4-2-2021 Draft – Subject to Change – Close-Hold Distribution Only

ATTACHMENT C

ACCOUNTING SCENARIOS FOR THE EMERGENCY FEDERAL EMPLOYEE LEAVE FUND 

BACKGROUND

Section 4001 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2), enacted on March 11, 2021, established a new category of paid 

leave for selected Federal employees. Eligibility for the leave is based on certain COVID-19-related qualifying circumstances. This 

emergency paid leave will be funded by a $570 million Emergency Federal Employee Leave Fund (Fund) and administered by the Director of 

the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Amounts in the Fund shall be available for reimbursement to an agency for the use of paid 

leave under this section by any covered employee of the agency who is unable to work because of certain COVID-19-related qualifying 

circumstances.

Each agency with covered employees using emergency paid leave must submit to OPM a request for reimbursement from the Fund. 

Agencies must inform employees that the granting of emergency paid leave to employees who meet the eligibility conditions is tentative 

and conditional upon monies being available in the Fund. When submitting a reimbursement claim to OPM, an authorized agency official 

must attest that, to the official’s knowledge, the agency’s established policies and procedures for implementing emergency paid leave are in 

compliance with section 4001 and OPM’s supporting guidance. 

OMB/Treasury has established a unique Treasury Account Fund Symbol (TAFS) under OPM agency identification code (024-2021/2022-

0806). Agencies should reference this TAFS with the reimbursements received from this Fund. OPM has received a definite mandatory 

appropriation of $570 million. OMB has apportioned the budgetary resources into two category B projects - Emergency Federal Employee 

Leave Fund ($565 million) and Administration EFELF ($5 million).

PURPOSE

To outline guidance on the accounting for the emergency paid leave reimbursement activity by OPM and the agencies seeking 

reimbursements from the Fund.
4-2-2021 Draft – Subject to Change – Close-Hold Distribution Only

ACCOUNTING SCENARIOS FOR THE REIMBURSEMENT TRANSACTIONS

Agency’s request for reimbursement should be based on disbursements to eligible employees. The two scenarios below relate to the timing 

of the reimbursements affecting TAFSs. Scenario 1 addresses emergency leave paid (i.e., disbursement) by a requesting agency and 

reimbursed by OPM (from budgetary resources in TAFS 024-2021/2022-0806) to a requesting agency in FY 2021. Scenario 2 addresses

emergency paid leave paid (i.e., disbursement) by a requesting agency in FY 2021 but reimbursed by OPM (from budgetary resources in 

TAFS 024-2021/2022-0806) to a requesting agency in FY 2022. All disbursements must be incurred during the allowable period specified in 

OPM’s supporting guidance. 

SCENARIO 1 – Current year (FY 2021) activity, including agencies’ reimbursement requests submitted, approved, and paid for emergency 

paid leave disbursed in FY 2021. Eligible period covered by section 4001 is March 11, 2021 – September 30, 2021.

Note 1: In this presentation, additional entries related to Budgetary Resources (e.g., appropriation, spending authority from offsetting 

collections, etc.) of the requesting agency, and the Status for Budgetary Resources (e.g., apportionments, allotments) of OPM and the 

requesting agency are not shown.

Note 2: Reimbursement from the Fund is contingent on budgetary resources being available in the Fund. As a result, when the requesting 

agency prepares and submits a request for reimbursement, there is no receivable to set up by the requesting agency and no payable to be 

set up by OPM. After OPM approves the request and processes an Intra-Governmental Payment and Collection (IPAC) to reimburse the 

requesting agency, transaction 3 shows the recording of OPM’s disbursement, and the requesting agency’s receipt of the reimbursement.

Note 3: Reimbursements to agencies are conditional upon budgetary resources being available in the Fund. Accounting entries for 

situations where the Fund is depleted are not presented in this document. Agencies should refer to OPM’s supporting guidance.

1. To record the enactment of FY 2021 appropriation and warrant received for OPM Emergency Federal Employee Leave Fund (024-

2021/2022-0806.)

OPM (TAFS 24-2021/2022-

0806)

DR CR TP RC TC Requesting Agency (TAFS 

XXX-XXXX/XXXX-XXXX) *

DR CR TP RC TC
4-2-2021 Draft – Subject to Change – Close-Hold Distribution Only

Budgetary Entry

411900 Other 

Appropriations

Realized

445000 Unapportioned 

Authority

Proprietary Entry

101000 Fund Balance 

With Treasury

310100 Unexpended 

Appropriations -

Appropriations 

Received

570

570

570

570

024 A104 Budgetary Entry

See Note 1 above.

Proprietary Entry

2. To record the payroll payment (Paid Leave) by the requesting agency against its own budgetary resources before any reimbursement by 

OPM.

