Employees

OBSOLETE FORMS

eAwards Replaces Most Recognition and Awards Forms

Effective September 2, 2004, the following Postal Service™ forms are obsolete:

• PS Form 8124, Award Report.

• PS Form 8167, PCES Recognition Authorization or Vice President Award Authorization for PCES in EAS Positions.

• PS Form 8168, Individual EAS Recognition/Awards Program Authorization.

• PS Form 8169, EAS Team Recognition Authorization.

The Eagan Accounting Service Center will no longer accept these forms.

The eAwards intranet portal at https:// eawards. usps.gov/eawards/main/index.pge now processes all awards except the Quality Step Increase, which still requires PS Form 1727. Employees responsible for establishing Spot Awards or Special Awards must use the eAwards system, entering the same data they previously recorded on the above obsolete forms.

- Compensation,
Employee Resource Management, 9-2-04

NEW FORM

PS Form 8041, Pre-arbitration or Agency Settlement Worksheet

PS Form 8041, Pre-arbitration or Agency Settlement Worksheet, is now available to expedite the payroll processing of lump sum payments from pre-arbitration, pre-trial, and agency-brokered settlements valued at up to but not including $100,000. This means that for these three types of settlements you should no longer use PS Form 8039, Back Pay Decision/Settlement Worksheet.

Note: For pre-arbitration settlements, the Grievance Arbitration Tracking System remains the best method for processing lump sum payments. The new PS Form 8041, however, provides an acceptable paper alternative.

For more information on how to use PS Form 8041, see Compensation Letter 2004-050, Methods of Filing Back Pay Claims to Avoid Error and Delay and Reduce Administrative Costs, located on the Postal Service™ Intranet at http://blue.usps.gov/hrisp/comp/comp_ltrs_html/cl04-050.htm.

See pages 2-3 of this Postal Bulletin for a copy of PS Form 8041. You can print the form from the Postal Service PolicyNet Web site:

• Go to http://blue.usps.gov.

• Under "Essential Links" in the left-hand column, click on References.

• Under "References" in the right-hand column, click on PolicyNet.

• Click on Forms.

You can also order PS Form 8041 from the Material Distribution Center (MDC) by using touch tone order entry (TTOE): Call 800-332-0317, option 2.

Note: You must be registered to use TTOE. To register, call 800-332-0317, option 1, extension 2925, and follow the prompts to leave a message. (Wait 48 hours after registering before placing your first order.)

Use the following information to order PS Form 8041:

PSIN: PS 8041
PSN: 7690-07-000-1171
Unit of Measure: EA
Minimum Order Quantity: 1
Quick Pick Number: N/A
Bulk Pack Quantity: N/A
Price: $0.0189

- Compensation,
Employee Resource Management, 9-2-04

Finance

HANDBOOK F-1 REVISION

Customer Permit Mailing Accounts

The Postal Service™ is phasing out the PERMIT system, which was used to manage customer permit accounts. The PERMIT system will be replaced with the new PostalOne! system. To accommodate the new PostalOne! system, the following policy and procedural changes will occur related to customer permit accounts. In addition, offices will use two new account identifier codes - AIC 070, Customer Permit Account Deposit, and AIC 470, Customer Permit Account Withdrawal - to record advance deposits to and withdrawals from customer permit accounts.

For permit account deposits, the AIC change is as follows:

For withdrawals, the AIC change is as follows:

IRT, IBM POS ONE, MOVES, and SPORT Reporting Offices

Effective September 1, 2004, integrated retail terminal (IRT) offices updated to Version 56, and IBM POs ONE, Money Order Voucher Entry System (MOVES), and Small Post Office Reporting Tool (SPORT) reporting offices will use new AIC 070 and AIC 470 for Periodicals, Permit Imprint, and Conditional Permit accounts.

Retail associates must ensure that the correct customer's name, permit account number, and amount are entered if prompted by their respective reporting system. The data collected in these fields is used to create a system-generated PS Form 3544, Receipt for Money or Services. The information in PS Form 3544 is used to credit the appropriate customer's account and account type by the business mail entry unit (BMEU) in the PostalOne! system, or by the employee responsible for locally managing the customer's permit account.

