begin prior to the end of the fiscal year, must be received in OFM no later than September 20, 1999. Nations Bank Master Card must be used for FY 99 travel advances needed September 21, 1999 through

September 30, 1999. Travel advances do not require accrual.

4. BANKCARD CENTRAL BILLINGS

All travel services charged on the bankcard that are centrally billed items (e. g. rental car charges), that have not appeared on the CARD table by September 28^th must be recorded as accruals using the "*A" or "*B" documents and entered into FFS by 3:00 pm EDT on

October 1, 1999.

Two standard vouchers ("*J" and "*S") will be used by remote data entry sites. Detailed instructions for remote entry sites are included in Section 8, FFS User Manual.

Offices entering "*J" transactions must ensure that documents pass all edits and are processed to completion with an action of "W" (Wait/Update). The process will be complete when "DOC ACCEPTED PASS2" is displayed at the bottom of the Data Entry Startup Screen. These documents will not be reviewed or processed by OFM. Offices must maintain documentation for a period of 1 year. "*J" transactions for FY 1999 must be ACCEPTED in FFS by October 1, 1999.

"*S" transactions can be entered to adjust expenditures between divisions, BFYs, and funds; however, a higher level of review is required. Transactions should be entered on-line and processed with an action of "H" (Hold) to ensure all on-line edits are passed. Supporting documentation must then be sent to your Division Fiscal Contact for approval. The Division Fiscal Contact is responsible for submitting the "*S" transactions to the Division Administrative Officer or designee for final approval and completing processing of the document. "*S" transactions for FY 1999 must be ACCEPTED in FFS by October 1, 1999.

Both "*J" and "*S" documents must balance to zero, i.e. total increases must equal total decreases.

The office entering these transaction must ensure that all other cost centers with account numbers on the transaction receive copies of the document (screen prints).

Offices should use the Personnel Resource Utilization System (PRUS) for payroll adjustments for FY 1999. Use "*S" documents to transfer expenditures between fiscal years.

Remotely entered documents that have not been received in OFM within 60 days of entry will be deleted.

Automated SVs should be received by the Business Applications Support Branch (BASB) by 5:00 pm EDT on September 23, 1999. These automated SVs include the following:

Automated SV Description

$PRNT NMD Headquarters

$LAB WRD NWQL

$WHIF Hydrologic Instrumentation Facility

$VISU Geology Headquarters Lab

$PUB Geology Scientific Publications

To enable the final Distributed Ordering, Reporting, Research, and Accounting Network (DORRAN) bill to be submitted by the September 23 deadline for automated billings, the system will stop processing orders September 16, 1999. Earth Science Information Center (ESIC) orders are billed when the product is shipped; therefore orders for all products (except map separates) from the ESIC should be submitted by September 1, 1999. Orders for map separates need a lead time of 2-3 weeks; therefore, orders for map separates should be submitted by August 24, 1999. Orders shipped after September 16, 1999, will be charged to FY 2000.

All work orders for work to be done by the Earth Resources Observation System Data Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, must reach the Data Center no later than August 25, 1999, in order to be billed by standard voucher in FY 1999. Work orders received after August 25, 1999, will be charged to FY 2000 and should not be accrued.

Account managers entering internal voucher ("IV") transactions have the responsibility of ensuring that documents pass all edits and are processed to completion with an action of "W" (Wait Update). The process will be complete when "DOC ACCEPTED PASS 2" is displayed at the bottom of the Data Entry Startup Screen. IV documents must be ACCEPTED in the system by October 1, 1999.

F. MEMORANDUM INQUIRIES

Memorandum inquiries concerning the correction or identification of transactions appearing in 268 Reports prior to July 30, 1999 should be received in OFM by August 30, 1999. Inquiries pertaining to transactions appearing after July 30, 1999 are due in OFM by September 24, 1999.

