Internal Support Services under Section 29.2 of the Financial Administration Act
Introduction
This document describes the accounting treatment for internal support services under section 29.2 of the Financial Administration Act.
Section 29.2 of the Financial Administration Act authorizes departments to provide internal support services to, and receive such services from, one or more other departments.
The authority of section 29.2 for a department to provide internal support services carries with it an implicit authority for the department to make charges for the services.
Recoveries of costs arising from the provision of internal support services are considered to be departmental revenues. A department receiving such revenues requires legislative authority to expend the revenues to offset expenditures.
References
Accounting Entries
Scenario:
Department A provides internal support services to Department B for $1,000 under section 29.2 of the Financial Administration Act.
Department B - Service Receiver
Financial Reporting Account (FRA) | Amount ($) | FRA | Authority Code | Object Code |
---|---|---|---|---|
Debit: Operating Expenses | 1,000 | 51321 | B11A/B12A | XXXX (see object code table) |
Credit: Other Government Department (OGD) Accounts Payable | 1,000 | 21132 | R300 | 6299 |
- FRA coding rationale
- Since services were received within the period, operating expenses must be recorded. A corresponding credit is made to OGD Accounts Payable, as the services were acquired internally.
- Authority coding rationale
- Since this is a legitimate charge against an operating appropriation, it would be recorded against either B11A or B12A, depending on whether the department has a program expenditures vote or an operating expenditures vote. OGD Accounts Payable does not affect the appropriations, thus R300 would be used.
- B11A/B12A
- Program expenditures vote or operating expenditures vote.
- R300
- Total (or net, as applicable) amounts of all other assets and of all other liabilities.
- Object coding rationale
- Depending on the nature of the services acquired, the appropriate economic object under Standard Object 04 - Professional Services should be used (see the following table). Object code 6299 is used to record the establishment of an account payable
Object Code | Financial Administration Act, section 29.2(4) |
---|---|
0402 | (a) Human resources management services |
0403 | (b) Financial management services |
0474 | (c) Information management services |
0475 | (d) Information technology services |
0404 | (e) Communications services |
0405 | (f) Real property services |
0406 | (g) Material services |
0407 | (h) Acquisition services |
0890 | (i) Other administrative service that is designated by order of the Governor in Council |
- 6299
- Net increase or decrease to other liability accounts.
Department A - Service Provider
Financial Reporting Account (FRA) | Amount ($) | FRA | Authority Code | Object Code |
---|---|---|---|---|
Debit : Other Government Department (OGD) Accounts Receivable | 1,000 | 11242 | R300 | 5399 |
Credit: Services to Other Government Departments (OGD) | 1,000 | 42320 | D215 | 462X |
- FRA coding rationale
- At this point, Department A should recognize the revenue since the amount is known, the risks and rewards of ownership have been transferred to the buyer and the seller has completed all significant acts. A receivable must be set up to record the amount to be received from the OGD.
- Authority coding rationale
- Since there are no impacts on the authorities for receivables, R300 would be used. The credit entry for the revenues should be made to D215.
- D215
- User charges for internal support services.
- R300
- Total (or net, as applicable) amounts of all other assets and of all other liabilities.
- Object coding rationale
- Depending on the nature of the services provided, the appropriate object code under Reporting Object 462 - Services to Other Government Departments as per section 29.2 of the Financial Administration Act should be used (see the following table). Object code 5399 is used to establish an interdepartmental account receivable.
Object Code | Financial Administration Act, section 29.2(4) |
---|---|
4620 | (a) Human resources management services |
4621 | (b) Financial management services |
4622 | (c) Information management services |
4623 | (d) Information technology services |
4624 | (e) Communications services |
4625 | (f) Real property services |
4626 | (g) Material services |
4627 | (h) Acquisition services |
4628 | (i) Other administrative service that is designated by order of the Governor in Council |
- 5399
- Net increase or decrease in accounts receivable.
Financial Reporting Account (FRA) | Amount ($) | FRA | Authority Code | Object Code |
---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
Debit: IS Debit Control Accounts | 1,000 | 64DDD See footnote (**) | 0000 | 9DDD See footnote (***) |
Credit: Other Government Department (OGD) Accounts Receivable | 1,000 | 11242 | R300 | 5399 |
- FRA coding rationale
- The department providing the services would record the receipt by debiting the IS Debit Control Account and crediting the OGD Accounts Receivable.
- Authority coding rationale
- The IS Debit Control Accounts have no impact on an appropriation, so the authority code must be zero-filled. OGD Accounts Receivable has no impact on appropriations; therefore, R300 is used.
- R300
- Total (or net, as applicable) amounts of all other assets and of all other liabilities.
- Object coding rationale
- To indicate the net impact on accounts receivable, object code 5399 is used. Object code 9DDD is used for interdepartmental settlements and would be used to identify the department that receives the services.
- 5399
- Net increase or decrease in accounts receivable.
- 9DDD
- Interdepartmental settlement.
Financial Reporting Account (FRA) | Amount ($) | FRA | Authority Code | Object Code |
---|---|---|---|---|
Credit: Other Fees and Charges | 1,000 | 42320 | B130 or A5XX | 7099 |
Debit: Other Fees and Charges | 1,000 | 42320 | F218 | 7099 |
- FRA coding rationale
- This transaction is strictly recorded for authority purposes only. To ensure there is no effect on FRAs, the same FRA is debited and credited for the same amount.
- Authority coding rationale
- When a department has authority to respend revenue, it can only be respent when the revenue is actually received (i.e., on a cash basis). To reflect the department's ability to expend the revenues, the cash received is credited to authority code B13A. The debit will be made to authority code F218.
- B13A
- Revenue credited to the vote (credited to the program or operating vote for the program).
- A5XX
- Revolving funds authority code.
- F218
- Contra offset for revenue credited to votes.
- Object coding rationale
- This is strictly an authority transaction. To ensure there is no effect on objects, the same object code 7099 is debited and credited for the same amount, so it will have a nil effect on objects.
- 7099
- Net increase or decrease in other transactions.
Note: Departments with statutory respending authority are able to spend the amount received by charging expenditures directly against their relevant statutory authority code. It is up to the department to ensure that only amounts collected are spent and that the total amount charged does not exceed the amount eligible to be respent.
All transactions are considered to be internal; therefore, an "I" indicator should be used.
© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, represented by the President of the Treasury Board, 2017,
ISBN: 978-0-660-09843-2