NCR POs ONE Reporting Offices

Effective October 1, 2004, National Cash Register (NCR) POs ONE reporting offices will use new AIC 070 and AIC 470 for Periodicals, Permit Imprint, and Conditional Permit accounts.

Retail associates must ensure that the correct customer's name, permit account number, and amount are entered when prompted by the POs ONE system. The data collected in these fields is used to create the POs ONE system-generated PS Form 3544, Receipt for Money or Services. The information on PS Form 3544 is used to credit the appropriate customer's account and account type by the business mail entry unit (BMEU) in the PostalOne! system, or by the employee responsible for locally managing the customer's permit account.

Locally Managed Customer Permit Accounts

Offices that manage customer's permit accounts locally will maintain individual customer accounts that use the revised PS Form 25, Trust Fund Account, and account for on PS Form 3083, Trust Accounts Receipts and Withdrawals. This allows maintaining a running balance of each customer's permit account. A separate PS Form 25 will be used for each of the two customer account types (Permit Accounts or Business Reply/Postage Due Accounts) to manage account deposits and withdrawals. PS Form 25 will be used as follows:

Deposits

a. Customer's advance deposit amounts received will be entered in the Received column of PS Form 25 corresponding to the type of permit account.

b. Calculate the closing balance amount and enter in the Balance column.

Note: Ensure the accounting entries for the amounts received are recorded into AIC 070 with an offset entry to the tender type and/or bank deposit, on PS Form 1412, Daily Financial Report.

Withdrawals (at the time of customer mailing)

a. Enter the description type of mailing in the Description column.

b. Enter date in the Issue Date column.

c. Enter the charges for the mailing in the Withdrawn column.

d. Calculate the closing balance amount and enter in the Balance column.

Note: Ensure the accounting entries for the amounts withdrawn are recorded in AIC 470 with an offset entry to the AIC that corresponds to the type of mailing, on PS Form 1412.

We will incorporate these revisions into the next printed edition of Handbook F-1 and into the next update of the online version accessible on the Postal Service PolicyNet Web site.

• Go to http://blue.usps.gov.

• Under "Essential Links" in the left-hand column, click on References.

• Under "References" in the right-hand column, click on PolicyNet.

• Then click on HBKs.

(The direct URL for the Postal Service PolicyNet Web site is http://blue.usps.gov/cpim.)

Handbook F-1, Post Office Accounting Procedures

* * * * *

5 Trust, Suspense, and Financial Differences

[Revise the introductory text to read as follows:]

This chapter explains trust funds, suspense items, and financial differences and their proper use in daily accounting activities including managing, reporting, and resolving financial differences. Trust is a liability account for which the Postal Service may owe service to a customer or it may represent an amount for which a future claim can be made for funds on deposit. Suspense is an account receivable to the Postal Service that represents funds owed by a customer, customer account, or an employee. This chapter covers:

Section 51 Trust Funds
Section 52 Suspense and Expense Items
Section 53 Statement of Difference
Section 54 Employee Items and Financial
Differences at SAFR Offices

51 Trust Funds

[Revise the title of 511 to read as follows:]

511 Advance Deposit for Service

[Delete the heading for 511.1 and all of section 511.2.]

[Revise the title and text of 512 to read as follows:]

512 Handling Customer Permit Accounts

512.1 Advance Deposits

1> Funds collected and deposited into authorized customer trust accounts for Periodicals-rate mailings, permit imprints, and conditional permits, will be reported in AIC 070, Customer Permit Account Deposit, on PS Form 1412.

2> PS Form 3544, Receipt for Money or Services, must be completed with the customer's name, permit account number, and amount received.

3> The original receipt is issued to the customer and a copy or system-generated report forwarded to one of the following:

a. The employee responsible for the locally managed customer's permit account.

b. The business mail entry unit (BMEU) to be entered into the PostalOne! system.

c. The employee responsible for local PostalOne! system entry.

This will allow crediting the appropriate permit account.

