6550 Page 1 of 13 FOREST SERVICE MANUAL NORTHERN REGION (REGION 1) MISSOULA, MT FSM 6500 – FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING CHAPTER 6550 – ACCOUNTING Supplement No.: 6500-2004-5 Effective Date: September 14, 2004 Duration: This supplement is effective until superseded or removed. Approved: KATHLEEN A. MCALLISTER FOR ABIGAIL R. KIMBELL Regional Forester Date Approved: 08/24/2004 Posting Instructions: Supplements are numbered consecutively by title and calendar year. Post by document; remove the entire document and replace it with this supplement. Retain this transmittal as the first page(s) of this document. The last supplement to this title was 6500-2004-4 to FSM 6540. New Document 6550 13 Pages Superseded Document(s) by Issuance Number and Effective Date Supp. 294, 4/84 (6550) 18 Pages Digest: Converts format and style to the new Forest Service Manual (FSM) template using the agency’s current corporate word processing software. 6553.12b – Removes obsolete Region 1 direction. 120 – Removes obsolete Region 1 direction. 6556.1 – Updates staff names from “Administration” to “Financial Resources” and from “Timber Management” to “Forest and Rangeland.” R1 SUPPLEMENT 6500-2004-5 EFFECTIVE DATE: 09/14/2004 DURATION: This supplement is effective until superseded or removed. 6550 Page 2 of 13 FSM 6500 – FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING CHAPTER 6550 – ACCOUNTING 311 - Work for Other Forest Service Units or Appropriations, or for Other Agencies, Pending Transfer of Charges. Appropriation FFF is not valid with this function. See R-1 Supplement to FSM 6545.32. 312 - Reimbursable Work for Other than Federal Agencies. Function 313 is a valid FFF charge only as an accounting adjustment. See R-1 Supplement to FSM 6545.32. 3. Functional Accounts for State and Private Forestry Cooperation. The responsibility assigned to the Forest Service in the rural areas development program involves activities normally carried on by the Forest Service on lands the Forest Service administers (National Forest, National Grasslands, the Land Utilization Projects) and state and private lands. If participation primarily benefits National Forest administration, the charge should be to the functional accounts benefited under P&M. a. Functional Accounts for Expenditures from Job Corps Funds. (1) Job Corps Center Operations 704 – Subsistence. For meals eaten at WCF facilities, only the Job Corps meal billing rate will be charged to 704. See FSM 6585.33 supplement for procedures. 781 - Work Project Supplies and Materials. For meals eaten at WCF facilities, the meal billing rate in excess of the Job Corps meal billing rate will be charged to 781. See FSM 6585.33 supplement for procedures. 6553.32e - Charging Extra Scaling Services under Sales Contracts and Cooperative Agreements At the close of each pay period, submit form 6500-63 to the National Finance Center charging scaling accounts and crediting P&M. Use true budget object coding for this adjustment. Form 6500-63 must show a zero balance. Overhead assessments will be taken in the same way as other "X25" accounts. Combining Cooperative Scaling. Where one timber sale operator has two or more active sales on which extra scaling services are performed, deposits and expenditures of that operator may be combined into one cooperative scaling account. Since the district ranger has no interest in these accounts other than obtaining sufficient deposits to cover anticipated expenditures, all accounts of one operator, even though sales may be on more than one District, could conveniently be combined. Requests for deposits could then be initiated and controlled at Forest Supervisor's Office level. Or, if it is desirable to leave this responsibility with the District Ranger, accounts may be combined by ranger district. R1 SUPPLEMENT 6500-2004-5 EFFECTIVE DATE: 09/14/2004 DURATION: This supplement is effective until superseded or removed. 