3. In order to carry out the provisions of such act insofar as they relate to the functions and duties of the General Accounting Office, the procedures prescribed in General Regulations No. 93 dated March 1, 1940, 19 Comp. Gen. 1048, and General Regulations No. 63 and Supplement No. 1 thereto, dated April 7, 1927, and November 24, 1928, respectively, 6 Comp. Gen. 893; 8 id. 689, are hereby rescinded as of the close of business March 31, 1942, and in lieu thereof the procedure hereinafter provided is prescribed, effective April 1, 1942, for use by all departments, establishments, and agencies for which disbursements are made by a disbursing officer under the executive branch of the Federal Government except as otherwise herein provided and except as provided in section 4 of such act as follows:

"Nothing contained herein shall apply to the disbursing functions under the jurisdiction of the War Department, the Navy Department (including the Marine Corps), and the Panama Canal, except those pertaining to departmental salaries and expenses in the District of Columbia."

AUTHORITY TO CERTIFY PAYMENT VOUCHERS

4. (a) Disbursing officers in the executive branch of the Government (except as provided in section 4 of the act) will disburse moneys only upon vouchers certified by the head of a department, establishment, or agency, or by an officer or employee thereof duly authorized by such head, in writing, to certify payment vouchers and then only after receipt by them of authorizations of certifying officers and employees and notice of approval of the required bonds of such certifying officers by the Secretary of the Treasury. The official authorization issued by the respective heads of departments, establishments, agencies, etc., should show for each person designated to perform the specified certifying duties, the name of the certifying officer; the department, establishment, or agency; the class of vouchers authorized to be certified; the bureau or office; the location of the dis bursing office where payment is to be made; and the amount of bond fixed in each case. The form of official authorization may be substantially the same as in Treasury Department Circular No. 680, dated February 16, 1942.

(b) In the case of those departments, establishments, or agencies submitting vouchers to the Division of Disbursement, Treasury Department for payment, the original official authorization or an authenticated copy thereof and two accomplished signature cards shall be transmitted to the General Accounting Office by the Chief Disbursing Officer in accordance with the procedure outlined in section 6 (b) and (d), Treasury Department Circular No. 680, dated February 16, 1942.

(c) In all other cases the original official authorization or an authenticated copy thereof, together with two accomplished signature cards of each certifying officer or employee listed thereon, shall be transmitted to the General Accounting Office, Washington, D. C. Those relating to the Post Office Department or the Postal Service shall be addressed to the Postal Accounts Division, and those relating to all other establishments shall be addressed to the Audit Division. There shall also be transmitted to the appropriate disbursing officer the original official authorization or an authenticated copy thereof accompanied by three accomplished signature cards.

(d) The bond data required on the reverse of the signature cards shall not be inserted or the cards forwarded to the disbursing officer or the General Accounting Office by the administrative agency until after receipt of notice of approval of the surety from the Section of Surety Bonds, Treasury Department, provided for in section 5, Treasury Department Circular No. 680, dated February 16, 1942. The post-office address of the authorized certifying officer shall also be shown on the reverse of the signature card and each certifying officer shall keep the General Accounting Office and the appropriate disbursing officer advised as to any change in such address.

(e) The signature cards required by this section shall be executed on Treasury Department Form No. 1686-Revised.

5. Authorizations issued to certifying officers will be deemed to be in effect until terminated, revoked, or amended. In the event of the termination, revocation, or amendment of the authorization of a certifying officer due to separation from the service or otherwise, the General Accounting Office and the appropriate disbursing officer shall be promptly notified, using for such purpose a form substantially the same as the official authorization, signed by the head of the department, establishment, or agency, and indicating the effective date of the terminstion, revocation, or amendment.

6. In certifying payment vouchers, and in all official matters relating thereto, the title "Authorized Certifying Officer" shall be used. The office title of the certifying officer or employee may also be used, if administratively desired. The certifying officer's name will be typed or printed below his signature on payment vouchers and on all official correspondence relating to his duties as certifying officer. The date of certification of each voucher must be shown in the certificate.

