United States Department of Agriculture

Research, Education, and Economics

ARS CSREES ERS NASS

Bulletin

Title:	Payment of Transportation Bills and Corporate Accounts

Number:	03-307

Date:	July 29, 2003	Expiration:	July 29, 2004

Originating Office:	Travel and Relocation Services Branch, Financial Management Division, AFM/ARS

Distribution:	Area Transportation Assistants, ARS

Area Budget and Fiscal Officers, ARS

Area Administrative Officers, ARS

Administrative Officers, ERS

Budget and Accounting Office, NASS

ARS Operations Section, NFC

The National Finance Center (NFC) is closing the Transportation System (TRAN). We will no longer be able to pay for Commercial Bill of Lading (CBL)/GBLs through TRAN. Concurrent with this change, the Department has decided to discontinue the use of Government Transportation Requests (GTRs).

Commercial/Government Bill of Lading (CBL/GBL):

Effective August 1, 2003, the Move Management Service (MMS) providers (Allied-Sirva and Interstate) will submit bills for household goods, privately-owned vehicle shipments and storage, directly to the agency for payment through the Foundation Financial Information System (FFIS) to the following:

NASS	Trish Brechtel

ERS	Leslee Lowstuter

CSREES	Angel Spates/Allison Opicka

ARS (all)	ARS Operations Section, New Orleans, Louisiana

CBLs/GBLs submitted by the MMS providers are already pre-payment audited and ready to process for payment. Each agency will direct enter travel-related CBL/GBLs into FFIS using "TP" documents, Travel-Related Payment Vouchers. TP documents must be entered with an action indicator "E" to interface and backfeed to the travel system, and they must be entered in an appropriate Budget Object Code (BOC):

Shipment of Household Goods	2211

Transportation of Mobile Home	2212

Transportation of Privately-owned Vehicles (DM & FG)	2213

Unaccompanied Baggage (overseas only)	2221

Temporary Storage of Household Goods (Domestic)	2521

Extended (non-temporary) Storage (Oconus & Foreign)	2522

*** Note: The maximum weight for shipment of household goods is 18,000 pounds. This maximum does not include shipment of a privately-owned vehicle. When a CBL is received and the weight is over 18,000 pounds, the agency shall pay the full amount of the CBL then generate an AD-673, Request to Bill (for any amount over the 18,000 pounds) and forward to the Administrative Billings and Collections Branch, NFC, with a copy of the CBL. You must also generate an AD-673 if there are any types of overpayments, incorrect payments to the vendors, and excess insurance expenses.***

Corporate/Transaction Billed Accounts:

The GTR will be discontinued in the Department, effective August 1, 2003. Corporate and Transaction Visa accounts from the Bank of America (BoA) will be used in lieu of the GTR. This change does NOT affect the ARS Beltsville Area, Corvallis, Oregon Location, NASS, CSREES, or ERS. These Corporate/Transaction accounts have been provided to the Area offices and to the applicable Travel Management Centers (TMCs).

BoA billing statements for tickets and TMC fees charged to the corporate and transaction accounts for the Pacific West Area and Southern Plains Area offices will be sent from BoA to the Area office for direct payment in FFIS.

Billing statements for the other ARS Area offices will be sent directly to USDA, COD, ARS Operations Section, P.O. Box 53326, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70153, for payment in FFIS. Each Area office, other than PWA and SPA, will receive a copy of the BoA billing statement for their Areas' transaction account(s). The copy of the billing statement does not reflect a "New Balance," only purchases and payments. Each TMC will provide a paper listing of tickets along with the name, social security number, authorization number, and accounting code for each ticket and TMC fee prior to the BoA billing statement being issued (7th of the month).

