Department of AdministrationOffice of the Chief Financial Officer

ASTRA PresentationMay 13, 2015

StateWide Agency Audits and Municipals

• Statewide Accounting Policy Manual Filings

• Travel Reimbursement Changes

StateWide Agency Audits and Municipals

2

3

StateWide Agency Audits and Municipals

Statewide Accounting Policy Manual Filings

• Review of all 49 Policy Filings is complete

• Review of all related forms is complete

4

• Policy Manual Filings Review – eliminated 11 outdated Filings

• The remaining 38 have been updated within the last year

• Establish a semi-annual review to keep them current

StateWide Agency Audits and Municipals

5

• The Policy Manual Filings Index Page:https://admin.ks.gov/offices/chief-financial-officer/policy-manual • Document Center - Forms:https://admin.ks.gov/resources/document-center

StateWide Agency Audits and Municipals

6

StateWide Agency Audits and Municipals

State of Kansas

Adopting CONUS Rates

7

StateWide Agency Audits and Municipals

CONUS – used generally to describe subsistence (meals and lodging) rates developed at the federal level

• Three federal agencies

8

StateWide Agency Audits and Municipals

Terminology

• CONUS – stands for CONtinental United States. Federal General Services Administration is responsible for and maintains the contiguous states rates. Applies to all states sharing borders, including Washington, DC. CONUS doesn’t include Alaska and Hawaii.

• OCONUS – stands for Outside the Contiguous United States. OCONUS rates are

established by the Dept. of Defense. While OCONUS has rates for foreign countries tied to military families’ travel, it also contains rates for Alaska and Hawaii. For our purposes OCONUS will be used for these two states as well as US territories.

• International Travel – foreign country reimbursement rates are established by the Federal State Department. Using the State Department’s foreign rates or using OCONUS for international rates in SMART is yet to be decided.

9

StateWide Agency Audits and Municipals

Why CONUS?

• Simpler to administer

• Utilize SMART 9.2 Functionality – For SMART users the subsistence rates will be loaded into SMART

• Out of state reimbursements align closer with actual travel locations

• State Dept. “CONUS” rates used for International Travel effective July 1, 2014. See Informational Circular 15-A-002

10

StateWide Agency Audits and Municipals

• CONUS Effective date is planned for November 13, 2015

• Coincides with SMART 9.2 implementation

11

StateWide Agency Audits and Municipals

CONUS Rates Loaded into SMART

• GSA CONUS rate data file contains 37,500 records for US towns, cities, seasons, etc. that will be loaded into SMART 9.2 Travel & Expense Module

• Dept. of Defense OCONUS – To Be Decided

• State Department Foreign Rates – To Be Decided

12

StateWide Agency Audits and Municipals

• CONUS has standard rates applicable to all locations.

• Except certain specific locations are considered Non-Standard Areas (NSAs) which have their own rates within the CONUS rate data file.

13

StateWide Agency Audits and Municipals

• Once implemented the CONUS rates will be refreshed into SMART twice each year. By October 1 and April 1 of each year

• The rates will be effective at the point they’re updated into SMART. Agencies will be notified prior to the updates occurring

• US cities/towns accessed in SMART using the normal PeopleSoft search capabilities within the Travel & Expense Module

• Manual override is possible for exception situations

14

Kansas Administrative Regulation Article 16 Travel Reimbursement

• 1-16-15 Reduced Allowances• 1-16-18 Subsistence Allowance• 1-16-18a Designated High Cost Geographic

Areas• 1-16-20 Miscellaneous Expense Definition

StateWide Agency Audits and Municipals

15

StateWide Agency Audits and Municipals

• Subsistence allowance based on quarter days

• Quarter day allowance for all quarters in travel status except for the departure and return quarters

16

StateWide Agency Audits and Municipals

• High Cost Geographic Areas concept will be replaced by the actual rates for the city. CONUS rate setting looks at the costs of a specific city, town, or county and determines whether the city or area is designated as a Non-Standard Area (NSA)

17

http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/104877

18

http://www.gsa.gov/portal/category/100120

Contacts

• Policy Manual Filings:– Janette Martin, 785-296-2708

• Janette.Martin@da.ks.gov– Martin Eckhardt, 785-296-2661

• Martin.Eckhardt@da.ks.gov

• CONUS Policy:– ARPreAudit@da.ks.gov Please type “CONUS” in the Subject Line

• CONUS SMART Procedures:– Smartweb@da.ks.gov, Please type “CONUS” in the Subject Line

Sunni Zentner, 785-296-7058 19

StateWide Agency Audits and Municipals

20

StateWide Agency Audits and Municipals

Questions?