NOTICES OF EXCEPTIONS ANd Replies TheRETO

7. For purposes of uniformity in the procedure for notifying accountable and certifying officers and others of exceptions taken in the audit of accounts, and in order that replies to exceptions may be promptly made to the General Accounting Office for excepted items which can be satisfactorily explained or for which collection and deposit can be made, and thus reduce the number of excepted items outstanding at the time of settlement, the following form and procedure are prescribed:

STANDARD FORM 1100-REVISED, "NOTICE OF EXCEPTION" AND "REPLY TO
EXCEPTION"

When an exception is taken by the General Accounting Office involving the liability of either a certifying or disbursing officer, the reasons therefor shall be stated on the prescribed form and distributed as follows:

Involving Certifying Officers

Original and two copies will be forwarded to the Certifying Officer;
One copy will be transmitted to the appropriate Disbursing Officer;
One copy will be transmitted to the administrative office concerned; and
Two copies will be retained in the General Accounting Office.

Involving Disbursing Officers

Original and three copies will be forwarded to the disbursing officer;
One copy will be transmitted to the administrative office concerned; and
Two copies will be retained in the General Accounting Office.

8. Exceptions taken in the administrative examination of accounts, which are brought to the attention of and which involve questions the General Accounting Office would otherwise state as exceptions, shall be stated by the General Accounting Office on Form 1100-Revised and shall be treated in the same manner as exceptions originating in the General Accounting Office, except that the words "Administrative Exception" shall be inserted on the form following the statement of the reasons for the exception. (See also General Regulations 50, Supplement 1, 13 Comp. Gen. 491.)

9. The reply to an exception will be stated in the space provided on Form 1100-Revised. The original after being administratively verified will be signed by the responsible (disbursing or certifying) officer and returned promptly to the General Accounting Office.

COLLECTIONS ON ACCOUNT OF SUSPENSIONS AND DISALLOWANCES

10. All collections made on account of exceptions issued to certifying or disbursing officers shall be reported to the General Accounting Office, using for such purpose Form 1100-Revised, on which shall be stated, with respect to the item listed thereon, a reference to the Schedule of Collections, Standard Form 1044Revised, or to the Schedule of Voucher Deductions, Standard Form 1096, on which the item will be taken up and accounted for in the accounts of the disbursing officer. Standard Form 1043, heretofore used for reporting collections of suspended or disallowed items shall no longer be used. If a collection is made on account of an excepted item in the accounts of a disbursing officer other than the disbursing officer whose name is indicated in the heading of Form 1100-Revised, the name of such other officer or agent shall be indicated.

11. Upon receipt by the General Accounting Office of advices of collections on Form 1100-Revised, the excepted items for which collections are indicated will be adjusted to the extent of the amounts reported as collected, and the reported collections will be subsequently verified with the applicable schedules of collections, Form 1044-Revised, or the schedules of voucher deductions, Form 1096,

when received in the disbursing officers' accounts. Items reported on Form 1100-Revised, which cannot be identified with the items on Forms 1044-Revised or 1096 will be restored as outstanding. When scheduling collections of excepted items on Form 1044-Revised, references to the vouchers involved should be indicated on the schedules.

12. The provisions of these General Regulations relating to the preparation and distribution of notices of exception shall not apply to exceptions stated against disbursing officers of the Post Office Department and Postal Service and the present procedure respecting such notices of exception shall be continued. However, the provisions of these General Regulations shall apply to the accounts of the Post Office Department and Postal Service in all other respects.

LINDSAY C. WARREN,

Comptroller General of the United States.

PROCEDURE FOR PROMULGATION OF GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE INSTRUCTIONS FOR OBSERVANCE OF THE VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS, ESTABLISHMENTS, AND AGENCIES OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT [General Regulations No. 95]

(Relating to office procedure and not of general information.)

JUNE 1, 1942.