OPM (TAFS 24-2021/2022-

0806) 

DR CR TP RC TC Requesting Agency (TAFS

XXX-XXXX/XXXX-XXXX) * 

DR CR TP RC TC

Budgetary Entry

N/A

Proprietary Entry

N/A

024 Budgetary Entry

461000 Allotments –

Realized Resources

 490200 Delivered 

Orders

- Obligations, Paid

Proprietary Entry

610000 Operating 

Expenses/Pro

gram Costs

50

50

50

50

XXX B102
4-2-2021 Draft – Subject to Change – Close-Hold Distribution Only

 101000 Fund Balance

 With Treasury

3. To record a disbursement out of the Fund to reimburse agency XXX, as directed by section 4001. OPM reimburses the agency via IPAC. 

The requesting agency must have submitted a request for reimbursement to OPM and records the reimbursement entry as refunds 

collected to a current fiscal year paid obligation (i.e., disbursement). 

OPM (TAFS 24-2021/2022-

0806) 

DR CR TP RC TC Requesting Agency (TAFS

XXX-XXXX/XXXX-XXXX) * 

DR CR TP RC TC

Budgetary Entry

461000 Allotments –

Realized Resources

490200 Delivered 

Orders

- Obligations, Paid

Proprietary Entry

610000 Operating 

Expenses/

Program Costs

101000 Fund Balance 

With 

Treasury

50

50

50

50

024

B107

Budgetary Entry

490200 Delivered Orders

- Obligations, Paid

 461000 Allotments –

Realized Resources

Proprietary Entry

101000 Fund Balance 

With

Treasury

 610000 Operating 

Expenses/Pro

gram Costs

50

50

50

50

XXX C134

4. To record appropriations used this fiscal year.

OPM (TAFS 24-2021/2022-

0806) 

DR CR TP RC TC Requesting Agency (TAFS

XXX-XXXX/XXXX-XXXX) * 

DR CR TP RC TC
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Budgetary Entry

N/A

Proprietary Entry

310710 Unexpended 

Appropriations –

Used-Disbursed

570010 Expended 

AppropriationsDisbursed

50

50

024

39

38

B234 Budgetary Entry

N/A

Proprietary Entry

N/A

SCENARIO 2 – Subsequent year (FY 2022) activity, including agencies’ reimbursement requests submitted and/or approved in FY 2021 or FY 

2022 but paid to the requesting agency for emergency paid leave disbursed in FY 2022. Eligible period covered by the Statute is March 11, 

2021 – September 30, 2021. For example, an employee may use conditionally granted emergency paid leave through September 30, 2021, 

in the biweekly pay period covering September 18, 2021, through October 1, 2021, and the employee’s paycheck for that period (including 

leave disbursements) would be issued in October 2021. Also, an agency may be retroactively applying conditional emergency paid leave to 

an earlier biweekly pay period in FY 2021 as a retroactive correction processed (disbursed) in FY 2022. 

1. To record a disbursement out of the Fund in FY 2022 to reimburse agency XXX, as directed by section 4001. OPM reimburses the agency 

via IPAC. The requesting agency must have incurred the disbursements during the allowable period and submitted a request for 

reimbursement to OPM. The requesting agency records the reimbursement as a downward adjustment to a prior fiscal year paid 

obligation (i.e., disbursement).

OPM (TAFS 24-2021/2022-

0806)

DR CR TP RC TC Requesting Agency (TAFS

XXX-XXXX/XXXX-XXXX) * 

DR CR TP RC TC

Budgetary Entry

461000 Allotments –

Realized Resources

490200 Delivered 

50

50

024

B107

Budgetary Entry

497200 Downward 

Adjustments of Prior-Year 

Paid Delivered Orders

50

C132
4-2-2021 Draft – Subject to Change – Close-Hold Distribution Only

Orders

- Obligations, Paid

Proprietary Entry

610000 Operating 

Expenses/Prog

ram Costs

101000 Fund Balance 

With 

Treasury

50

50

- Obligations, 

Refunds Collected

 445000 Unapportioned 

Authority

OR

465000 Expired 

Authority

Proprietary Entry

101000 Fund Balance 

With Treasury

 610000 Operating 

Expenses/Pro

gram Costs

50

50

50

2. To record appropriations used this fiscal year.

OPM (TAFS 24-2021/2022-

0806) 

DR CR TP RC TC Requesting Agency (TAFS

XXX-XXXX/XXXX-XXXX) * 

DR CR TP RC TC

Budgetary Entry

N/A

Proprietary Entry

310710 Unexpended 

Appropriations –

Used-Disbursed

570010 Expended 

AppropriationsDisbursed

50

50

024

39

38

B234 Budgetary Entry

N/A

Proprietary Entry

N/A
4-2-2021 Draft – Subject to Change – Close-Hold Distribution Only

*Specific TAFS will depend on the agency requesting reimbursement from the Fund. The accounting for the disbursement and the reimbursement 

depends on the type of fund used. For budgetary resources derived from the General Fund of the US Treasury, the agency will also record the 

entry for appropriations used (e.g. Transaction Code B234 for disbursement) when it records the disbursement and the reimbursement as a 

downward adjustment to a prior fiscal year paid obligation (i.e., disbursement).