B

BUILDING LEASES – PRIVATE SECTOR
BUSINESS CARDS

C

CLAIMS AGAINST THE STATE; Statute of Limitations
COMMUNICATIONS; General and Cellular Telephones
CONTRACTUAL SERVICES  

COUNTY HEALTH UNIT TRUST FUND
COURT REPORTER SERVICES (See “Contractual Services")
CREDIT CARD FEES

D

DEFERRED-PAYMENT COMMODITY CONTRACTS

E

EDUCATIONAL COURSES
EQUIPMENT LEASES
EXECUTIVE ORDERS

F

FCO GRANTS AND AID APPROPRIATIONS (See “Contractual Services")
FEDERAL AND STATE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE (See “Contractual Services")
FURNITURE

G

H

I

INDIRECT COSTS; LIMITATION ON (See “Contractual Services")
INSURANCE
INTERCHANGE OF PERSONNEL AMONG STATE AGENCIES (See “Contractual Services")
INVOICES
INVOICE SAMPLING

J

JOURNAL TRANSFERS

K

L

LAND PURCHASES
LEGAL SERVICES (See “Contractual Services")
LEVIES

LICENSE FEES (See “Membership Dues”)
LOBBYIST

M

MEMBERSHIP DUES/LICENSE FEES
MOTOR VEHICLES
MOVING EXPENSES/EMPLOYEE

N

NOTARY

O

OCO VS. EXPENSE

P

PERQUISITES
PHOTOGRAPHS OF PUBLIC OFFICIALS; MAKING AND DISSEMINATING
POSTAGE
PROCUREMENT; METHOD OF
PROHIBITED EXPENDITURES
PROMOTIONAL ITEMS
PURCHASING CARD TRANSACTIONS

Q

R

RECYCLING PROCEEDS

S

SETTLEMENTS OF CLAIMS AGAINST THE STATE
SPORTS EQUIPMENT; DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

T

TAXES
TRAVEL

U

V

VOLUNTEERS
VOUCHERS

Contractual Advance Payments Pursuant To Section 216.181(16), F.S. - (See “Contractual Services”)

Advances Pursuant To Section 215.422(14), F.S.

Advance payments may be made under Section 215.422(14), F.S., and Rule 3A-40.120(3), Florida Administrative Code (FAC), in accordance with the following:

1. Advance payment may be made for maintenance agreements, software license agreements, and subscriptions that meet one of the following criteria:

2. Advance payment may be made for other goods and services if approved in advance by the Bureau of Auditing. Criteria for approval includes:

Requests for advance payment approval must include information indicating that the payment meets one of the above criteria and that the agency has complied with applicable procurement requirements.

Pursuant to Sections 50.031 and 50.041, F.S., legal advertisements shall have proof of such publication made by uniform affidavit.

When a payment, which would not otherwise be a lawfully authorized use of state funds, is requested pursuant to the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), the payment request shall include a signed statement from the agency head or designee certifying that:

The ADA provides that records related to an individual's disability must be kept confidential; therefore, payment information related to providing a “reasonable accommodation” shall contain a file number or other code by which the voucher can be readily traced to the confidential records maintained by the agency.

Section 255.043, F.S., allows for the purchase of artwork for state buildings when included in the appropriation for the original construction of such building in an amount of 0.5 percent of the total appropriations not to exceed $100,000. Evidence of notification by the agencies receiving original appropriations for construction to the Florida Arts Council must be included with invoices submitted for payment pursuant to this section.

1. Pursuant to Section 215.965, F.S., payments due vendors or employees cannot be assigned by changing the payee's name from ultimate beneficiary to an assignee. However, subject to approval of each individual agency, state warrants may be issued in favor of an employee or a vendor and be delivered to the assignee. Authorization from the payee and agency should be on file prior to payment.

2. For the majority of vendor contracts the ultimate beneficiary is the vendor supplying the service, but on some contracts the ultimate beneficiary may be a third party that the vendor owes a legal monetary obligation. In these situations the contract may be amended to correctly state the party who is the ultimate beneficiary of state funds and the party who will be supplying the services to the State. These cases must be analyzed on a case-by-case basis. Such a contract would have all parties in agreement, especially between the vendor and the third party. The liability of the State should be addressed in the contract by the vendor supplying the service and the ultimate beneficiary. Nevertheless, the best way to handle these situations will be to have the vendor and the third party settle their financial matters between themselves and the State pay the vendor supplying the service.

3. Section 215.965, F.S., does not preclude payments being made jointly to an ultimate beneficiary and third party.

When requesting payment for individual awards, the employee's name and social security number must be provided.