512.11 Locally Managed Customer Permit Accounts

Locally managed customer permit accounts are managed at offices that are not linked to a BMEU PostalOne! system or local PostalOne! system; instead they maintain individual customer permit accounts. These offices will:

a. Maintain individual customer permit accounts using PS Form 25, Trust Fund Account.

b. Manage the accounts by entering the deposits and withdrawals and calculating the balance.

c. Maintain a separate PS Form 25 with the daily summary grand total amount of all customer permit trust accounts balances (accounts reported into AIC 070).

Note: If a customer pays the exact amount at the time of mailing, entries to the PS Form 25 are not required.

512.12 Business Reply Mail and Postage Due Accounts

1> Report funds collected and deposited into authorized customer trust accounts for Business Reply Mail and postage due, in AIC 053, Postage Due and Business Reply Advance Deposit, on PS Form 1412.

2> Complete PS Form 3544, Receipt for Money or Services, with the customer's name, BRM account number, and amount received.

3> Issue the original receipt to the customer and forward a copy or system-generated report to one of the following:

a. The employee responsible for the locally managed customer's BRM/Postage Due Account.

b. The business mail entry unit (BMEU) to be entered into the PostalOne! system.

c. The employee responsible for local PostalOne! system entry.

This will allow crediting the appropriate permit account.

Locally managed Business Reply Mail and postage due accounts are managed at offices that are not linked to a BMEU PostalOne! system or local PostalOne! system; instead they maintain individual Business Reply Mail and postage due accounts. These offices will:

a. Maintain individual business reply mail and postage due accounts using PS Form 25, Trust Fund Account.

b. Manage the accounts by entering the deposits and withdrawals and calculating the balance.

c. Maintain a separate PS Form 25 with the daily summary grand total amount of all Business Reply Mail and postage due accounts balances (accounts reported into AIC 053).

512.2 Withdrawals from Permit Accounts

512.21 Locally Managed Customer Permit Accounts (Post Office or Postal Retail Unit)

When a customer brings a mailing to the window service unit with a statement of mailing, the acceptance employee must:

1> Verify the postage mailing statement.

2> Compute the amount of postage for the mailing.

3> Withdraw the total amount from the individual customer's permit account in PS Form 25 and calculate the balance.

4> Enter the amount into the corresponding mailing (Revenue) AIC and offset to AIC 470, Customer Permit Account Withdrawal, on PS Form 1412.

5> Initiate the appropriate dispatch certificate to accompany the mailing to mail processing.

512.22 Business Mail Entry Units

When a customer brings a mailing to the business mail acceptance unit with a statement of mailing, the acceptance employee must:

1> Verify the postage mailing statement.

2> Compute the amount of postage for the mailing.

3> Withdraw the total amount from customer's permit account in the Postal One! system; this must emulate the accounting entry of the mailing AIC with an offset to AIC 470, Customer Permit Account Withdrawal, in the financial report.

4> Initiate the appropriate dispatch certificate to accompany the mailing to mail processing.

512.23 Business Reply Mail and Postage Due Accounts

Business reply mail and postage due mail must be rated and calculated. Initiate PS Form 3582-P, BRM/Postage Due Invoice, for each customer. Amounts withdrawn must be recorded in AIC 453, Postage Due/Business Reply Deposits Withdrawal, in the financial report (See Section 764.2, Withdrawing Postage Payments from Advance Deposit Accounts).

512.3 Replenishing Customer Permit Accounts

When an advance deposit permit account requires replenishment, notify the customer (See Domestic Mail Manual P040).

512.4 Reporting Customer Permit Account Activity

Post Offices or postal retail units that locally manage customer permit accounts must report activity for all accounts on PS Form 3083, Trust Accounts Receipts and Withdrawals.

1> Prepare the PS Form 3083 daily at the close of business.

2> Enter the opening balance from previous business day closing balance.

3> Enter the total deposits of AIC 070 and AIC 053.

4> Compute the total to be accounted for.

5> Enter the total of all mailing funds withdrawn (AIC 470 and AIC 453) from customer permit accounts.

6> Compute the business day closing balance.

7> Enter the summary total amount from PS Form 25 summary.