6550 Page 3 of 13 FSM 6500 – FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING CHAPTER 6550 – ACCOUNTING When such accounts are combined, a letter of understanding, countersigned by the operator, should be written. See exhibit 01 for suggested format. Exhibit 01 Penoke Lumber Company Missoula, Montana 59801 Gentlemen: In order to minimize accounting detail in connection with your various cooperative scaling accounts, we propose to combine these when possible. Cooperative scaling accounts for the following active sales will be combined into a single Account No. 15-161. Sale No. Sale No. Sale No. Sale No. 9/6/63, Cooperative Account No. 15-139 8/4/63, Cooperative Account No. 15-142 11/8/65, Cooperative Account No. 15-152 2/3/66, Cooperative Account No. 15-15 Sales made to your company after date of this letter, on which extra scaling services are requested, will also be included in cooperative scaling Account No. 15-161 unless otherwise agreed to in writing. Sincerely yours, Agreed (Date) Penoke Lumber Company By Title 6554.33 - Periodic Transfer of Earned Timber Receipts from Timber Sale Deposit Fund 1. Periodic Report. A financial report of timber transactions for each proclaimed National Forest will be prepared monthly. This report will consist of: a. Automated worksheets prepared by the Service-wide Timber Sale Accounting System (STSA) as follows: (1) District Sale Detail - Month's Activity (2) District Sale Detail - Charge Distribution R1 SUPPLEMENT 6500-2004-5 EFFECTIVE DATE: 09/14/2004 DURATION: This supplement is effective until superseded or removed. 6550 Page 4 of 13 FSM 6500 – FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING CHAPTER 6550 – ACCOUNTING (3) National Forest Summary - Month's Activity (4) National Forest Summary - Charge Distribution b. Transfer and Adjustment Voucher, Form AD-742, to transfer earned funds from the Timber Sale Deposit Fund to appropriate accounts. c. Reconciliation of Purchaser Records (STSA) With Timber Sale Deposit Fund (Y94) in Unit Financial Records (PAMARS), R1-6550-18 (Revised 3/84). 4. Due Dates and Distribution of Report. This report is due and shall be distributed as follows: a. Forest files. Retain one complete set of report. This may be in either Resources or B&F at the option of the forest. b. Two copies of each AD-742 for B&F billing and voucher numerical files. AD742s should be transmitted to NFC within 25 days after the end of the month to assure processing within the same month. c. Regional Office. One complete copy of report should be received in Regional Office Accounting Operations Group by the 28th of the following month. 5. Explanation of Automated "Transfer of Earned Timber Sale Receipts." These reports are created monthly at closure by the STSA system and are an exact reflection of cash status on all individual timber sale contracts and permits as reflected on Statements of Account and Forest Products Permit sheets. Manual changes to Statements are not authorized and therefore there should be no differences between the Statements of Account and these reports. Problems should be discussed with RO Accounting Operations if assistance is needed. Explanations of the four worksheet formats are described below: a. District Sale Detail - Month's Activity. This report as shown in exhibit 01 is a summary for each district and itemizes every contract and permit by unique number. The columns in the exhibit are numbered to match this section. (1) Opening Cash Balance. The opening balance for each contract and permit must always be (a) the same as the one on the Statement of Account for the reporting period, and (b) the same as the Ending Cash Balance from the previous month's report. Any necessary changes must be accounted for by entries in appropriate columns on the worksheet and not by changing opening balances. (2) Deposits. When cash payments are deposited, specific information about each Bill for Collection is transmitted via terminal to Fort Collins Computer Center (FCCC). For all timber payments deposited to the 870XXX management code R1 SUPPLEMENT 6500-2004-5 EFFECTIVE DATE: 09/14/2004 DURATION: This supplement is effective until superseded or removed. 6550 Page 5 of 13 FSM 6500 – FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING CHAPTER 6550 – ACCOUNTING (appropriation Y94), detailed information includes district and contract number. At FCCC these timber collections are placed in a special STSA file and all collection data is then transmitted to NFC for inclusion in the Unit Financial records commonly referred to as PAMARS. The STSA collection file is placed in the Forest's STSA data-collection file for inclusion with the next scheduled update. When cash payments are processed as valid 4001R cards on an STSA edit/update transaction report, they will appear on the Statements of Account or Forest Products Permit sheets, and on the District Sale Detail Report. Any rejected entries must be re-entered by Forest personnel on a timely basis. If this is not done, cash amounts on Statements should not be changed, but payment should