Section 5.51 - Requirements for Purchase Documents(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. (A) The supporting documentation for a purchase document must be maintained in agency files at least until the end of the second fiscal year after the fiscal year in which the document is processed by USAS.(B) This subparagraph applies to a purchase document only if the document contains only one payment transaction. Supporting documentation must be cross-referenced to the purchase document that the documentation supports. This cross-reference must consist of the document's USAS document key. A purchase document's USAS document key consists of the document agency, the document number, and the fiscal year during which the document was initiated. All supporting documentation for a particular purchase document must be grouped together.(C) This subparagraph applies to a purchase document only if the document contains more than one payment transaction. Supporting documentation must be cross-referenced to the purchase document and payment transaction that the documentation supports. The cross-reference to the purchase document must consist of the document's USAS document key. A purchase document's USAS document key consists of the document agency, the document number, and the fiscal year during which the document was initiated. The cross-reference to the purchase transaction consists of the transaction's suffix number. All supporting documentation for a particular payment transaction must be grouped together.(D) The state agency whose funds are used to make a payment is responsible for maintaining the supporting documentation for the payment.(6) When the comptroller requires a state agency to make supporting documentation available to the comptroller, the agency is solely responsible for complying with this requirement. The comptroller is not required to search the agency's files for the documentation, determine which documentation corresponds with which purchase documents or payment transactions, or otherwise organize or sort the documentation. If the agency does not make supporting documentation for a particular purchase document or payment transaction available to the comptroller according to the comptroller's requirements, then the comptroller may reject the document or transaction or deem the payment resulting from the document or transaction to be unsubstantiated or erroneous.(7) This subsection also applies to any supporting documentation that a state agency maintains electronically.34 Tex. Admin. Code § 5.51
The provisions of this §5.51 adopted to be effective November 19, 1996, 21 TexReg 10989; amended to be effective November 9, 2008, 33 TexReg 8944; amended to be effective March 11, 2013, 38 TexReg 1695