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 Department’s 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 officer’s 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 Department’s 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 Treasury’s Standard General Ledger, for the Department. The general ledger is maintained in accordance with Office of Management and Budget Circulars, Treasury Requirements, the Department’s 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 Department’s 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