Satisfactory Service Awards

Pursuant to Section 110.1245, F.S., each department head is authorized to incur expenditures for giving awards in the following situations:

Employee Gathering for Awards Presentation – State Owned Space

While there may be benefits in bringing employees together to witness the presentation of awards, in terms of improved employee motivation and morale, such benefits are often difficult to measure. Agencies are encouraged to consider the full costs of such events against the benefits derived from such costs, and reevaluate the decision to hold such events at taxpayer expense. The cost of such a gathering can be calculated in terms of the time involved in such an event and the salaries of the employees participating. This includes not only the time of those actually attending the event (time spent going to the location of the event, at the event and returning to their workstations), but also the time spent by employees in arranging such events and in notifying employees of the time and location of the event. In addition to the salary (including overtime and compensatory time), there may be costs associated with travel that must be included.

Rental Space and Travel Costs

The cost of renting space for the purpose of gathering employees together for the sole purpose of witnessing the presentation of awards or the travel costs incurred for the sole purpose of attending an awards presentation event are not allowable state expenditures. However, travel expenses for award winners to travel to an awards presentation event may be paid by state funds.

Volunteer Recognition

Pursuant to Section 110.503(5), F.S., each department or agency using the services of volunteers is authorized to incur expenditures not to exceed $100 each, plus applicable taxes for suitable framed certificates, plaques or other tokens of recognition to honor, reward or encourage volunteers for their service.

Pursuant to Section 110.504(6), F.S., incidental recognition benefits or incidental non-monetary awards may be furnished to volunteers serving in state departments to award, recognize or encourage volunteers for their service. The awards may not cost in excess of $100 each plus applicable tax.

Also see “Purchasing Card Transactions – Awards.”

Pursuant to Sections 255.25 and 255.254, F.S., any agency requiring lease space must obtain approval from the Department of Management Services (DMS).

Vouchers for the payment of building leases must include the approved lease number from DMS, if applicable. Leases may not be paid in advance, however; vouchers may be submitted for payment after the 20th of the month for which payment is required.

Prior to leasing buildings that require renovation at state expense, agencies should determine if it is in the best interest of the state to lease the building rather than leasing space that meets the agency's needs.

Justification must be maintained by the agency and furnished to the Bureau of Auditing upon request.

Also see “Purchasing Card Transactions – Leasing of Buildings and Equipment.”

State agencies should review the necessity of business cards for its employees and limit the purchase of business cards to those employees who actually need the cards to carry out their official duties and responsibilities. If there is a need to purchase business cards for employees, the purchases should be made within the following limitations. Gold sealed cards may be purchased for employees filling Selected Exempt, Senior Management and equivalent or higher positions. The more economical one-color cards may be purchased for other employees who need cards.

Payment request for business cards other than the most economical one-color cards must include information showing that the employee for whom the cards are being purchased is filling a Selected Exempt, Senior Management or equivalent position.

Claims Against The State – Statute of Limitations

Section 95.11(2)(b), F.S., places a five-year limitation on legal or equitable actions on a contract, obligation or liability founded on a written instrument. Section 95.11(3)(k), F.S., places a four year limitation on actions on a contract, obligation, or liability not founded on a written instrument, including an action for the sale and delivery of goods, wares, and merchandise. Any claim exceeding the time limits provided herein shall be considered past the statute of limitations for claims against the State.

Settlements – See “Settlement of Claims Against the State” section.

General

Expenditures properly chargeable to communications include telephone, cellular telephone, beepers, pagers, telegraph and data processing communications. The purchase, lease and use of all communication services that exceeds Category Two, Section 287.017, F.S., shall have prior approval by the Division of Communications, pursuant to Rule 60C-2.008, F.A.C., unless such authority is delegated to the agencies. A copy of the approval shall be attached to the invoice submitted for payment.

Charges for Universal Service Support (also known as Universal Community Charges or Federal Universal Service Fees) may be paid from state funds. These are NOT taxes, therefore the State of Florida is not exempt.

The State of Florida and its political subdivisions are exempt from federal communication tax on communications services defined as local telephone services, toll telephone services and teletypewriter exchange services. Federal communication tax included on invoices for such services should be deleted from the invoices prior to processing of payment.

Cellular Telephones – State Owned

Cellular telephones should only be used for conducting official state business when a conventional telephone is not readily available. State agencies should have established internal controls over the use of state-owned or leased cellular telephones to ensure that payments from public funds relating to the cellular telephones serve a specific authorized public purpose. Billing options should be reviewed to determine that the most economical option is selected considering the specific usage requirements of the cellular telephone user.