8> Submit PS Form 3083 with supporting documentation to the unit close out person.

Post Offices may randomly verify account summary totals in the Enterprise Data Warehouse, Accounting Data Mart (ADM).

[Delete section 512.5]

[Revise the title and text of 513 to read as follows:]

513 Handling Other Trust Fund Accounts

513.1 Customs Collection

Only IRT and POs ONE System Offices are authorized to use AIC 054, Customs Collection, on PS Form 1412, to record customs fees collected. The IRT and POs ONE system will prompt you to scan the customs label number from each Customs Form 3419-A, Mail Entry, plus the amount collected; this information is transmitted to the ASC. At the close of business every day, each office must reconcile the system-generated Unit Customs Report with the customs label forms. Offices must maintain all customs forms and reports locally. The ASC will process payment to the U.S. Customs Service.

Note: See section 781.2 for non-IRT and non-POs ONE offices.

513.2 Employee Overages

Employee stamp credit and cash credit overages at Post Offices and postal retail units are recorded into AIC 057, Employee Stamp Credit Overages, and AIC 068, Employee Cash Overages, on PS Form 1412. A master control, either a system-generated report or summary ledger PS Form 25, must be maintained for each category of employee overage by the postmaster, manager, supervisor, or designated employee at each office.

Note: See section 541 for the handling of employee Items.

513.3 Express Mail Corporate Accounts

Funds collected and deposited into an authorized Express Mail Corporate Account (EMCA), are recorded into AIC 055, Express Mail Advance Deposit, on PS Form 1412. Amounts entered into AIC 055 with the EMCA account numbers are transmitted into the Electronic Marketing Reporting System (EMRS) to be credited to the appropriate account; therefore, EMCA accounts are not maintained locally.

513.4 Special Provisions for Business and Government Advance Deposits

Trust fund accounts authorized for government agencies are governed by annual budgets and require advance deposits for future payment of postal products and services. These amounts are reported into AIC 074, Locally Managed Trust Deposit, on PS Form 1412. Local management may authorize businesses with the same budget constraints to use this type of trust account. It is the responsibility of the unit postmaster, manager, or supervisor to review these accounts at least once a month.

These trust deposit accounts are locally maintained and cannot be linked to a BMEU PostalOne! system or local PostalOne! System. These offices will:

a. Maintain individual government advance deposit accounts using PS Form 25, Trust Fund Account.

b. Manage the accounts by entering the deposits and withdrawals and calculating the balance.

c. Maintain a separate PS Form 25 with the daily summary grand total amount of all government advance deposit accounts balances (accounts reported into AIC 074).

[Revise the title and text of 514 to read as follows:]

514 Clearing Trust Fund Accounts

Use the guidelines below for trust fund account clearance:

[Delete section 515]

* * * * *

Appendix A Account Identifier Code and General Ledger Account Crosswalk

* * * * *

[Insert new AICs 070 and 470 as follows:]

* * * * *

- Revenue and Field Accounting,
Finance, 9-2-04

OBSOLETE MANAGEMENT INSTRUCTION AND FORM

Miscellaneous Payment Process

Effective September 2, 2004, Management Instruction (MI) FM-640-1999-1, Payment for Supplies and Services Using the Miscellaneous Disbursement Process Under Local Buying Authority, and PS Form 2431, Request for Miscellaneous Disbursement Payment, are obsolete. The San Mateo Accounting Service Center (ASC) will no longer accept PS Form 2431 from Headquarters and Headquarters field organizations. The miscellaneous payment process is for non-contractual invoices equal to or less than $10,000. The contractual payment process has not changed.

Headquarters and Headquarters field organizations must use PS Form 8230, Authorization for Payment, to process local buying requests when other preferred payment methods are not available. Refer to ASM Section 722 for local buying policy.

Note: See related article on page 1 of this Postal Bulletin.

