Certifying Officer Responsibilities - Lesson 3

Certifying Officer Responsibilities Laws for Certifying Officers Training for Credit Card Payments Beginning of the Lesson This lesson talks about what the Certifying Officer needs to do and what a valid payment looks like. The lesson goes over the ideas of trustworthy data and the audit trail as they relate to the payment certification. Goals for the Lesson Goal for the last part of the course: List the specific duties of the Certifying Officer. When this lesson is over, you'll be able to: • • • Know that the Certifying Officer is responsible. Know what needs to happen in order for a voucher payment to be valid. Explain what it means to have accurate information and an audit trail in the context of payment certification. Duty to Account This is what the Certifying Officer is responsible for: • • • The amount of any illegal, improper, or incorrect payment resulting from an inaccurate or misleading certification. Any payment that is against the law. Anything that is paid for that isn't required by law under the appropriation or fund in question. Getting facts The Certifying Officer is in charge of making sure that the facts written on the voucher (bank invoice) are correct and that all supporting documents and records are kept for as long as DoD policy says so. The Certifying Officer is also in charge of making sure that the calculations on the voucher are correct and that the proposed payment is legal under the terms of the fund or appropriation. 31 USC 3528(a), 10 USC 2784, and Chapter 33 of the DoD FMR spell out the duties of the Certifying Officer. Documents to Support Payment Let us look at the proofs that are needed for payments to be valid. Most valid payments are made up of three parts: 1. A real need that can be proven 2. A bank bill with all the transactions matched up with a Purchase Log and approved by the cardholder 3. To change the accounting classification (if needed). Look at Chapter 23 of DoD FMR Volume 10 (230306n). Payment Help with No Documents, Continue. At a minimum, entries to the Purchase Log will have: • • • • • • • • • The date the service or item was ordered. Name of the person or organization making the request. You need to give a detailed description of the good or service, or a general commodity code. If the item costs $75 or less, you can give a summary description, like "office supplies." Name of the merchant. How many items were bought. One penny. The total amount of money that was exchanged. Name of the person who will receive the item or service, along with the date it was received. Any extra information that component spec11\c 11\Structure needs. Trace of Audit The payment voucher, all supporting documents, and any notes made by or for the Certifying Officer (for example, advance decisions) must be easy to find and return. These documents make up an audit trail, which could be used to find the reason for re-examination from the list for the Certifying Officer. Centralizing the processes of disbursing Because of the large number of disbursing processes and increased use of automated systems, along with the complexity and volume of business processes, it is harder for Department of Defense officials to have direct personal control over some parts of every business transaction. Because of these changes to operations, it is very hard for a single Department of Defense official to personally check that every payment is correct, legal, and appropriate. So that they can provide good service, the Certifying Officer needs people (like the cardholder) who are part of the payment authorization process to give them correct documents on time. Setups of automated systems In an automated system, proof that the payments are correct and legal depends on the system itself, not on each individual transaction. To make sure accuracy and consistency, Certifying Officers need to know that the automated system was built correctly and is working as it should. One way to make sure the integrity of a system is to review it once a year and do additional checks when there have been major changes. Reviewing the system lets the Heads of Components (or someone else chosen by them) confirm that it can be trusted to make legal and accurate payments. A-123 and A-127 from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Title 7 of the General Accounting Office (GAO) Policy and Procedures Manual explain how to use automated systems. Summarizing the Lesson We talked about the duties of the Certifying Officer in this lesson. It's important to know what an appointment to this possibility means since availability is automatic. It's important to understand the different parts of the payment process and how they work together. It learned for the steps needed to make sure the payment is valid. It's essential to ensure the data that others give you is reliable. It was also taught that a Certifying Officer can't personally oversee all the work that goes into a business process.