Personal use of State-owned or leased cellular telephones should be discouraged. In the event that personal calls are made or received, there should be procedures in place to ensure that payment is received for the personal use prior to payment to the service provider while observing the requirements of Section 215.422 F.S. This may be accomplished by:

If the plan is based on actual usage, the employee would pay the charge for the personal call plus any applicable taxes.

If the plan includes a specific number of minutes allowed for a specified fee, the following instructions are to be used to calculate the amount the employee would reimburse the state agency for personal calls. When the plan minutes allowed are not exceeded, the employee would pay the prorated per minute rate. Divide the number of plan minutes allowed by the monthly fee to determine the prorated per minute rate. For example, if a plan has a monthly fee of thirty dollars ($30) for 200 minutes, the employee would pay 15 cents ($30/200) for every minute of personal usage on the state cell telephone.

When the plan minutes allowed are exceeded, the employee would pay the excess per minute rate for every minute of personal usage on the state cell telephone.

Cellular Telephones - Personal

Reimbursement to employees for occasional use of personal cellular telephones to conduct official state business will be made only when substantiated by documentation showing that the call was necessarily made for the official state business of the agency. If the business call made on the employee's personal cellular telephone does not result in additional charges to the employee, reimbursement for the business call is disallowed. However, if the state business call results in additional charges, the employee may be reimbursed up to the per-minute rate charged, plus applicable taxes, for the excess minutes incurred as a result of usage for official state business. Employees will be required to provide a statement certifying that the calls were necessary and were for official state business. No payment will be made for any portion of the employee's personal monthly charges, taxes on the basic monthly fee, or charges related to obtaining documentation listing individual telephone calls.

If it is necessary for an employee to consistently use his or her personal telephone to conduct the duties and responsibilities of a state agency, then the agency should consider providing use of a state cellular telephone.

Also see “Purchasing Card Transactions – Cellular Phones/Pagers.”

General

Contractual service means the rendering of time and effort by the contractor rather than the furnishing of specific commodities. Expenditures classified as contractual services include, but are not limited to: professional services such as accounting, architectural, consulting, court reporting, engineering, legal and medical and general services such as custodial, employment, entertainment, examination and testing, investigative and research.

Advances Pursuant to Section 216.181(16), F.S.

Section 216.181(16), F.S., provides for advances for program startup or advances for contracted services to governmental entities and not-for-profit organizations. The amount that may be advanced shall not exceed the expected cash needs of the contractor or recipient within the initial three months. Thereafter, disbursements shall only be on a reimbursement basis. Advance payments may be made for cost-reimbursement and fixed-price contracts.

Agencies specifically authorized by the General Appropriations Act to make advance payments and wishing to advance beyond the initial three months expected cash needs must request a waiver from the Bureau of Auditing. The request for waiver must include:

The waiver request should be sent to Bureau of Auditing, Department of Financial Services, 200 East Gaines Street, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0355 for approval prior to submitting for payment. The waiver request will then be forwarded to the appropriations committees of both houses of the Legislature for consultation and comments. The Legislature has fourteen days to respond to the request. If there is no response within the fourteen day time period, then approval will be granted by the Bureau of Auditing, provided all other applicable requirements are met. The agency will be notified in writing of the approval or disapproval of the request. If approved, a copy of the approval must be submitted with the payment.

*Advance payments allowed under Section 215.422(14), F.S., may be found in the “Advance Payment” section.

Contracts for $1,800 or Less

To reduce the time and cost required to process small routine monthly or quarterly payments on annual contracts, agencies are authorized to process annual advance payments on such contracts, the annual amount of which is $1800 or less. Contracts $1800 or less are not required to meet the specific documentation required by Rule 3A-40.120(3), F.A.C., for advance payments.

Contract Document Requirements

Pursuant to Section 287.058, F.S., every procurement of contractual services in excess of the Category Two threshold amount provided in Section 287.017, F.S., shall be evidenced by a written agreement embodying all provisions and conditions of the procurement of such services. Section 287.058 (1), F.S., allows the use of a purchase order in lieu of a written agreement. However, the purchase order must include an adequate description of the service, the contract period and the method of payment. Additionally, the purchase order or solicitation must include the provisions of Section 287.058 (1)(a)–(f), F.S.