- National Accounting,
Finance, 9-2-04

USE OF PS FORM 8230, AUTHORIZATION FOR PAYMENT

Non-Contractual Utility and Telecommunication Invoice Payment Process

Effective September 2, 2004, The San Mateo Accounting and Service Center (ASC) will not accept non-contractual utility and telecommunication invoices without an accompanying PS Form 8230, Authorization for Payment, through the Scanning and Imaging Center (SIC). The preferred methods of payment are as follows:

1. eBuy.

2. I.M.P.A.C. expense credit card.

3. PS Form 8230, Authorization for Payment, with proper invoice to SIC.

4. No-fee money orders (one-time emergency only, up to $500).

5. Cash (one-time emergency only, up to $100).

6. Imprest fund check.

Please remember that eBuy has recently been expanded to allow for online certification and electronic processing of non-contractual utility invoices in the Accounts Payable system. This is still the preferred method for paying utility invoices. Area office personnel should contact their eBuy coordinators for training on the eBuy utility module. For offices without access to eBuy, many telecommunication vendors now accept the I.M.P.A.C. credit card as a form of payment. Using either option results in savings from the manual payment environment.

Offices must mail properly completed and certified PS Form 8230, along with a proper invoice, to the SIC for scanning and electronic transmission to the San Mateo ASC. The address for the USPS Scanning and Imaging Center is as follows:

USPS SCANNING AND IMAGING CENTER
PO BOX 9000
SIOUX FALLS SD 57117-9000

The San Mateo ASC will process the request for payment in accordance with the Prompt Payment Act.

Information on completing PS Form 8230 is contained in the Postmaster/Field Guide, Version 4.0, dated April 2004. Information is also available on the Accounting Center Support Web site at http://acs.usps.gov/forms/8230.php.

Note: See related articles on pages 1 and 2 of this Postal Bulletin.

- National Accounting,
Finance, 9-2-04

Information Technology

NEW EDITION

Handbook AS-508, Section 508

The June 2004 edition of Handbook AS-508, Section 508, is now available. The new edition explains the requirements of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and sets forth, in broad outline, the Postal Service's™ policies on how to comply with them.

The June 2004 edition of Handbook AS-508 is available online on the Postal Service PolicyNet Web site:

• Go to http://blue.usps.gov.

• Under "Essential Links" in the left-hand column, click on References.

• Under "References" in the right-hand column, click on PolicyNet.

• Then click on HBKs.

We also will present these policies in greater detail in a forthcoming handbook, Handbook AS-508-A, Section 508 Technical Reference Guide.

- Section 508 Program,
Information Technology, 9-2-04

International Mail

PUBLICATION 141 REVISION

Global Express Guaranteed Service Guide - Japan

Effective September 2, 2004, Publication 141, Global Express Guaranteed™ Service Guide, Japan country listing, Country Specific Prohibitions, is revised to include "correspondence" to the list of prohibited items. All other types of documents listed in the DOC section for Japan remain acceptable in this service.

We will incorporate this revision into the next printed version of Publication 141 and into the next update of the online version of Publication 141, which is available on the Postal Service™ PolicyNet Web site:

• Go to http://blue.usps.gov.

• Under "Essential Links" in the left-hand column, click on References.

• Under "References" in the right-hand column, click on PolicyNet.

• Click on PUBs.

(The direct URL for the Postal Service PolicyNet Web site is http://blue.usps.gov/cpim.)

Publication 141 is also available on the Postal Service Internet:

• Go to www.usps.com.

• Click on About USPS & News, then Forms & Publications, then Postal Periodicals and Publications, and then Publications.

Publication 141, Global Express Guaranteed™ Service Guide

* * * * *

Countries & Cities Served - Section III

* * * * *

Japan

* * * * *

COUNTRY SPECIFIC PROHIBITIONS

(International Mail continues on page 11.)

In addition to the standard USPS prohibited items, plus:

[Add "correspondence" to the list of prohibitions to read as follows (the notes immediately following the list remain unchanged):]

Awakening drugs (Stimulants) Psychotropic Drugs
Correspondence Rice (a)
Film, Commercial Seeds
Graphite Products Soil
Movie film (35mm & 70mm) Swords, cutless
Personal Effects Walnuts (in shell)

* * * * *

- International Product Development,
Product Development, 9-2-04