OFFICIAL AND PERSONAL TELEPHONE CALLS, AND USE OF TOLL CREDIT CARDS

To the Heads of Departments and Independent Establishments and Others Concerned There has been brought to the attention of this office the use by officials and employees of the Federal Government of toll credit cards issued by the Bell Telephone System. While such cards are issued primarily for the purpose of identification of those to whom issued in order that they may more readily make official telephone calls while absent from Washington and for charging the cost thereof to the department or establishment for which they are traveling, thus eliminating the necessity of immediate payment of cash for every call, numerous instances have been reported wherein personal calls have been made which were charged to the official account. A few cases have been reported wherein difficulty has been experienced in collecting for such personal calls, it being stated that the use of toz credit cards causes confusion and uncertainty as to the correctness of charges and results in payment of charges for official toll calls without proper certification and support. Other cases have been noted wherein employees, before being issued toll credit cards, have made long distance calls paying the charges in cash, reimbursement for which was claimed on their monthly expense accounts, and thereafter, upon being issued such cards, have made calls between the same places, the charges for which in many instances have amounted to two and three times the cost of similar calls for which they previously paid cash. It is thus apparent that the cost of such calls may be greatly increased by reason of the availability of the uncontrolled credit service.

While it is appreciated that in certain instances, due to the far-reaching activities of the Federal Government, the unofficial use by Government officers and employees, or by private individuals, of facilities owned by public or private corporations, firms, or individuals and subscribed for and/or used under written or implied agreement by the United States for which the Government is responsible. in cases of emergency is necessary, there seems to have been an increase in the use of such facilities for unofficial purposes within the past several years not only in the field but in the various offices in Washington. It is suggested that appropriate action be taken by the various administrative officials to curtail the unofficial use of such facilities.

Where the facilities are used for personal calls, regulations have been prescribed covering the form of evidence required, the collection of the charges from the individuals, and the payment thereof to the companies concerned. (Supplement No. 2 to General Regulations No. 40 dated November 28, 1930, and General Regulations No. 79 dated August 2, 1934, 10 Comp. Gen. 570; 14 id. 935.)

The number of official long-distance telephone calls made by officials and employees traveling in the field has been consistently increasing and it is believed

that much of the business transacted by such calls can be made by telegraph or air mail at a far less cost and with satisfactory results. It is suggested that the matter be given consideration with a view to reducing the number of unnecessary long-distance calls made between points being traveled by officials and employees and their Washington offices.

Paragraphs Nos. 1 and 69 of the Standardized Government Travel Regulations, as amended, issued March 7, 1941, are as follows:

"Funds for traveling expenses.-Employees traveling on official business will provide themselves with sufficient funds for all current expenses, and are expected to exercise the same care in incurring expenses that a prudent person would exercise if traveling on personal business."

"Long-distance calls.-Charges for long-distance telephone calls on official business will be allowed, provided a statement is furnished showing the name of the party with whom communication was held, the points between which service was rendered, the date, time occupied, the amount paid on each call, and that the calls were on official business. When the public interest so requires the name of the party and the points between which the service was rendered need not be stated in the expense account, but may be stated in confidence to the administrative official."

If officials and employees in the field find it necessary to make long-distance telephone calls to their office in Washington or elsewhere (reimbursement for which should ordinarily be claimed on their expense vouchers) and find themselves without sufficient funds to pay for same, the telephone company should be requested to reverse the charges, in which cases they would be billed to the official account of the activity. Such procedure will permit the administrative officer to properly certify the voucher of the telephone company whereas in the use of credit cards numerous vouchers containing toll calls are certified as being correct without evidence at hand showing that such toll calls were official business.

Accordingly, as there appears to be no adequate reason why officials or employees should make official telephone calls on toll credit cards it is requested that action be taken by the heads of the departments and establishments concerned to direct discontinuance of the use thereof.

LINDSAY C. WARREN,

Comptroller General of the United States.

PRINTING AND BINDING REQUISITIONS SEEKING TO OBLIGATE EXPIRING CURRENT APPROPRIATIONS

To the Heads of Departments, Independent Establishments, Agencies, and Others Concerned:

It has come to the attention of this office that many requisitions for printing and binding have been prepared and transmitted to the Government Printing Office during the latter part of each fiscal year manifestly for the sole purpose of obligating an expiring current appropriation, as such services could not possibly have been obtained in time, nor were they of a character, to supply the needs of the fiscal year in which the requisitions were issued.