Regardless of whether a purchase order or written agreement is used, the document must contain clear and specific language regarding services/deliverables that must be rendered and accepted prior to payments being received. Deliverables must be specifically related to the contract's scope of work and must be both quantifiable and measurable. The document must also contain sanctions for non-performance. Contracts which are paid on a reimbursement basis or at a fixed rate for a specific time period, e.g. monthly, quarterly, etc., should require written progress reports to be submitted detailing the activities accomplished for the invoice period.

To process payments for services using a purchase order, the purchase order should state that the terms may not be modified by the vendor. Any such attempt to modify a purchase order for services will not be accepted as the basis for additional compensation.

Contractual Services Exhibit 1, located at the end of this section, may be used as a reference for all of the requirements to be included in the contract document.

Exceptions to Provision Requirements of Section 287.058 F.S.

Contract Document Changes

Contract Payment Requirements

Payments for contractual service must include at a minimum, the invoice, a description of the services provided (i.e., specific deliverables) and the date(s) of service. The following contracts require additional documentation or information.

Contract Review Process

Comptroller's Memorandum #11 (2001-02) outlines the contractual services processing procedures. This process eliminates the requirement for agencies to submit a copy of the contract/purchase order contract and supporting documentation for contractual services contracts of $250,000 or less. Only payments on contracts/purchase order contracts for contractual services for which the contract/purchase order amount is greater than $75,000 will be processed through the Central Contract System with the use of an agency-assigned Statewide Contract number. This includes open-dollar amount contracts.

The contract review process requires agencies to complete a Contract Review Checklist if the contract exceeds $75,000 and submit the checklist to the Bureau of Auditing. (See Exhibit 1 and Exhibit 2. The Contract Review Checklist is available on the DFS website in Adobe Acrobat and Word formats. Agencies may use the long version (Contractual Services Exhibit 1) or the short version (Contractual Services Exhibit 2) of the Contract Review Checklist. Agencies may adapt the Contract Review Checklist to meet their agency needs with the approval of the Bureau of Auditing. Agencies already using an approved agency version of the Contract Review Checklist may continue to use their approved version of the checklist.

For contracts with amounts greater than $75,000 and less than or equal to $250,000, agencies must submit a Contract Review Checklist in lieu of the contract and supporting documentation. For contracts in excess of $250,000 or with an open-dollar amount, the agencies must submit a Contract Review Checklist, the contract and supporting documentation. (See Guidelines in this section.)

If the contract amount is $75,000 or less or is a “one time” payment (for any dollar value), the agency is encouraged to send the Contract Summary Form in lieu of the contract/purchase order with every payment. (See Contractual Services Exhibit 3.)

When completing the Contract Review Checklist, please include all of the required contract information. In the event there is insufficient space on the checklist to include all deliverables/milestones or payment criteria, pages from the contract or exhibits containing this information should be attached to the checklist.

The Contract Review Checklist and/or contract/purchase order and supporting documentation should be submitted to the Bureau of Auditing in advance of the first payment. It is very important that the checklist and/or contracts be submitted prior to the payment request in order to avoid delays and allow for more efficient and timely processing of contractual services vouchers.

The Bureau of Auditing will review the Contract Review Checklist and/or contract/purchase order for compliance with statutory requirements, general contract requirements otherwise provided by law or rule and terms governing delivery of service and payment. Upon completion of this review and approval, the Bureau of Auditing will enter the contract information in the Central Contract System.

Service contracts (for any dollar amount) from State Term Contracts, SNAPS, PRIDE, RESPECT, construction and one time payments are not tracked on the Central Contract System and DO NOT require submission of the Contract Review Checklist.

Guidelines for the contract review process are as follows:

Contracts Signed After Services Are Rendered

Section 287.058 (2), F.S., requires that both parties shall sign a written agreement or contract prior to the rendering of the services for contractual service agreements costing in excess of Category Two threshold except in the case of a valid emergency as certified by the agency head. The certification of an emergency must be prepared within thirty (30) days after the contractor begins rendering the service and must state the particular facts and circumstances which precluded the execution of the written agreement prior to the rendering of the service.

If the agency fails to have the contract signed by the agency head and the contractor prior to rendering the contractual service, and if an emergency does not exist, the agency head must, no later than 30 days after the contractor begins rendering the service, certify the specific conditions and circumstances to DMS as well as describe actions taken to prevent recurrence of such noncompliance.

Noncompliance with these requirements will necessitate that the agency and the contractor enter into a settlement agreement.

