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FOREST SERVICE HANDBOOK
Portland, Oregon
TITLE 6509.11k - SERVICE-WIDE FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING HANDBOOK
R6 Supplement No. 6509.11k-97-3
Effective May 02, 1997
POSTING NOTICE. Supplements are numbered consecutively by title and
calendar year. Post by document name. Remove entire document, if one exists, and
replace with this supplement. The last R-6 Supplement to this handbook was
6509.11k-97-2.
This supplement supersedes R-6 Supplement 6509.11k-93-5.
Document Name
6509.11k,40-43
Superseded New
(Number of Sheets)
4
5
Digest:
41.3 - Adds requirement to notify the Regional Director of Financial Management
when a Certifying Officer's designation should be rescinded.
41.62 - Adds direction on obtaining decisions on questionable travel and transfer of
station claims.
41.7 - Adds requirement to fully justify accounting adjustments. Removes
requirement to provide unit identification on interunit adjustments.
/s/ Robert W. Williams
ROBERT W. WILLIAMS
Regional Forester
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FSH 6509.11k - SERVICE-WIDE FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING HANDBOOK
R6 SUPPLEMENT 6509.11k-97-3
EFFECTIVE MAY 02, 1997
CHAPTER 40 - PAYMENTS
40.3 - Policy.
40.31 - General.
4. Setoff priorities for claims against Government contractors follow:
a. Claims from Performance Bond Surety
b. Wage Claims from the Department of Labor
c. Government Reprocurement costs
d. Claims from Assignee
e. Claims from Trustee in Bankruptcy
f. Claims from Internal Revenue Service: The tax lien has priority over
assignment if tax debt occurred before date assignment was received and if contract
does not contain a "no setoff" clause. Refer to Comptroller General book 60, page
510 (60 CG 510); also see Principles of Appropriations Law (Red Book) 11-36.
g. Claims from Payment Bond Surety
h. Contractor
If there is any question on proper setoff priorities, contact the Regional Director of
Financial Management (RO-FM) for advice.
40.32b - Assignment of Salary Checks. The parent text references the public laws
allowing garnishment or attachment of wages for certain purposes. In other cases
where Government funds are due employees, contractors, or other vendors, the
Government cannot garnishee monies due a third party. The United States is not
subject to garnishment proceedings except as specifically provided by law.
41 - CERTIFICATION AND CERTIFYING OFFICERS.
41.2 - Selection of Certifying Officers. The following are minimum requirements to
be considered for Certifying Officer designation:
1. Knowledge of the payment system and controls.
2. Attendance at formal training covering the Principles of Federal
Appropriations Law.
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3. Grade of GS-6 or above.
Send the above information to the R0-FM with the name, unit, and position of the
individual who is being requested for designation. Also, complete three forms AD997, Unit Certifying Officer Signature Cards, and submit with this request, as
described in the National Finance Center (NFC) Handbook, chapter 6, section 5.
41.3 - Revocation of Authority to Certify. Notify the RO-FM when a Certifying
Officer retires, changes jobs, and no longer has a need for Certifying Officer
authority. The R0-FM will notify the NFC that authority should be revoked.
41.5 - Certifying Officer's Control Number. When Certifying Officers transfer
within the Region, their control numbers transfer with them. It is not necessary to
request a new control number. The transferring Certifying Officer should advise
the NFC, in writing, of the new address.
When transferring to another region, changing their name, or when their control
number has been compromised, the Certifying Officer shall sign three new forms
AD-997, as above, and send them to the NFC to obtain a new control number.
41.6 - Certifying Officer's Rights to Comptroller General Decisions.
41.62 - Request for Comptroller General Decision. The Comptroller General no
longer settles claims in connection with travel and transfer of station. Such claims
are now submitted to the General Services Board of Contract Appeals, as set forth
in section 211 of the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1996, Public Law 10453. Travel- and transfer-related claims may be submitted to the board by the
Forest Service or by the employee directly if so desired.
Upon receipt of a questionable claim, the Certifying Officer uses steps described in
the parent text to determine whether the question has been answered previously. If
the question has been sufficiently answered, discuss the analysis informally with
the travel section in the RO-FM prior to denying the claim. Advise the claimant of
their right to send the claim to the board at the following address:
GSA Board of Contract Appeals
Room 7022
General Services Administration
18th & F Streets, N.W.
Washington, DC 20405
If the question has not been sufficiently answered, discuss the analysis informally
with the travel section in the RO-FM. Then forward the claim to the RO-FM for
transmittal to the board.
All claims, whether submitted by the employee or the Forest Service, must include:
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1. Name, address, telephone number, and facsimile machine number of the
claimant.
2. Name, address, telephone number, and facsimile machine number of the
agency employee who denied the claim or is submitting the claim.
3. Any information which the claimant believes the board should consider.
4. Any information which the Forest Service believes the board should
consider.
41.7 - Processing Accounting Adjustments. All accounting adjustments must have a
justification statement as backup documentation. The statement must clearly state
the purpose for the adjustment. If the adjustment involves a change from one fund
code to another, document that the applicable principles of charged-as-worked and
benefiting function are met. Attach the justification statement and any other
supporting documents to the voucher; retain them at the certifying location.
If a unit processes an accounting adjustment affecting another unit's funds, the
processing unit should send copies of the applicable MISPAY documents to the
affected unit. This will help units identify all entries on their transaction register
and will save research time.
42 - GOVERNMENT CHECKS.
42.03 - Policy. All checks drawn on Treasurer of the United States are void after
one year. Once a check has been voided, a person or vendor can make a claim for a
replacement check.
42.3 - Procedures for Obtaining Replacement of Department of Treasury Checks.
Procedures for replacing lost or destroyed checks, and for checks otherwise not
received, are covered in the NFC Miscellaneous Systems Manual, chapter 1 and
exhibit 6. Procedures to replace payments that have been issued using an
electronically certified document, such as form AD-757 transmitted to NFC via
electronic MISPAY, differ from the procedures referenced in the NFC Miscellaneous
Systems Manual (ch. 1). The NFC/Treasury will NOT automatically reissue a
replacement check once the original has been canceled.
Upon notification by the Department of Treasury that the original check has been
canceled, the issuing unit should receive from NFC a form letter advising them to
transmit another MISPAY voucher to issue a replacement check to the vendor.
Two such cases follow:
1. The U.S. Postal Service has returned checks with incorrect addresses
directly to the Department of Treasury.
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2. The vendor has actually filed form AD-663 for a replacement check due to
nonreceipt of the original.
Certifying Officers should process the replacement payment promptly, through
MISPAY with a new voucher number, upon receipt of the NFC form letter. Retain
the NFC form letter with the recertified voucher as proof the original check was
canceled, thus protecting the Certifying Officer from potential liability due to
duplicate payment.
In addition, since the NFC processes a new charge against the management code
used on the original voucher, units should ensure that they see a credit entry for the
original payment. This keeps the unit's records from carrying a duplicate charge to
the management code. NFC does not always enter the credit promptly, so units
may have to "deobligate" the original voucher charge until they see the refund
collection appear on the transaction register. This equates to a credit expenditure.
Refer to the Assistant Disbursing Officer (ADO) Handbook, FSH 6509.13a, for
procedures to follow for replacing lost or missing checks issued by an ADO.