G. PAYROLL

PP 19 is the last pay period which will be made available for PRUS adjustments. It is tentatively

scheduled for update in PRUS on September 21, 1999. Adjustments for supplemental distribution of undistributed payroll accounts must be completed by 3:00 pm EDT on

September 30, 1999. After September 30, 1999, all adjustments for payroll through PP21 must be processed using a "*A" document for the credit and debit side of the transaction. The "*A" is a reversing accrual and will be reversed out after closeout. Therefore, a standard voucher must be submitted in FY 2000 to make the final adjustment.

The Preliminary Reports will reflect actual salary costs and related benefits which transpired in

PP 20.

Basic salary costs and related benefits for Monday through Thursday (September 27-30, 1999) (PP21) will automatically be posted in FFS based on projections from Pay Period 20. Do not accrue these basic costs. However, unusual salary costs and related benefits will not be

included in the automated projection for Sunday through Thursday (September 26-30, 1999) and must be accrued ("*A"). These exceptions are identified below:

111F FULL-TIME PERMANENT, TERMINAL LEAVE-LUMP SUM PAYMENTS

113F OTHER THAN FULL-TIME PERMANENT, TERMINAL LEAVE-LUMP SUM PAYMENT

115A OVERTIME

115D CREDIT HOURS - PAID

115F PAID HOLIDAYS WORKED

115H ENVIRONMENTAL/HAZARDOUS DUTY PAY

115J PREMIUM PAY-STANDBY

115K PREMIUM PAY-IN LIEU OF OVERTIME

115M COMPENSATORY TIME-PAID

115N EXTRA CIRCULAR ACTIVITIES STIPEND

115P POST DIFFERENTIALS-FOREIGN

115Q POST DIFFERENTIALS-NON FOREIGN

115T SUNDAY PAY

115V NIGHTWORK DIFFERENTIAL

115X PENALTY PAY

118P CSRS REIMBURSEMENT FOR REEMPLOYED ANNUITANT

1212 RELOCATION-SUBSISTENCE IN TEMPORARY QUARTERS

1213 RELOCATION-REAL ESTATE TRANSACTIONS

1214 RELOCATION SERVICE CONTRACTOR

1216 RELOCATION-MISCELLANEOUS MOVING ALLOWANCE

130A SEVERANCE PAY

Accrue salary costs on all personnel services and benefits classification for employees who have an Enter-On-Duty date of Sunday through Thursday (September 26-30, 1999) and reduce costs for those employees who are terminated during the same period. Salary and benefit projections for intermittent employees (object classes 113A, 113E, and related benefits) should be reviewed, and if necessary, accrued for actual work performed.

In order for an employee cash award to be processed in FY 1999, without need for an accounting adjustment, a Federal Personnel Payroll System (FPPS) action must be received, approved and processed by the servicing personnel office in pay period 99/19, ending September 11,1999. The pay date for the award is September 23, 1999, (this is the last pay date for the fiscal year). Any requests for cash award payments after September 11, 1999, must be accrued on the 9-803. The award payment will then appear as an FY 2000 expense and will need to be manually SV’d to FY 1999. Please remember, when processing cash awards, a cost structure should be entered as nine digits in the FPPS system.

H. ACCRUED EXPENDITURES

Remote entry sites will use a combination of self-reversing and manually-reversing accrued expenditure documents to record year-end accruals. If an expenditure that was accrued in prior year has not been expensed this fiscal year, remote entry sites can accrue the expenditure using self-reversing or manually-reversing accrual documents.

The Reston Supply Service Center (RSSC) will be closed September 27 through

September 29, 1999, for the annual fiscal year inventory. The last day for FY 1999 purchases through the RSSC is September 24, 1999. Purchases beginning September 30, 1999, will be processed as FY 2000 transactions and should not be accrued.

Internet, fax, and Email orders using FY 1999 funds must have a transmission date of

September 24, 1999. Orders transmitted after that deadline will be processed as FY 2000 transactions.