Court Reporter Services

Section 287.059(14), F.S., authorizes the Office of the Attorney General to contract with one or more court reporting services, on a circuit wide basis, on behalf of all state agencies. All agencies shall utilize the contracts for court reporting services entered into by the Office of the Attorney General. In the absence of a state contract for court reporting services, agencies contracting for court reporting services must abide by the standard fee schedule established in Rule 2-39.020, F.A.C. The standard fee schedule is established as a maximum amount allowable for court reporter services and is to be applied based on the location of the deposition or hearing. Agencies should negotiate fees below the maximum allowed whenever possible if no state court reporter contract is in effect.

Any agency wishing to exceed the standard fee schedule must demonstrate necessity for such action to the Attorney General through a statement of waiver that must be signed by the appropriate agency head or designee prior to contracting for court reporting services. A copy of the waiver must be submitted to the Bureau of Auditing along with the payment. The waiver should be based on the following criteria:

Determination of Employee-Employer Relationship

When entering into agreements for personal services, agencies should determine if an employer-employee relationship exists. The IRS provides generally that the relationship of employer and employee exists when the person or persons for whom the services are performed have the right to control and direct the individual who performs the services, not only as the result to be accomplished by the work but also as to the details and means by which that result is accomplished. If it is determined that such a relationship does exist, the employee should be paid through the payroll system and not as an independent contractor. It is incumbent on each agency to evaluate the circumstances of each contractual relationship. Any penalties that may be imposed by the IRS for failure to make the proper determination of the employment relationship will be borne by the agency making the initial determination.

Circumstances of an employment relationship may be submitted to the IRS for its determination using a Form SS-8.

As an aid to assist agencies in making a determination of the employee-employer relationship, the following twenty factors have been established. These factors have been developed only as guides for determining whether an individual is an employee. Special scrutiny is required in applying the twenty factors to assure that formalistic aspects of an arrangement designed to achieve a particular status do not obscure the substance of the arrangement. The twenty factors are as follows:

Extra Compensation

Pursuant to Section 215.425, F.S., additional compensation may not be granted after the contract has been made unless additional services will be provided. Contract amendments increasing the total contract amount are only valid if additional services are being provided and only if the ITB, ITN, or RFP provided for price increases, an expansion of the scope of services and/or future amendments to increase the total amount of the contract. If the total amount of a fixed unit rate contract is being increased and the unit rate remains the same, then it can be assumed that the contractor will be providing additional units of service. All other contracts must clearly show the additional services that will be provided. Method of procurement for additional services must be provided.

Federal And State Financial Assistance

Awards of federal and/or state financial assistance may be made in the form of grants, direct appropriations, loans, etc., and do not represent a purchase of service from a vendor.

Disbursements of state financial assistance must be made from 7500 object code and should bypass FLAIR's Central Accounting Contract System. Disbursement of other types of financial assistance may be made with 7100, 7200, 7300, 7400, and 7900 object codes and should also bypass FLAIR's Central Accounting Contract System.

Agencies are required to provide the authority for the disbursement of federal or state financial assistance. Information regarding state financial assistance and the Florida Single Audit Act can be found on the web pages of the Executive Office of the Governor, the Office of the Auditor General and the Department of Financial Services. The Governor's website also has links to information on federal financial assistance.

The agreement awarding state/federal financial assistance must contain clear and specific language regarding services/deliverables that must be rendered and accepted prior to payments being issued by the state. Deliverables must be specifically related to the agreement's scope of work and must be both quantifiable and measurable. The document must also contain sanctions for non-performance. Agreements which are paid on a reimbursement basis or at a fixed rate for a specific time period, e.g. monthly, quarterly, etc., should require written progress reports to be submitted detailing the activities accomplished for the invoice period.

FCO Grants And Aids Appropriations

Where applicable, FCO grants to non-profit entities must comply with the requirements of Section 216.348, F.S.

Interchange Of Personnel Among State Agencies

Section 112.24, F.S., authorizes employee interchange agreements among State of Florida Agencies in order to encourage economical and effective use of public employees. Interchange agreements are exempt from the provision requirements of Section 287.058, F.S., and should be executed in accordance with the requirements set forth in Section 112.24, F.S.

Legal Services

Contracts for private attorney services must be in accordance with Section 287.059, F.S. Prior approval of the Attorney General must be obtained, where applicable, and shall include a statement that the private attorney services requested cannot be provided by the Office of the Attorney General or that such private attorney services are cost effective in the opinion of the Attorney General. Where applicable, evidence of approval by the Office of the Attorney General to contract for private attorney services must be included with the first payment submitted to the Bureau of Auditing for contracts tracked through the system. Contracts not tracked through the system must include evidence of approval with each payment.

