United States Department of Agriculture
Research, Education and Economics

ARS * CSREES * ERS * NASS

Bulletin

       
    
Background


Federal and non-Federal reimbursable agreements have evolved over the last several years. For instance, reimbursable agreements now require enhanced partnerships and teaming amongst administrative personnel such as the Servicing Budget and Fiscal Officer (SBFO), Extramural Agreements Specialist (EAS), Contracting Officer (CO), ARS Operations Section (ARS Ops), and others. The Foundation Financial Information System (FFIS) has also highlighted issues associated with billings and collections activity and there is a need to have more detailed billing information provided to cooperators. This bulletin documents the “new and improved” billing and collection process and provides revised mechanisms to ensure the requirements associated with the ARS financial statements are satisfied.

Policy  

During FY 2002 and 2003, evidence that field offices are increasingly billing cooperators outside the Foundation Financial Information System (FFIS) has become apparent. These bills are not being captured in FFIS and, therefore, are not being accounted for appropriately in the official accounting system. Per S. M. Helmrich's email dated May 2, 2003, effective immediately, no billings will be issued by any other office, except ARS Operations, NFC, without prior approval by the Director, FMD.

All billing activity is to be centralized at ARS Ops. ARS Ops will enter all activity into the official accounting system, FFIS, via the IBIL (Internet Billing System) and ABCO (Administrative Billings and Collections System). Instances in which the Director, Financial Management Division (FMD), has given approval to render manual bills (type 63 agreements), must be coordinated with ARS Ops to ensure the appropriate information is captured in the accounting system.

Further, to ensure reimbursable billing activity is maintained within the FFIS application, the SBFO, EAS, and CO must work jointly to ensure billing terms can be met and/or negotiated. For example, if the cooperator requires invoices to be submitted using the cooperator's form, the SBFO must seek and be given approval from the Director, FMD, to establish a type 63 agreement. All remittances must be made in accordance with remit to information on the invoice. To expedite the payment process, all remittances must be made directly to the lockbox.

In the event additional authority is received for an established reimbursable agreement in a subsequent fiscal year, a separate accounting code must be established and the obligations and expenditures must be tracked separately for each agreement. For example, if an existing agreement is established with accounting code 2086402111 and additional funds are received the following year for the same agreement, it must be tracked in a separate accounting code such as 3086402111.

Occasionally, remittances might be made using Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) procedures. In the event this occurs, the debtor number, bill number, and lockbox number must be provided electronically along with the payment.

Types of Agreements and Billing Procedures  

There are two types of reimbursable agreements that can be established in FFIS based on how the agreement is to be billed. In all cases, ARS Ops is responsible for entering billing information into IBIL based on actual expenses for all reimbursable activity. Actual expenses are defined as actual payments incurred in support of obligations on behalf of the agreement. Actual obligations represent a formal encumbrance of funds but the goods/services have not been provided and final expenditures have not been incurred. Based on the billing information, receivables will be established and upon receipt of the payment from the cooperator, the receivable will be liquidated.

Type 61

On a monthly basis ARS Ops will run the ISF report. The ISF report details the expenses by cooperator and agreement. Based on expenses incurred, ARS Ops will enter billing information into the IBIL system for IPAC, non-IPAC participating Federal agencies, and non-Federal cooperators.

The Internet Billing System (IBIL) is a front-end system used by ARS Ops to enter billing data. It interfaces with ABCO to generate bills and establish accounts receivable within the FFIS application. Step-by-step billing procedures for type 61 agreements is provided for IPAC participating Agencies in Enclosure 2 and Non-IPAC participating Agencies and Non-Federal Cooperators in Enclosure 3. These steps include how the billing document (A1 document) is generated and subsequently liquidated in FFIS when the cash receipt/payment is recorded (A2 document).

ARS Ops can accommodate information on bills such as specific budget object codes; cooperator reference data; ARS contact information, etc. as long as the SBFO specifies this in the Specific Billing Instructions and/or Billing Frequency blocks on the ARS-324. ARS Ops can bill based on a specific period/time frame, i.e., quarterly, end of agreement, etc. ARS Ops can also send an email message detailing the agreement number, date billed, amount, the period covered, accounting code charged, etc. However, to accomplish any of these actions, the ARS-324 mustspecify billing requirements and special handling instructions.

Type 63  

This program type is used when additional information will be forthcoming from the SBFO and will either be matched up with the ABCO “Bill for Collection” or a manual bill from the SBFO will be provided. The Director, FMD, must grant approval in order to establish type 63 agreements. To request approval, send an email message to the Director, FMD, with sufficient justification for why manual/specialized bills are necessary. Typically, type 63 agreements are used when:

• The cooperator has specific forms to be completed and submitted in order for the cooperator to submit payments;
  
• Cooperator requires detail beyond what is available in the Financial Data Warehouse.

