Division of Accounts
This policy establishes a uniform approach for the financial accounting and reporting of accounts receivable transactions used by Metro Nashville government departments, ensuring all actions conform to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).
What is Accounts Receivable?
This policy provides guidance on the required monthly financial reporting of budgeted versus actual revenues and expenses, known as the Budget Accountability Report (BAR). Departments must submit explanations to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for any significant variances.
What is the Budget Accountability Report?
This policy establishes standardized procedures for the timely and secure deposit of all cash receipts, requiring funds to be deposited into Metro's depository bank within one business day of receipt.
What is Cash Deposits?
This policy makes Metro departments aware of the Tennessee Fraud Reporting Act, which requires public officials to report any reasonable belief of unlawful conduct (such as theft, waste, or abuse of public money) to the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury.
What is Fraud Reporting Act?
This policy establishes that direct deposit is a condition of employment for all Metro employees, who must receive 100% of their net pay via direct deposit to a bank account or a payroll card.
What is Direct Deposit of Paychecks?
This policy establishes a standardized process for allocating labor costs (like salary and benefits) to multiple cost centers to ensure fairness, accuracy, and compliance with financial standards.
What is Labor Distribution?
This policy governs the issuance, reimbursement, and management of mobile communication devices for employees, offering either an allowance for a personal device or a Metro-issued device based on documented business needs.
What is Mobile Communication Devices?
This policy sets forth the specific tax compliance procedures Metro must follow to qualify for and receive direct subsidy payments from the U.S. Treasury for its direct subsidy bonds.
What is Direct Subsidy Bonds?
This policy establishes uniform procedures for accepting, documenting, and reporting gifts and donations, noting that departments may accept gifts valued at $7,500 or less, while larger gifts generally require Metro Council approval to be expended.
What is Gifts and Donations?
This policy provides guidance for offering relocation stipends to newly hired department directors or highly skilled employees, which are generally limited to moves of more than 100 miles and must be reimbursed if the employee leaves within two years.
What is Relocation Stipends?
This policy establishes uniform standards to guide the appropriate use, approval, and oversight of public funds at the departmental level, ensuring all expenditures are legally compliant and properly approved.
Departmental Use of Funds Approval
This policy establishes the Policy Review Committee (PRC) and formalizes its role in providing financial oversight for Metro Government by reviewing and approving all new and amended financial policies.
What is the Policy Review Committee?
This policy establishes guidelines for securely accepting credit and debit card payments in compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS), in order to prevent the loss or disclosure of customer information.
What is PCI-DSS Compliance & Merchant Services?
This policy clarifies the responsibilities for grant oversight, requiring that most grant applications and awards be processed through the Division of Grants and Accountability and approved by Metro Council before submission or spending.
What is Grants Coordination and Departmental Grant Administration?
This policy establishes uniform purchasing guidelines governed by the Metropolitan Procurement Code, setting dollar thresholds for quotation and bidding requirements. For example, purchases between $5,000 and $50,000 require a minimum of three written quotations.
What is Purchasing Policy?
This policy provides guidance to Metro departments on the proper accounting methods for transactions that occur when some departments provide goods and/or services to other departments.
What is Interdepartmental Billings and Expenses?
This policy defines the permissible uses of one-time revenue, such as from asset sales, restricting its use to non-recurring expenditures like capital projects or paying down debt.
What is Non-Recurring Revenue?
This policy establishes uniform procedures for managing checks that are deposited and subsequently returned as uncollected (e.g., for non-sufficient funds), outlining steps for collection, re-presentment, and write-offs.
What is Returned Checks?
This policy guides departments on ensuring the allowability of costs charged to grants and defines the course of action required when a grantor questions or disallows an expense.
What is Disallowances and Questioned Costs?
This policy identifies the appropriate treatment for funds in the Metro Investment Pool (MIP), detailing how funds with positive balances earn interest and how funds with negative balances are charged interest and required to submit a mitigation plan.
What is Cash Balances?
This policy establishes the process for initiating, approving, and recording budget changes, distinguishing between administrative revisions (internal realignments) and legislative revisions (which require Metro Council approval).
What is Budget Journals?
This policy establishes that the Metropolitan Treasurer has the sole authority to manage all banking and financial institution activities, prohibiting departments from opening their own bank accounts using Metro's Tax ID.
What is Authorized Banking Activity Authority?
This policy establishes the need for timeliness in drawing down or claiming grant fund reimbursements, requiring departments to request funds at the earliest possible time to minimize borrowing from the Metro Investment Pool (MIP).
What is Grant Drawdown and Reimbursement?