be noted in the "Remarks" block on the Statement of Account. Billings should be adjusted to reflect amounts collected but not posted. If a payment gets into PAMARS but does not appear on the Statement of Account or vice versa, neither side should be forced to make them match. The difference will be an item of reconciliation which will either require follow up to correct in the next month or it will work itself out. Details regarding procedures for reconciling are discussed in Section 6. Deposits to 870XXX processed on Form AD-742 are currently mailed directly to NFC and are not reported through FCCC. This requires entries for these deposits be made on 4001R cards to STSA at the forest level. (3) Refunds and Transfers. Cash on account in excess of amounts required by the Timber Sale Contract may be paid back to purchasers at their request. These payments, called refunds, are vouchered by B&F on a Miscellaneous Payment Voucher, AD-757, which is mailed to NFC for processing. The National Finance Center schedules payments and the U.S. Treasury writes the checks. Since this process bypasses Fort Collins, there is no automatic update to the STSA records for these refunds. The amount of the refund must be entered on a card 4001R, Form FS6500-178, as a cash refund (CR) in order for it to appear on the Statement of Account and this report. The entry to STSA should be done on the date the voucher is sent to NFC. Because of the time involved in mailing and processing, the refund may appear one month in STSA and in the next month in PAMARS. This is a normal reconciling entry which would work itself out at the end of the second month. Transfer entries come in pairs (plus and minus) when 870XXX money is transferred from one contract to another within the same Forest. These are recorded on a Bill for Collection and data-entered through the collection system at FCCC with a special code "9" denoting STSA only. Since these are zero balance transactions, no information is forwarded to NFC but the STSA records are updated by contract number just as collections are. (4) Cash Charges. These are the amounts of money the purchaser is being charged for the removal of timber. It includes stumpage money and any required and elective deposits under the Timber Sale Contract. Purchaser road credits charged are not R1 SUPPLEMENT 6500-2004-5 EFFECTIVE DATE: 09/14/2004 DURATION: This supplement is effective until superseded or removed. 6550 Page 6 of 13 FSM 6500 – FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING CHAPTER 6550 – ACCOUNTING included. This column provides the control total for the Charge Distribution report which is discussed in the next section. (5) Ending Cash Balance. This is the total of the first four columns calculated as follows: Opening Cash Balance + Deposits +/- Refunds and Transfers - Cash Charges = Ending Cash Balance Debit entries in the charges column decrease the ending cash balance and credit entries (negative charges) increase the ending cash balance. b. District Sale Detail - Charge Distribution. This report is a detailed breakdown of the charges column on the Month's Activity worksheet as covered in Section 3a(4). It is itemized by contract number, management code, fund ID, and amount. Refer to Exhibit 02. EXHIBIT 02 CAN BE VIEWED IN THE DIRECTIVES MANUAL c. National Forest Summary - Month's Activity. This is a summary of the District Sale Detail - Month's Activity sheets for all districts in the proclaimed National Forest. Refer to exhibit 03. Four lines on this exhibit have been numbered to match the following discussion: EXHIBIT 03 CAN BE VIEWED IN THE DIRECTIVES MANUAL (1) Total Procunit XXXX. This line is a total of the Districts itemized above. This line in the manual process was referred to as the "Total - Earned Basis." (2) Add: Opening Minus Balances. This entry, together with the next one, is necessary to convert from an earned basis to a deposited basis. This is important because only those earnings for which cash has been collected can be transferred. The point of these two entries is to add the amount that was deducted on the previous period's report, and then subtract the amount in current period earnings for which cash payment has not been received. This results in an actual cash basis. One important point under adding back opening minus balances is they must be added back to the same management codes and in exactly the same amounts as they were deducted in the previous period. (3) Deduct: Closing Minus Balances. The discussion under adding opening minus balances above also pertains to this line. The key to this line is that it is a total of R1 SUPPLEMENT 6500-2004-5 EFFECTIVE DATE: 09/14/2004 DURATION: This supplement is effective until superseded or removed. 