Limitation On Indirect Costs

Pursuant to Section 216.346, F.S., any contract or grant between state agencies, including any contract involving the State University System or the State Community College System, the agency receiving the contract or grant shall charge no more than 5 percent for overhead or indirect costs or any cost not required for the payment of direct costs. This restriction applies to both state and federally funded contracts.

Professional Services

Section 287.055, F.S., specifically relates to the acquisition of professional architectural, engineering, landscape architecture, or land surveying or mapping.

Section 287.055(3)(a), F.S., requires each agency to publicly announce, in a uniform and consistent manner each occasion when architectural, engineering or surveying and mapping services are required to be purchased for a project, the basic construction cost of which is estimated by the agency to exceed the threshold amount provided in Section 287.017, F.S., for Category Five or for a planning or study activity when the fee for such services exceeds the threshold amount provided in Section 287.017, F.S., for Category Two.

The public notice shall include a general description of the project and shall indicate how interested consultants may apply for consideration. Agencies are required to submit evidence of compliance with the Consultants Competitive Negotiation Act (CCNA) along with the first payment.

Section 287.055(4), F.S., provides for competitive selection of firms to provide professional services. The competitive selection process includes an evaluation of the qualifications and performance data of the firms submitting proposals and a selection of at least three firms in order of preference. Evidence of compliance with competitive selection requirements must be submitted with the first voucher requesting payments.

Section 287.055, F.S., provides for the competitive negotiation of contracts for professional services. The agency must first attempt to negotiate a contract with the firm determined to be the most qualified. If the agency is unable to negotiate a contract with the firm determined to be most qualified at a price the agency determines to be fair, competitive and reasonable, negotiations shall be formally terminated. The agency should then undertake negotiations with the second most qualified firm. If negotiations fail with the second most qualified firm, then the agency must terminate negotiations. The process should be repeated in the order of the competence and qualification of the firms until an agreement is reached. Evidence must be submitted to document that the agency has negotiated a contract that provides for compensation that is fair, competitive and reasonable.

Payment criteria for professional services contracts includes, but are not limited to:

Also see “Purchasing Card Transactions – Contractual Services”

CONTRACTUAL SERVICES EXHIBIT 1 - Contract Review Checklist - Long Form
CONTRACTUAL SERVICES EXHIBIT 2 - Contract Review Checklist - Short Form
CONTRACTUAL SERVICES EXHIBIT 3 - Summary of Contract/Purchase Order

Pursuant to Section 216.341, F.S., monies of a county health unit trust fund may be expended by the Department of Health for the respective county health departments in accordance with budgets and plans agreed upon by the county authorities of each health unit and the Department of Health. County health units are subject to Section 287.057, F.S., for procurement requirements unless the payment information includes a written certification from the agency stating that county purchasing procedures were followed. The certification must contain a cross reference to the specific sections of the county purchasing procedures being applied.

Also see “Purchasing Card Transactions – County Health Unit Trust Fund.”

Agencies are not to contract with any credit card company that requires annual fees. Agencies should use the State of Florida Purchasing Card Program. (See “Purchasing Card Transactions” section.)

These purchases must be made in accordance with Section 287.063, F.S. An agency entering into any commodity contract requiring deferred payments in excess of $30,000 and payment of interest, must be sent to the Bureau of Accounting for prior approval and pre-audit.

This program is the “Consolidated Equipment Financing Program” (CEFP). Information on this program may be found on the DFS website, http://www.myfloridacfo.com/aadir/cefp/.

Examples of equipment this program has financed are computers, copiers, communication systems, laboratory equipment, medical equipment and printers.

Payments for CEFP should be object coded 6100 (interest), and 6200 (principal).

Universities are exempt from this requirement, but can go through CEFP in order to take advantage of the normally lower contracted interest rate than that which is on the open market.

General

State agencies may pay for educational training and courses that are designed to improve the efficiency of a qualified employee when the courses are directly related to the employee's current job duties. Educational courses intended to prepare an employee for a job primarily of benefit to the employee and only indirectly beneficial to the agency, do not constitute a proper expenditure of public funds absent a specific legislative authorization. All required books associated with the course may also be expended from state funds as long as the State is only paying for courses for employees which primarily benefit the State rather than the employee. Any books purchased with state funds must become the property of the State. Cost for courses that will primarily benefit the employee rather than the State will not be paid. The invoice for payment must include the improved efficiency or the benefit to the State derived from the training or course and the position title of the employee.