J. REPORT AVAILABILITY AND ON-LINE FFS ACCESS

The 1^st Pre-Preliminary 268 Report (BRD only) is tentatively scheduled for distribution on September 13, 1999. The 2^nd Pre-Preliminary 268 Report is tentatively scheduled for distribution on September 20, 1999. This report will contain actual salary costs for Pay Period 19, and all other transactions input into FFS through September 19, 1999. Distribution of all other preliminary reports is tentatively scheduled for October 4, 1999.

Offices are reminded that the on-line FFS table PSDP can be used to monitor transactions posted to individual accounts. This table is updated each night and will reflect transactions accepted in FFS through the previous day.

Key close-out dates and the FFS operating schedule are shown in Attachments 3 and 4. FFS availability will be posted on the FFS start-up screen and on the OFM web site (www.usgs.

gov:8888/ops/finance/yearend.html). An explanation of security profiles for RDE users for FY 1999 and FY 2000 documents is in Attachment 5. OFM's Hotline number, FAX number, Internet Home Page Address and access to BASB’s FFS Message Number are shown in Attachment 2. Division Fiscal Contacts will be notified if there are system schedule changes, and they are responsible for further notification to their division.

CONCLUSION

The close-out process outlined above resulted from a joint meeting of the Offices of Financial Management, Information Services, the Director’s Office, the Finance Officers Group and other fiscal representatives of the divisions. We welcome your suggestions, which can be addressed to any of the Division Fiscal Contacts or OFM staff shown on Attachment 2. Questions about these instructions should be directed to the OFM staff.

Attachments:

(2) Contact List

(3) Key Close-Out Dates (List Format)

(4) Key Close-Out Dates (Calendar Format)

(5) Remote Data Entry (RDE) Security Profiles

Distribution: SM

ATTACHMENT 1

SUMMARY OF FFS TABLES

1. OBLH - Orders Header Table.

2. OBLL - Purchase Order Accounting Line Table

3. DXRF - Document Cross Reference Table

1. PSDP - Project Spending by Period Reference Table

2. PVHT - Payment Voucher Header Table

3. PVLT - Payment Voucher Line Table

1. FPRJ - Budget Fiscal Year Project Inquiry Table

1. VCTE - Voucher Document Tracking Entry Table

2. PVHT - Payment Voucher Header Table

3. TVHT - Travel Voucher Header Table

1. TOHT - Travel Order Header

2. TOLT - Travel Order Line Table

1. TADV - Travel Advance Table

AIRLINE TICKETS

1. PVHT - Payment Voucher Header Table

2. PVLT - Payment Voucher Line Table

ATTACHMENT 1

1. JVLT - Journal Voucher Line Table

1. JVLT - Journal Voucher Line Table

1. RCHT - Receiver Header Inquiry Table

2. RCLA - Receiver Accounting Line Inquiry Table

1. CARD - Bank Card Accounting Re-Distribution Table

1. SUSF - Document Suspense File

1. ARHT - Receivable Header Inquiry Table

2. ARLT - Receivable Line Inquiry Table

3. CAHT - Customer Agreement Header Inquiry Table

4. CALT - Customer Agreement Line Inquiry Table

ATTACHMENT 2

CONTACT LIST

OFFICE OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Obligations/Payment Documents

Travel Susan Sheely (703) 648-7602 ssheely@usgs.gov

Accounts Receivable Bruce Wood (703) 648-7665 bwood@usgs.gov

FFS Profile/Security Access Pete Fox (703) 648-7623 jcfox@usgs.gov

FFS HOTLINE (703) 648-7600

FFS Vendor Maintenance (703) 648-7612

OFM FAX Number (703) 648-4112

OFM WEB Address http://www.usgs.gov:8888/ops/finance

APPLICATION AND SUPPORT BRANCH

Report Availability (Recorded Message) (703) 648-7253

Report Distribution Nancy Short (703) 648-7232 nshort@usgs.gov

Report Distribution Ron O'Neill (703) 648-7255 roneill@usgs.gov

Report Distribution Ed Norris (703) 648-7247 enorris@usgs.gov

DIVISION FISCAL CONTACTS