6550 Page 7 of 13 FSM 6500 – FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING CHAPTER 6550 – ACCOUNTING every sale with a negative ending cash balance which represents those earnings for which payment has not yet been received. On this report only the total is displayed. Further instructions regarding how to distribute closing minus balances are provided in Section 3.d.(3). (4) Total Deposited Basis. This line represents prior and current period earnings for which cash has been paid. The total for this column must balance both down and across the worksheet. The four lines discussed above are displayed in a slightly different format on the next worksheet. Description numbers have been repeated for cross-referencing purposes. d. National Forest Summary - Charge Distribution. This report displays the charge distribution amounts by management codes. Refer to exhibit 04 and the following for explanation of each column: (1) Distribution Amount. This column equals the total cash charges column on line l of exhibit 03. This represents actual earnings for the current period. (2) Add: Opening Minus Balance. The opening minus balances are added back to the same management codes from which they were deducted in the previous month's report. The total of this column, although not displayed, does equal line 2 on exhibit 03. At this point, a subtotal of (1) Distribution Amount and (2) Add: Opening Minus Balances is computed by management code but does not show on the report. It is from these subtotals that the closing minus balances as discussed below are deducted. (3) Deduct: Closing Minus Balance. The closing minus balances are deducted from the subtotal of (1) Distribution Amount and (2) Add: Opening Minus Balances. Begin with NFF, Fund ID 02, and if this amount is not sufficient to deduct the entire amount, go to the next management code—Fund ID combination—and continue in this manner until the total amount of closing minus balance has been deducted. In rare cases it is possible that closing minus balances result in a negative amount to NFF. Regional Office Accounting Operations Group should be alerted to this condition as it may have an effect on 25 percent fund payments to the States. The total of this column, although not shown, equals line 3 of exhibit 03. (4) Total Deposited Basis. This column is displayed by individual management code and in total agrees with line 4 of exhibit 03. It is from these totals that liquidations are made as discussed below. (5) Liquidate NFF Advance Transfer. The advance transfer is computed at the Regional level each October and is processed in that fiscal year's financial records. R1 SUPPLEMENT 6500-2004-5 EFFECTIVE DATE: 09/14/2004 DURATION: This supplement is effective until superseded or removed. 6550 Page 8 of 13 FSM 6500 – FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING CHAPTER 6550 – ACCOUNTING However, because it is an estimate intended to reflect September earnings not yet transferred as of September 30, it is manually added to the prior fiscal year’s NFF receipts for 25 percent fund payment purposes. The amount to be liquidated is indicated in the Advance Transfer Status field and is liquidated up to the amount available on the deposited basis for NFF (fund ID 02). If the advance transfer exceeds total deposited basis amount, it may take several months to liquidate the entire advance. Exhibit 04 displays that no NFF is available for liquidation (see column 4). (6) Liquidate K-V Advance Transfer. The advance transfer for K-V works the same as the one for NFF. Note in exhibit 4 that the amount of K-V to be liquidated at the beginning of the month is $l5,391.76. The totals on the Deposited Basis for K-V (fund ID 04) is $8,276.74. This amount is liquidated and a recap of the balance remaining to be liquidated of $7,115.02 is displayed on the bottom of this report. (7) Balance to be Transferred. This column represents amounts deposited less liquidations of NFF and K-V advance transfer. These amounts will be transferred on form AD-742 as explained in section 4. 