4 FAM 250
DEPARTMENT PROCESSING AND REPORTING ON TRANSACTIONS
(CT:FIN-420; 04-19-2013)
(Office of Origin: CGFS/FPRA/FP)
4 FAM 251 IMPLEMENTATION OF ALLOTMENT
ACCOUNTING
(CT:FIN-420; 04-19-2013)
The Department requires all domestic executive directors
and overseas management officers to implement allotment and operating allowance
accounting in accordance with the specific accounting and fund control
provisions in 4 FAM 200. All financial management personnel, including Bureau of the Comptroller and Global Financial
Services (CGFS) staff, and financial
systems must support and implement this requirement (see 4 FAM 211 and 4 FAM 212). All
allotment and operating allowance documents, including allotments for functions
and projects recorded within the Departments financial systems maintained by CGFS, must be properly prepared, reviewed, and
approved prior to recording in the financial management system. Similarly,
obligations must be properly authorized and recorded, and liquidation documents
must be certified for payment.
4 FAM 251.1 Issuing and Recording
Allotments
(CT:FIN-420; 04-19-2013)
a. The Bureau of Budget
and Planning (BP) issues allotments and advices of allotment
to bureaus, organizations, and offices. The financial management officers in
the regional bureaus and some functional bureaus allot funds to individual
posts abroad. All allotment documents for Department of State funds are
recorded in the Global Financial Management System consistent with 4 FAM 213.
Neither the bureaus nor the posts may obligate funds until the authorizing
allotments have been established.
b. Allotment documents for serviced agencies are
forwarded to the individual post in accordance with the procedures used by the
serviced agency.
4 FAM 251.2 Recording Transactions
in the Department Financial Management System
(CT:FIN-420; 04-19-2013)
a. Financial management officers (FMOs) throughout the
Department are responsible for knowing the amount of available funds in each
allotment or operating allowance under the officers responsibility and
ensuring that deficiencies do not occur from untimely or inadequate
record-keeping. FMOs or the designated individual at a post are responsible
for the allotment or operating allowance fund balances for both the Department
of State and serviced agencies. FMOs must track all commitments of allotted
resources in the available accounting system, and record all obligations in a
timely manner. This includes any transaction that originates at another
location or entered by another organization (e.g., WCF charges, CGFS adjustments, etc.). See 4 FAM 221.1,
paragraph c.
b. Transactions that must be processed through and
recorded in the Department financial management system include:
(1) Allotments, including those for functions and
projects, as well as operating allowances documenting budget authority;
(2) Obligations incurred and the remaining undelivered
order balances;
(3) Liquidations, including voucher payments, refunds,
and other expenditure transactions (e.g., Form FS-477, Liquidation Transfer
Journal Voucher) for payments originating outside the financial management
system used by the allotment holder; and
(4) Advances, collections, commitments, accounts
receivable, adjustments, and reclassifications.
4 FAM 251.3 Certified Vouchers
Authorize CGFS Personnel to Record Disbursement Transactions in the
Financial Management System
(CT:FIN-420; 04-19-2013)
Since a certified document processed by the designated
certifying officer provides CGFS personnel
with the authority to schedule the payments, it is imperative that domestic
budget officers, FMOs, or the responsible individual at post have obligated
sufficient funds. When an obligated amount is insufficient to certify payment,
the certifying officer must inform the responsible individual to increase the
obligation. Certifying officers must substantiate that the goods or services
have been received and that approving officers reviewed the billing and
associated obligations for funds sufficiency. Certifying officers are legally
liable for certifying payments that exceed funds available. (See 4 FAM 223.1-5
and 4 FAM 430.)
4 FAM 251.4 CGFS Responsibilities for Transactions and
Internal Controls on Payments
(CT:FIN-420; 04-19-2013)
CGFS personnel are
responsible for maintaining official accounting records; processing allotment
accounting transactions generated by serviced locations; and maintaining
internal controls over the Departments financial operations. In carrying out
these responsibilities, CGFS personnel are
expected to support the FMO and/or the designated individual by ensuring that
all allotments, including the serviced-post allotments or allowances, are
properly recorded; errors are expeditiously resolved in accordance with
established procedures; and that accounting reports are forwarded to posts in a
timely manner.