Community Leadership Courses

Various chambers of commerce throughout the State offer training courses. The courses are entitled “Leadership (city or area).” The stated purpose of these courses is to improve the quality, quantity and effectiveness of leadership in the city or area by:

Generally, meeting these objectives do not appear to fall within the statutory duties and responsibilities of state agencies. Therefore, payment by a state agency for an employee to attend such a course would generally not be a proper expenditure of state funds.

Agencies with specific statutory authority to provide this training to employees and wishing to send an employee to community leadership courses should request prior approval from the:

Requests must cite the specific statutory authority for the agency to send employees to the classes or cite the specific statutory duty or responsibility, which necessitates the agency sending an employee to such a class. Any payment request, which does not include prior approval may be denied.

Equipment leases that have an annual cost anticipated to exceed the purchasing Category Two threshold established in Section 287.017, F.S., requires prior approval from the Bureau of Accounting. If the monthly lease cost for equipment is greater than one-twelfth of the Category Two threshold, but the annual cost will be less than the Category Two threshold, each voucher submitted for payment should include documentation indicating that the annual cost will not exceed the Category Two threshold.

In computing the total lease cost for determination as to whether the annual lease cost exceeds the Category Two threshold, maintenance and other periodic costs to be incurred by the lessee for the equipment must be added to the lease payments. Equipment is defined as a functional unit and not as an individual component. For example, an agency may not acquire, by lease, equipment costing less than Category Two threshold annually, avoiding Bureau of Accounting approval, and then add other components to the equipment which increases the total annual cost above the threshold.

Requests for Bureau of Accounting approval to lease equipment above the Category Two threshold should be submitted with the Lease Checklist (http://www.myfloridacfo.com/aadir/cefp/) and addressed to:

Vouchers submitted for payment of leases requiring prior approval of the Bureau of Accounting must show the lease approval number assigned by the Bureau of Accounting.

Regardless of the annual cost of the lease or the acquisition method, it shall be the responsibility of the procuring agency to evaluate and maintain documentation to support that a lease is economically prudent and cost-effective.

Agencies with special needs for leasing equipment, such as short-term needs for surveying, monitoring and research connected with wildlife studies or preservation are exempt from the requirement to obtain prior approval. A certification from the agency head or designee supporting the decision to lease must be attached to the voucher submitted for payment.

The Bureau of Accounting will gladly review leases less than or equal to Category Two, upon agency request.

Also see “Purchasing Card Transactions – Leases of Buildings and Equipment.”

The Governor has the authority to sign executive orders under Section 252.36, F.S. All executive orders have the full force and effect of law. Most executive orders are for emergencies dealing with hurricanes, tropical storms, wildfires, floods, tornadoes, citrus canker and other states of emergency. An executive order may suspend the purchasing rules and regulations.

While state agencies may purchase office and public area furniture in accordance with the State term contract in effect at the time of purchase, price limits have been established for purchasing the following furniture:

*Note: Item Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 listed above may only be purchased for reception or other public areas.

The price limits stated above also apply to furniture purchased under contracts entered into by an agency or university and to PRIDE furniture.

If an agency needs to purchase a chair that exceeds the established limit in order to provide a reasonable accommodation under the ADA, the agency must process the invoice in accordance with the instructions in Americans with Disabilities Act section.

All other exceptions must be fully justified by the agency and approved in advance by the Bureau of Auditing. Requests for exceptions should be addressed to:

For agencies subject to the provisions of Section 287.022, F.S., payments for the purchase of insurance, with the exception of title insurance for land purchases, must have proof of approval by DMS or a certification of emergency.

General

Invoices to be submitted to the Bureau of Auditing for payment must be scheduled by the agency wishing to make payment using a standard format prescribed by the Department of Financial Services (DFS). Payments submitted to the Bureau of Auditing for disbursement or transfer of funds shall only be those payments authorized by law. If such authority is not evident by the nature of the payment, the agency must cite the law which has expressly authorized the agency to expend funds for the purpose under consideration or, must be considered to have been given such authority by necessary implication in order to carry out a duty or function expressly imposed or authorized by law. The information listed in this section provides general guidelines that are common to all expenditures.

Invoice Requirements

The following requirements apply to all invoices submitted for payment.

A selected sample of invoices for disbursement requests equal to or less than the established dollar threshold for an agency must be submitted to the Bureau of Auditing for pre-audit review. Sampling thresholds may vary by agency and/or voucher processing site, and could be changed at any point in time. Invoices equal to or less than the established dollar threshold for an agency, and not included in the sample, will be systematically posted and should not be submitted to the Bureau of Auditing.