6. Preparation of Form AD-742 to Transfer Earnings. By drawing boxes around two key areas on the National Forest Summary - Charge Distribution report as shown in exhibit 04, entries for the AD-742 are highlighted. EXHIBIT 04 CAN BE VIEWED IN THE DIRECTIVES MANUAL a. The box around the totals line is the top half (81E) of the AD-742 (ex. 05). These entries affect the Expenditure column on the Unit Financial Statement, Appropriation Y94. Management codes for appropriate columns are as follows: Total Deposited Basis Liquidate NFF Advance Transfer Liquidate K-V Advance Transfer Balances to be Transferred 871XXX 879XXX cr. 880XXX cr. TOTAL EXHIBEIT 05 CAN BE VIEWED IN THE DIRECTIVES MANUAL b. The box around the "Balances to be Transferred" column is the bottom half (81R) of the AD-742 (ex. 05). These entries affect the collection (revenue) column on the Unit Financial Statement for appropriations involved such as 5008, Y24, and Y35. Management codes are displayed in the far left column labeled "Account" on exhibit 04. R1 SUPPLEMENT 6500-2004-5 EFFECTIVE DATE: 09/14/2004 DURATION: This supplement is effective until superseded or removed. 6550 Page 9 of 13 FSM 6500 – FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING CHAPTER 6550 – ACCOUNTING Totals for each half of the AD-742 must be the same. If there are not enough lines on the bottom half of the AD-742 for all the management codes, 871XXX amount on the 81E portion should be spread over as many forms as necessary so that each form balances out between the top and bottom. This is displayed in exhibits 05 and 06. These forms should be prepared monthly and forwarded to NFC by the 25th of each month so the transfers will appear in that month's business. Amounts not processed currently will need to be used as reconciling differences on line 1c of form R1-6550-18. EXHIBITS 05 & 06 CAN BE VIEWED IN THE DIRECTIVES MANUAL 7. Reconciliation of Purchaser Records (STSA) With Timber Sale Deposit Fund (Y94) in Unit Financial Records (PAMARS). The reports explained in Section 3 are a composite of the financial status of the purchaser's records. If (l) all transactions (deposits, refunds, and charges) on all contracts and permits are correct, and (2) Unit Financial Statement is correct, the worksheet will reconcile with the Unit Financial Statement. To assist in the reconciliation which should be done monthly, use form R1-6550-18 (Revised 3/84) which is shown in exhibits 07 and 08. Following is a discussion of each line on the reconciliation using corresponding numbers and letters: 1. Timber Sale Deposit Fund, from Financial Statement as of ____________: Enter the date of the Unit Financial Statement (BUDG 55-3) used for reconciliation. Note: No Statement is prepared for October of each year so no reconciliation is possible for that month. EXHIBITS 07 & 08 CAN BE VIEWED IN THE DIRECTIVES MANUAL a. Fund Balance from Unit Financial Statement. Use Unobligated Balance on the Appropriation Total line. This is marked as (a) on exhibit 09. For those Forests with more than one proclaimed unit, use Account/Activity unobligated balance for each proclaimed unit. EXHIBIT 09 CAN BE VIEWED IN THE DIRECTIVES MANUAL b. Total Adjustments (+&-). This line is a net total of all reconciling differences. Section 6 is devoted to identifying and categorizing reconciling differences and Exhibit 08 is provided as a worksheet for analyzing the effect each difference has on the Fund Balance. c. Subtract 08 amount (871XXX) of previous-month transfers not processed as of this date. Any amounts liquidated on previous transfers not yet processed will be handled in items d. and e. below. R1 SUPPLEMENT 6500-2004-5 EFFECTIVE DATE: 09/14/2004 DURATION: This supplement is effective until superseded or removed. 6550 Page 10 of 13 FSM 6500 – FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING CHAPTER 6550 – ACCOUNTING d. Add unliquidated advance transfer to NFF (code 09 from current Financial Statement). This refers to the advance transfer done in October of each year (Section 3.d.(5) which originally appears as a debit in the expenditure column on the Unit Financial Statement. As it is liquidated (879XXX cr.), the debit is reduced until it reaches zero. The debit represents the unliquidated amount which has reduced the fund balance below the amount of money on deposit from timber purchasers. This unliquidated amount must be added back to the Fund Balance to reflect the true balance on deposit. Refer to the 09 line marked b) on exhibit 09. e. Add unliquidated advance transfer to K-V (Code 10 from current Financial Statement). This advance transfer entry for K-V works the same as the NFF discussed in d. above. The account number is l0 and is noted a c) on exhibit 09. f. True Balance before applying current-period earnings. This is the total of Items 1a through 1e and is a reflection of what the fund balance would be if there were no reconciling differences and no advance transfer adjustments. 