4 FAM 251.5 USDOs Disburse Funds
(CT:FIN-407; 08-23-2010)
The U.S. disbursing officer (USDO) is primarily
responsible for disbursing U.S. Government funds based on certified vouchers
for overseas operations. The USDO is not responsible for the funds available
in the allotment or operating allowance. The post financial management officer
(FMO) or the designated individual, if an FMO is not assigned to the post, is
responsible for ensuring that all obligations are funded and recorded in the
financial management system. The designated certifying officer is responsible
for confirming that the obligation is valid, recorded, and that sufficient
funds are available to cover a certified payment. In instances when a USDO
receives a certified liquidation document, and the internal controls in 4 FAM 430 and
this subchapter are followed, the USDO will process the payment.
4 FAM 251.6 Responsibility for
Obligating Funds
(CT:FIN-420; 04-19-2013)
CGFS personnel are
not responsible for increasing obligated funds on the official books of the
Department. In instances where the financial system reflects an obligated
amount that is insufficient to cover a certified payment voucher or other
requirement to pay, CGFS personnel will
process the transaction and notify the responsible allotment holder of the
results if the system tolerances will not allow payment (see 4 FAM 223.1-5).
4 FAM 251.7 Responsibility for
Reviewing Disbursements and Financial Transactions
(CT:FIN-420; 04-19-2013)
The financial management staff must review all
disbursements and related financial reports in a timely manner to ensure that
all financial transactions are properly recorded. CGFS and Department personnel at all levels
involved must coordinate and establish written detailed procedures to ensure
rejected or disputed transactions are resolved in an expeditious manner and
that clearing accounts contain only transactions that are appropriate and
consistent with Treasury requirements. Rejected transactions affect the
available funding, and expeditious clearing of rejected transactions provides
the allotment holders with an accurate balance of available funds.
4 FAM 251.8 CGFS Accounting Reports and Support
(CT:FIN-420; 04-19-2013)
CGFS accounting
reports provide the allotment and allowance holders with detailed information
on the status of transactions. CGFS personnel
are available to support bureau and post financial management staffs in
resolving discrepancies and errors in the accounting reports produced by the
financial management system. Such support must be timely and in accordance
with written financial management procedures for maintaining internal controls
and accurate financial reporting.
4 FAM 252 STANDARD GENERAL LEDGER
MAINTENANCE
(CT:FIN-420; 04-19-2013)
The Office of the Deputy Chief Financial Officer (CGFS/DCFO) maintains a general ledger,
consistent with Treasurys Standard General Ledger, for the Department. The
general ledger is maintained in accordance with Office of Management and Budget
Circulars, Treasury Requirements, the Departments Foreign Affairs Manual,
supplemental instructions when needed, and user documentation supporting the
financial management system.
4 FAM 253 REPORTING TO TREASURY
(CT:FIN-420; 04-19-2013)
The USDOs in CGFS and
the Managing Director for Global Financial Operations (CGFS/F) must prepare and forward
Treasury-required reports (e.g., Form SF-1218, Statement of Accountability;
Form SF-1221, Statement of Transactions (Foreign Service Account); Form FS-488, Foreign Currency Statement of
Transactions; Form SF-224, Statement of Transactions, etc.) and ensure that
information sent to Treasury is consistent with transaction information
recorded in the Departments financial management system and Financial Service
Center records.
4 FAM 254 Internal Reporting to the
Department and Serviced Agencies
(CT:FIN-407; 08-23-2010)
In addition to reporting to Treasury, the U.S. disbursing
officers (USDOs) must provide financial information directly to financial
managers and to serviced agencies in accordance with ICASS or other Department
agreements.
4 FAM 255 THROUGH 259 UNASSIGNED