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Arizona Transparency

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OVERVIEW

Arizona Revised Statute 41-725 contains a provision, effective Janaury 1, 2013, that requires the following: 

Each local government shall establish and maintain an official internet website that is accessible to the public at no cost and that contains a comprehensive reporting of all revenues and expenditures over five thousand dollars of local monies.  The data shall be updated no less frequently than every three months and may be updated as new data becomes available. The data shall be retained and accessible online for at least three fiscal years. 

Source:  http://www.azleg.gov/FormatDocument.asp?inDoc=/ars/41/00725.htm&Title=41&DocType=ARS

The file requirements for this export can be found at:  http://www.gao.az.gov/transparency/documents/OpenBooks_File_Layout-011613.pdf

The following is an example file provided by Arizona OpenBooks: http://www.gao.az.gov/transparency/documents/TransparencyFileHeaderWithFewSampleTrans.txt 

PROCESS

In response to these requirements, Springbrook Software has developed the Arizona Transparency process.  This Utility/Export option is available under GL > Arizona Transparency and will export out Revenue, Expense, or Employee Reimbursement data in accordance with the requirements set by Arizona OpenBooks.   

The Arizona Transparency process is separated into two menu items: 

DESCRIPTIONS – this utility window will allow users to populate GL accounts with the Fund, Organization, and Category section levels that are required on the export file.   It is recommended to review the File Requirements (link) document from Arizona Openbooks to get an understanding of each Section Level.

Using this window: 

  1.  Click on the Refresh icon.  This will refresh the grid window with all accounts that exist in the Fiscal Year entered on this window.   
  2. Enter the description for the first section level.  For example, if all accounts in Fund 100 should be have a Fund 1 description of “General Fund,” take the following steps: 
    1. Enter “100” in the Account  field 
    2. Enter “Fund 1” in the Section Level field 
    3. Enter “General Fund” in the Description field 
  3. Click on the Update Descriptions   icon.  In the grid below, all accounts with Fund 100 should have their Fund 1 descriptions updated to “General Fund.” 
  4. Repeat this process for every Section Level that needs to be updated.  For example, now that Fund 100 has been updated, let’s say that all accounts in Fund 100, Department 250 should have an Organization 1 description of “Water Department.”  Take the following steps to update this: 
    1. Enter “100-250” in the Account  field 
    2. Enter “Organization 1” in the Section Level field 
    3. Enter “Water Department” in the Description field 
  5. Click on the Update Descriptions   icon.  In the grid below, all accounts with Fund 100, Department 250 should have their Organization 1 descriptions updated to “Water Department.” 
  6. Click the save icon to commit these changes to the application.  Once all accounts have been updated with their section levels, this utility window is complete!  It is now time to move onto the Export process. 

NOTE:  The descriptions entered in this window will not automatically be moved to the next fiscal year. In order to update this information when moving to the next fiscal year: 

  1.  Open this window and refresh the grid. 
  2.  Click on the copy descriptions icon and select “Next Year.”  This may take several minutes to complete 
  3.  Click on the save icon. 

There is also a Clear option on this window.  This will clear ALL descriptions for the fiscal year.  To clear the description on one section level, review the following example: 

Let’s say that the Organization 1 has a description of “sewer” and needs to be cleared for all accounts in Fund 100.  Take the follow steps: 

  1. Enter “100” in the Account  field 
  2. Enter “Organization 1” in the Section Level field 
  3. Leave the description field blank 
  4. Click the generate icon.  This will clear the description for that section level. 

EXPORT – This window will export transactional data based on Employee Compensation, Expense, or Revenue.  The Date to Use option on this window is dependent on which Transaction Type is selected: 

  • If Employee Compensation is selected, the date to use will can be batch, period end, or check date.  These options are available because PR information is stored in history with each of these dates. 
  • If Revenue or Expense is selected, the date to use option will be grayed out.   Since GL information is only stored with a Journal Entry date, the Date From  and Date To options are always going to filter based on JE date. 

Once all options have been selected on this window, click on the export icon to generated this data into a text file. 

NOTE:  If the date from and date to fields are left blank, the system will generate this information for the entire fiscal year.  Also, if a date range is entered, it must be within the fiscal year. 

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