PWA and SPA must assure that relocation related tickets and TMC fees are coded as TP documents at the time of payment with an action indicator of 'E'. Those Area offices that use the ARS Operations Section, NFC, to pay these bills must notify ARS OPS if there are any tickets and TMC fees related to relocation travel prior to ARS OPS paying the bill. Send an email to Linda.Massenburg@usda.gov and a carbon copy to Jan.Key@usda.gov, prior to the billing date, if there are any charges related to relocation. You must include the following information in your email:

BoA Corporate account number

BoA Transaction account number

Traveler's Name

Traveler's Social Security number

Authorization number

Accounting Code

Ticket number and amount

TMC fee number and amount

Budget Object Class Code

*** In order for relocation costs to be reflected in the Travel System (TRVL), tickets and TMC fees charged for House Hunting trips or En Route travel under a Transfer of Station must be identified before the payment is made to BoA. If these tickets are paid as "NO" documents, we will lose accurate and complete relocation data in TRVL. Therefore, it is critical that the 'paper listing' provided by the TMC and the BoA billing statement be reviewed immediately upon receipt and any relocation-related charges be coordinated with ARS OPS to assure the payment is processed as a "TP" document in order to back feed to TRVL. ***

BOA Corporate Billed Account (CBA) Processing:

Payments in FFIS will be processed using either the NO documents (non-relocation) or TP documents for relocation related tickets.

ARS OPS will use a central program code to pay the corporate bill from BoA. The central program code will be in the following format:

a.	Position 1-2: Fund Source (01)

b.	Position 3-4: Numeric Area Code

c.	Position 5-9: All 8's (88888)

This will enable the bill to be paid within prompt payment time frames. Once the ARS Operations Section (ARS OPS) processes payments, it will be up to each Area office to reconcile the account and redistribute the charges from the central program code to the appropriate accounting and budget object class codes via B2 documents.

FFIS Payment Process

NO Document (non-relocation related)

The NO document is processed in the same manner as referenced in the FFIS Learner's Guide, Spending Chapter, page 81. In addition to the instructions found in the Learner's Guide, the following steps will assist the payment processing offices (SPA, PWA, and ARS Operations Section, NFC) in completing these documents in a consistent manner.

NO Document Header Screen:

1.	When establishing the document number, the following scheme is to be used to ensure easy identification of these documents in the future:

Position 1-3:	CBA (Corporate Billed Account)

Position 4-5:	Area/SEC1 Code (i.e., 19, 36, etc.)

Position 6-7: Numeric Calendar Month on the Invoice (i.e., 01, 03, 10, 12)

Position 8-9: Numeric Calendar Year on the Invoice (i.e., 03, 04)

Position 10-11: Sequential Number (assigned locally)

An example of the document number and how it should appear is:

CBA19060301

2. The TRANS Type should be NO 01.

3. In the DESCR field, use the invoice number + account number + other

pertinent reference information.

4. In the Vendor INV # field, enter the Vendor Invoice number.

5. In the LOG DATE field, enter the date the invoice was received.

NO Document Line Screen

1.	Enter the applicable or central program code in the PROGRAM field. (ARS OPS will use the central program code).

2.	Use one line item to incorporate both the ticket charge as well as the TMC fee. The BOC is the same for both.

TP Documents (relocation related)

Data entry requirements for a TP document are provided in Configuration and Procedures document dated March 26, 2003, and/or the Learner's Guide, dated May 12, 2003.

The FFIS-TRVL Interface will only back feed TP records with an action code of "E".

TP documents should NEVER be cancelled.

Do not modify an NO document for supplemental payments to the carriers; enter a new TP document.

Travel System (TRVL) Coding Changes:

The "TR" currently used in the travel system to denote the authorization of a GTR will now be used to denote BoA Transaction accounts. When authorizing the use of common carrier on a travel authorization, use a "TR" as the Method of Purchase, if the ticket(s) will be charged to the BoA Transaction Account. On the travel voucher in Section C, Transportation Costs, use the "TR" in the Method of Payment, Block 22. The common carrier ticket and TMC fee shall be coded on separate lines in Section C. Both lines would have "TR" as the Method of Payment in Block 22. The actual common carrier ticket number or the number assigned to the TMC fee, or the word TMCFEE/862333 shall be entered in Block 24, Identification Number. Also see REE Bulletin 03-308, regarding new coding procedures for travel authorizations and travel vouchers.

S. M. HELMRICH

Director

Financial Management Division