Invoices less than or equal to the threshold and included in the sample, invoices greater than the threshold, and invoices submitted to this office by specific request will be pre-audited by Bureau of Auditing staff. Flags are set in the Voucher Audit System for certain vendors, object codes and other criteria. Payment requests for these items generally require special review or handling by Bureau of Auditing staff. Vouchers and copies of supporting documentation for flagged items will continue to be submitted to this office, regardless of the dollar amount.

Journal transfers (JTs) are vouchers (transactions) that allow state agencies to make payments to other state agencies in lieu of issuing a state warrant, correct disbursements made in error, allocate costs within an agency, make transfers or distributions that are required by law and restore current year expenditure refunds to their original disbursement accounts. Pursuant to Rule 3A-40.002(24), F.A.C., all payments to state agencies shall be made by journal transfer unless the necessity for making payment by warrant is documented by the agency and approved by the CFO.

There are three types of journal transfers: JT-1, JT-2 and JT-3. A JT-1 is referred to as a journal redistribution. A JT-2 can be one of three different voucher types: a journal advice, a non-operating transfer or an expenditure refund. A JT-3 involves the transfer of budget release between accounts with different Internal Budget Indicators (IBI). The JT-3 will not be discussed in this reference manual as it is a function of the Bureau of Accounting.

Journal Transfer One (JT-1)

I. Journal Redistribution

The journal redistribution (JT-1) is used to make corrections of disbursements made in error and to allocate costs within an agency. JT-1s should not be used to correct non-operating transfers or service charge journal transfers. Allocating costs within an agency usually occurs when an agency wants to issue one warrant to a vendor and then charge individual sections or other units for their pro rata share of the total cost. See JT Exhibit 1 located at the end of this section, for an example of a JT-1. Transaction codes 20 and 21 are used to update the accounting system as follows:

II. Auto-posting of JT-1s

JT-1s input into Departmental FLAIR are automatically posted to the Central Accounting System during the overnight update. Those JT-1s will include the following statement--SYSTEM POSTED JT1 - RETAIN ALL DOCUMENTATION.

JT-1s between state agencies are not auto-posted and must be submitted to the Bureau of Auditing. Supporting information must be provided as to why it is necessary to process the transaction between state agencies as a JT-1 rather than a JT-2.

Other information required to support JT-1s include a reference to the original transaction or a copy of the original transaction being corrected or reallocated.

JT-1s that contain negative balances (cash, budget or other atypical balances) will not be auto-posted. The system will attempt to post all negative JT-1s for five consecutive nights. JT-1s not posted in five nights will be automatically deleted by the system.

III. JT-1 Focus System

There exists within FLAIR a Focus system that allows the Bureau of Auditing to view auto-posted JT-1 transactions with certain predetermined criteria. The current criteria and parameters set in the FOCUS system are:

Since all JT-1s with the exception of those crossing OLOs, are auto posted, the Bureau of Auditing will routinely review these transactions. The Bureau of Auditing may request supporting documentation for selected auto-posted JT-1s to determine if the transaction is valid. If documentation does not support the transaction, the agency will be asked to reverse the entry. If the agency does not reverse the entry, the Bureau of Auditing will reverse the entry and notify the agency.

Journal Transfer Two (JT-2)

As stated earlier, the JT-2 can be one of four different voucher types: journal advice, operating disbursement, non-operating transfer and expenditure refund.

I. Journal Advice

The journal advice, JT Exhibit 2 is primarily used to make payments to other state agencies for goods and services received. Supporting information for payments to other state agencies should include at a minimum the invoice that provides a description of the goods or services, the benefiting agency's account code, the quantity and unit price, if applicable, and the amount being charged. Any additional information necessary to substantiate the payment based on the type of purchase being made must also be included.

Agencies will also use the journal advice to make payments of the service charge to general revenue, to invest funds with the Department of Financial Services, Division of Treasury, and to process payments to the Division of State Group Insurance (DSGI). Transaction codes 25 and 45 are used, with the journal advice, to update the Central Accounting System as follows:

II. Category 10XXXX- Operating Disbursements

This type of transaction is used when the agency receives the appropriation in a special category (10XXXX) through the General Appropriations Act and is required to “transfer” the funds to another state entity; the journal entry will normally be an operating disbursement. If the 10XXXX category used has been identified as “H” in the Itemization of Expenditures (IOE) records in LAS/PBS, the receipt category must be 001000, state grants. These are operating receipts and disbursements, though nothing is being purchased and no benefit is received by the payi