2. Timber Purchaser records, as summarized on attached worksheets: Voucher Nos. ______________ to charge TSDF for amount of earnings (code 08 - management code 871XXX). Enter the amount called Total Deposited Basis, which is charged to management code 871XXX for the current report, and list voucher numbers for the 81E half of the AD-742. 3. Total - True TSDF Balance End of Month. This is the true balance (Line 1f) minus current period 08 charges (Line 2). 4. Ending Cash Balance, Worksheet for Transfer of Earned Timber Receipts. This is the ending cash balance on the National Forest Summary - Month's Activity on the Deposited Basis line. See exhibit 03. (Lines 3 and 4 must agree. Difference indicates amounts not yet reconciled.) 5. Procedure for Performing Reconciliation between Purchaser Records (STSA) and the Unit Financial Statement (PAMARS). This is the process for matching transaction-bytransaction all deposits and refunds which affect both the STSA and PAMARS records. Tools to be used in this reconciliation and how they relate are explained below: a. Key reports and information: (1) STSA Worksheets of District Sale Detail - Month's Activity as shown in exhibits 01 and 10. Key information noted on exhibit 10 is district number, contract number, amount, and whether it is a deposit, refund or transfer. EXHIBIT 10 CAN BE VIEWED IN THE DIRECTIVES MANUAL R1 SUPPLEMENT 6500-2004-5 EFFECTIVE DATE: 09/14/2004 DURATION: This supplement is effective until superseded or removed. 6550 Page 11 of 13 FSM 6500 – FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING CHAPTER 6550 – ACCOUNTING (1) TSA Collection Data from PAMARS System as shown in exhibit 11. This printout which is created each time Fort Collins Computer Center (FCCC) does a collection gather (approximately weekly), relates only to collections to management code 870XXX. Key information as noted in the exhibit are district and contract number, amount, and Bill for Collection number. EXHIBIT 11 CAN BE VIEWED IN THE DIRECTIVES MANUAL (1) Subunit Transaction Register, BUDG 58-1 is a detailed listing of Bills for Collection and Refund Vouchers included in the TSDF (Y94) Fund Balance. The management codes involved are 870XXX, 879XXX, and 880XXX. This report shown in exhibit 12 is created for each month of the fiscal year including October. It is located in the microfiche under Subunit 98. Key information is the bill or voucher number and amount. Refunds appear in the "Firm NFC Obligation" column and collections appear in the "Collections/Accounts Receivable" column. Accounts Receivable (A/R) entries may be ignored as they do not affect the Unit Financial Statement. Transfers between contracts do not appear on this output since they are a zero balance transaction to the 870XXX management code. EXHIBIT 12 CAN BE VIEWED IN THE DIRECTIVES MANUAL b. Process of Reconciliation. Transactions on STSA Worksheets and Subunit Transaction Registers should be marked off as they are matched. Notes of individual payments on STSA sheets may be necessary because, although each individual payment shows on the Statement of Account, worksheet totals multiple payments to the same contract number within the month. Collections may be done using the TSA Collection Data from PAMARS System (ex. 11) as a crosswalk to locate specific entries. This is particularly helpful for identifying permit amounts. This effort should match most of the transactions and leave only a few items to record as reconciling differences. A four-part worksheet called a quadrant is provided on the reverse of R1-6550-18 for classifying reconciling differences. Refer to exhibit 08. Examples of possible reconciling items are provided with explanations regarding where to record them on the quadrant and what follow-up action is necessary. (1) Collections in TSA, Not in Fund Balance (+). An example of this situation is a payment at the end of the month which is reported to PAMARS via FCCC after month end. Since STSA does not close until around the 10th of the month or later, the collection does show on the Statement of Account in the proper month as it should, but is not in PAMARS. It should be recorded in this block on the quadrant at time of reconciliation. No specific follow-up action is necessary as it will come through PAMARS in the following month. At that time, the two matched entries will be (a) this reconciliation item on the prior month quadrant, and (b) entry by bill number on the Subunit Transaction Register. Since the entry will have cleared both systems at the end of the second month, no reconciling difference will exist. R1 SUPPLEMENT 6500-2004-5 EFFECTIVE DATE: 09/14/2004 DURATION: This supplement is effective until superseded or removed. 