In FY2019, the Bureau of the Fiscal Service disbursed 1.2 billion payments totaling more than $3.7 trillion, 100% on time, with 96.5% disbursed electronically. In order to make sure that all disbursements are legal, proper and accurately recorded in an efficient manner, payees must follow guidelines provided by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service and other supporting government entities.

Payee Setup and Maintenance

Federal entities are responsible for establishing and maintaining federal and non-federal payee information including the validation of payee information against other payee information sources (e.g. SAM, Do Not Pay).Federal entities should uniformly follow Treasury Financial Manual (TFM) rules in connection with the designation of a payee or payees of government payments.

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Payment Obligations

When establishing a new federal entity relationship with Fiscal Service there needs to be a new obligation management relationship established. Obligations represent orders placed, contracts awarded, services received, and similar transactions during an accounting period that will require payment during the same, or a future, period.

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Payment Mechanisms

Fiscal Service provides multiple services and guidance on the different payment methods federal entities can utilize to schedule and carry out payments. Some examples include Stored Value Cards (SVCs), Government Purchase Cards, and Treasury Checks.

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Scheduling Payments

The Treasury Financial Manual (TFM) provides guidance to federal entities on the overall disbursing rules. The principal objectives of control of disbursements are to ensure that all disbursements are legal, proper, and correct and that all disbursements are accurately recorded, reported, and reconciled in a timely, efficient manner. Each federal entity’s system of internal management control of, and related procedures for, disbursements should be based on the operating needs of that particular federal entity and should conform to the Department of the Treasury’s (Treasury) regulations and the related principles and standards for internal management control prescribed by the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB).

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Payment Issue Resolution

Issue Resolution includes information on policies, procedures, and reports regarding the resolution of various payment issues. These may include payments which were identified as not received, lost, or stolen, undeliverable, returned, or subject to reclamations.

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Reporting Payments

All federal entities, either using Treasury disbursing office (TDO) services, or operating as a Non-Treasury Disbursing Office (NTDO) have payment reporting requirements to support disbursement and financial reconciliation activities.

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