In a number of cases such requisitions have borne notations to the effect that manuscript and illustrations will follow, and requests have frequently been made by the requisitioning offices, simultaneously with the submission of requisitions or immediately thereafter, for the return of documents which were transmitted with the requisitions in order that they could be further edited or revised. In such instances it is not generally possible for the Government Printing Office to estimate the cost of the job to be performed or to begin work thereon, and the only objective accomplished by presenting requisitions under such circumstances is the improper obligation of a current fiscal year appropriation.

In this connection attention is directed to the provisions of section 3690, Revised Statutes (U. S. C. 31:712), as follows:

"Except as otherwise provided by law, all balances of appropriations contained in the annual appropriation bills and made specifically for the service of any fiscal year, and remaining unexpended at the expiration of such fiscal year, shall only be applied to the payment of expenses properly incurred during that year, or to the fulfillment of contracts properly made within that year; and balances not needed for such purposes shall be carried to the surplus fund. This section, however, shall not apply to appropriations known as permanent or indefinite appropriations."

Section 80 of the act approved January 12, 1895, 28 Stat. 621 (U. S. C. 44:115) provides that

"No document or report to be illustrated or accompanied by maps shall be printed by the Public Printer until the illustrations or maps designed therefor shall be ready for publication; and no order for public printing shall be acted upon by the Public Printer after the expiration of one year. unless the entire copy and illustrations for the work shall have been furnished within that period.'

The general rule for lawfully obligating a fiscal year appropriation is that the supplies or services are intended to serve a bona fide need of the fiscal year in which the need arises or to replace stock used in such fiscal year. A requisition improperly issued will not obligate the appropriation current at the time the requisition is issued, and ordinarily where a requisition is issued during one fiscal year and the services are not performed or required until the succeeding fiscal year the appropriation current at the time the services are rendered is properly chargeable with the cost.

To avoid the withholding of credit for expenditures in disbursing officers' accounts due to the improper administrative designation of the fiscal year appropriation to be charged, it is incumbent upon all officials and employees concerned to take appropriate action in accordance with the foregoing.

R. N. ELLIOTT, Acting Comptroller General of the United States.

CONTRACT SYMBOLS DEFENSE AID

[A-51601]

JUNE 3, 1942.

To Heads of Departments and Independent Establishments, and Others Concerned: In view of the fact that defense aid expenditures are now being made from many regular appropriations instead of the exclusive lend-lease appropriations, the use of the symbol "DA-" on defense aid contracts, as prescribed in circular letter issued by this office April 4, 1941, A-51601, 20 Comp. Gen. 945, may be discontinued and all future defense aid contracts placed under the regular series of contract numbers. However, should it be determined by any department or agency that such symbol is serving a useful administrative purpose, no objection to the continued use thereof will be interposed by this office.

LINDSAY C. WARREN. Comptroller General of the United States.

CERTIFICATE BY CONTRACTORS AND VENDORS IN SUPPORT OF INVOICES OR PUBLIC VOUCHERS FOR PURCHASES AND SERVICES OTHER THAN PERSONAL, STANDARD FORM NO. 1034-REVISED (GENERAL REGULATIONS NO. 51 AND SUPPLEMENTS THERETO AND CIRCULAR LETTERS OF APRIL 2 AND JUNE 2, 1938)

To the Heads of Departments, Independent Establishments, and Others Concerned: 1. In the interest of uniformity and simplicity in the preparation of vouchers and invoices, the vendor's general certificate now appearing on Standard Form No. 1034-Revised has been amended to read as follows:

"I certify that the above bill is correct and just; that payment therefor has not been received; that all statutory requirements as to American production and labor standards, and all conditions of purchase applicable to the transactions have been complied with; and that State or local sales taxes are not included in the amounts billed."

2. All certificates heretofore approved and authorized in circular letters of April 2 and June 2, 1938, are hereby revoked and the certificate above will be used in place of all others now required on Standard Form No. 1034-Revised or on a vendor's bill of sale or invoice.

3. As all vendors dealing with the Government are charged with knowledge of all laws or regulations and of stipulations in contracts, agreements, etc., the use of the general certificate (quoted above) on the vendor's invoice or payment voucher will be acceptable.