6550 Page 12 of 13 FSM 6500 – FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING CHAPTER 6550 – ACCOUNTING (2) Collections in Fund Balance, not in TSA (-). Examples of this situation are collections which have been reported to PAMARS via FCCC but have rejected in the edit/update process of STSA. This could be because of an invalid contract number, a contract or permit not yet established in the master file, or a payment date not in the current processing month. All of these rejected entries must be resubmitted by the forest and if this is not done, a reconciling entry will be necessary. Another example is contributed fund payments and other adjustments done on an AD-742 which affect management code 870XXX. For these types of transactions, the forest must input a 4001R card to the STSA system. If this is not done, an entry must be made in this area of the quadrant. Follow up in these cases will be to initiate an entry to STSA so the payment will appear on a Statement of Account. If the payment is recorded to the wrong management code and does not belong in the Timber Sale Deposit Fund (Y94), coordination with B&F is necessary to process an accounting adjustment to clear up the reconciling difference. (3) Refunds in TSA, Not in Fund Balance (-). An example of this situation is a refund voucher which is processed near month end and sent to NFC. The entry to STSA is to be made when the document is transmitted. It is possible for the STSA entry to be recorded in one month and the PAMARS entry to appear in the next month because of cut-off dates. No follow up is necessary as the reconciling item in this area of the quadrant at the end of the first month will have a matching entry in PAMARS in the following month and no reconciling difference will exist at the end of the second month. Transfers should be submitted by the 25th of each month so that these transfers of earnings will be processed in the current month and will not have to be carried as reconciling differences at the end of each month. (4) Refunds in Fund Balance, Not in TSA (+). An example of this situation is a refund voucher transmitted to NFC and processed but the entry to TSA is not made. The amount should be entered as a reconciling difference and the proper entry to TSA in the next month will clear up this reconciling item. If an amount appears as expenditure in the Timber Sale Deposit Fund in error, an accounting adjustment should be made by the B&F section to the correct appropriation which will clear up the reconciling entry. Each month when the reconciliation is done, a copy of the prior month quadrant should be used to check off differences which have been taken care of. Any items not cleaned up should be transferred to the current month quadrant and follow up, if necessary, should be initiated. No differences should carry longer than 2 months. Assistance should be requested of your local B&F section for problems that require their attention. Unresolved problems should be referred to the Regional Office Accounting Operations Group. R1 SUPPLEMENT 6500-2004-5 EFFECTIVE DATE: 09/14/2004 DURATION: This supplement is effective until superseded or removed. 6550 Page 13 of 13 FSM 6500 – FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING CHAPTER 6550 – ACCOUNTING 6556.1 - Special Administrative Cost Studies 1. Planting and Timber Stand Improvement Costs. Annually by December 1, Financial Resources will prepare a summary by forests of costs associated with reforestation/TSI for the previous fiscal year. Forest and Rangeland provides acres of accomplishment from the R-1 Timber Stand Data Base so that units’ costs may be computed. Completed statements of cost will be distributed to administrative units for review, correction, and approval. By December 20, units will return approved statements to Financial Resources, Accounting Operations Group, who will summarize the reports and provide them to Forest and Rangeland for use in preparing the annual report of reforestation and stand improvement accomplishments.