Although manual bills will be generated, action must be taken by the SBFO to coordinate with ARS Ops to ensure billing and collection information is appropriately accounted for in FFIS. Based on actual expenses and completion of the IBIL form, special handling instructions provided on the ARS-324, additional information and/or the manual invoice generated by the SBFO, ARS Ops will enter billing data into the IBIL system. NOTE: Before billing can take place, actual expenses must reside on the reimbursable account. If expenses reside on an annual account, they must be moved to the appropriate reimbursable account before billing action can take place.

Similar to type 61 agreements, the IBIL system will interface with ABCO to generate bills and establish accounts receivable within the FFIS application. ARS Ops will designate that special handling is required for type 63 agreements when billing data is entered in the IBIL. ABCO will run the billing process four times per month and will hold these bills for further action by ARS Ops. ARS Ops will either:

• Pick up the ABCO Invoice, “Bill for Collection”, and match it up with additional information provided by the SBFO or;
  
• Annotate the manual invoice provided by the SBFO with the actual debtor and bill numbers and disregard the ABCO Invoice.
  
  Step-by-step billing procedures for type 63 agreements is provided for manual bills for non- Federal cooperators using the ABCO Invoice, “Bill for Collection” in Enclosure 4 and manual bills for non-Federal cooperators using an ARS Invoice in Enclosure 5. These steps include how the billing document (A1 document) is generated and subsequently liquidated in FFIS when the cash receipt/payment is recorded (A2 document).

When a manual invoice is used there must be a space/blank field for ARS Ops to cite the debtor and bill numbers. This is critical to ensure the receivable is liquidated when the vendor submitspayments. Failure to do so will result in late notices to the cooperator who will subsequently be identified on the Report of Delinquent Debt and may be referred to a collection agency for further action.

The manual invoice must also specify the appropriate remittance address for the lockbox. To avoid delays in recording payment activity, all remittances should be sent directly to:

USDA, NFC
Administrative Collection
P.O. Box 70792
Chicago, IL 60673

A sample of a manual form is provided in Enclosure 6.

Regardless of the agreement type, if the collection cannot be referenced to a bill (A1 document), a voluntary collection (A3 document) will be processed. When this occurs, the SBFO must work with ABCO to liquidate the A1 document to avoid delinquent debt issues and unnecessary research by the SBFO.

ARS Ops is the official record keeper for records retention purposes, therefore, they will retain a copy of the bill and/or ABCO Bill for Collection.

Internet Billing System (IBIL)

IBIL forms, instructions, and Debtor/Paying Agency Accounting Requirements (Enclosure 7) have been created for ARS for Federal and Non-Federal activity.

Specific Cooperative Agreements (SCA)

1. An incoming reimbursable agreement is established with annual authority and a period of performance of 9/17/98 through 9/16/03.
   
2. An SCA is established with a university which is funded by this reimbursable agreement.
   
   It is critical that the university bill ARS in sufficient time to allow ARS Ops to subsequently bill the cooperator on the reimbursable agreement. It is recommended that the billing be completed 6 months prior to the termination of the riding appropriation. This would allow the SCA to be completely expensed and the cooperator providing reimbursable authority to be billed prior to the close of the riding appropriation.

Steps in the Process

The following provides the steps necessary for the billings and collections process after the ARS- 425 has been approved in accordance with P&P 321.1, Acceptance of Non-Appropriated Funds to Conduct Research or Perform Services, and P&P 324.0, ARS Reimbursable and Trust Fund Agreements. A flowchart of this process is provided in Enclosure 8.

Location Administrative Officers (LAO's) will:

1. Work with the EAS/SBFO to establish the reimbursable agreement.

Extramural Agreements Specialist (EAS) will:

2. Identify the appropriate Vendor Identification Number (VIN) or work with the Area Vendor Coordinator to establish the VIN or CAN when the cooperator is a USDA Agency (Reference Bulletin 02-316, Procedures for Obtaining New Vendor Codes for Outgoing Reimbursable Agreements with USDA Agencies and OCFO Bulletin #2002-006, Common Agreement Numbers) on the VEND table.
   
   
3. Work with the SBFO to define billing terms, requirements, and program type (61 or 63).
   

SBFO will:

4. For program type 63, submit a request for approval to the Director, FMD.

Director, FMD, will:

5. Approve or disapprove request to use Type 63.

SBFO will:

6. Establish the ACCS elements (DVAL, PGMT, ACXT) in FFIS.
   
   
7. Following completion of the agreement (including signatures), approval to use program type 63, as applicable, and prior to any spending actions taking place, forward the following package in its entirety to ARS Ops:
   
   
   1. ARS-324 (revised 6/03), Transmittal of Reimbursable or Trust Fund Agreement (Enclosure 1);
      
   2. Signed Reimbursement or Advance of Funds Agreement (AD-672), ARS-451, or cooperator's agreement document;
      
   3. Screen shot of the VEND table reflecting the correct Vendor Identification Number (VIN) or Common Agreement Number (CAN)
      
   4. Copy of approval to use type 63 reimbursable agreements, as applicable.

NOTE: This package must include all elements mentioned above.
Do NOT send parts separately to ARS Ops.