The purpose of this section is to present guidelines for State departments and agencies to follow in developing procedures that will ensure greater accuracy of cost center/object codes entered on vouchers submitted to OSC for payment.

     Accuracy of cost center/object codes is essential for the proper functioning of the accounting system, as they identify the funds and accounts to be posted and serve as the basis for exercising budgetary controls. The use of incorrect codes can result in the misstatement of fund and account totals and possible non-adherence to the budget. Also, financial data will be produced that is, at best, of limited value to decision makers and may be misleading.

STATUTORY AUTHORITY

     The State Comptroller's authority for prescribing accounting systems is derived from Section 112 of the State Finance Law '. The listing of accounting codes can be found in the User Procedure Manual, Volume VIII, Accounting Codes which is periodically updated by applicable 'A' bulletins.

PREPARATION OF VOUCHERS

     Employees posting cost center/object codes on vouchers should have:
          a.     A complete listing of the agencies cost center/object codes with an adequate description of each code so that the employee can understand its purpose.

          b.     enough supporting data for each voucher to permit an appropriate selection of codes.

     The accuracy of codes entered on vouchers should be verified by another employee using a sample of vouchers selected from each batch. This sample need ot be large but should be selected randomly.

REVISION OF CODES

     Finance officers should be aware of any changes in their agency's organization or operations that might alter the coding requirements. Were these changes occur, OSC should be contacted so that appropriate adjustments to the coding system can be made.