2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE THREE - Executive (§§ 1 — 9311) › Chapter 13 - Department of Treasury (§§ 221 — 286) › § 283c - Design and approval of fiscal organization, accounting systems and procedures

(a) The Secretary, in coordination with the dependencies and corporate entities shall be responsible for the design and approval of the fiscal organization, the accounting systems and payment and revenue procedures of all dependencies and corporate entities. The legislative bodies, with the advice of the Secretary, shall be responsible for the design and approval of the fiscal organization, the accounting systems and payment and revenue procedures to execute their financial transactions.
(b) The Secretary shall be responsible for designing the fiscal organization, accounting systems, payment and revenue procedures that may be necessary to carry out the central accounting and for preparing the reports of all government operations, which responsibility is assigned to him herinafter under the provisions of §§ 283—283p of this title.
(c) In discharging the duties described in subsections (a) and (b), the Secretary shall consult with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, the President of the Planning Board and the President of the Government Development Bank, in relation to the information that said officials need to fulfill their duties and shall further consider the needs of the dependencies, the corporate entities and the legislative bodies.
(d) The Secretary shall ensure that there is coordination between the accounting systems and procedures of each dependency, corporate entity or legislative body and the central accounting kept by him/her. The systems and procedures designed or approved by the Secretary shall allow the dependencies, the corporate entities and the legislative bodies to fulfill their duties, and at the same time they shall serve as the basis to maintain uniform and coordinated government accounting, provide a complete picture of the results of the financial operations of each dependency, corporate entity or legislative body and of the government as a single entity, and they shall furthermore furnish the financial information needed to help the Legislature and the Governor of Puerto Rico discharge of their respective duties.
(e) The accounting systems the Secretary may establish or authorize to be established, or for which he/she may provide legal advice, shall be designed so as to show or provide, in general terms, the following:
(1) Full information on the results of the operations of the dependencies, corporate entities or legislative bodies.
(2) Adequate financial information, necessary for the administration of the dependencies, corporate entities or legislative bodies.
(3) Effective control and accountability of all funds, property and assets belonging to the dependencies, corporate entities or legislative bodies.
(4) Trustworthy reports to serve as the basis for establishing and justifying the budgetary needs of the dependencies, corporate entities and legislative bodies so as to control the management of the budget, as well as any other financial information the Office of Management and Budget and the Planning Board may require from the dependencies, corporate entities and legislative bodies.
(5) Proper coordination between the accounting of each dependency, corporate entity or legislative body and the central accounting performed by the Secretary as stipulated in § 283e of this title.
(f) The fiscal organization which may be designed or approved by the Secretary for the dependencies and corporate entities shall provide for the proper separation of the duties and responsibilities in the fiscal process so as to prevent or make difficult the commission of irregularities, and at the same time provide for the orderly and speedy channeling of financial transactions. To this end, the Secretary shall advise the legislative bodies so they may design and approve a fiscal organization consonant with the prior objective. The fiscal organization of those dependencies and corporate entities of a complex nature that conduct a large volume of financial operations, as well as those of the legislative bodies, must provide for proper internal audits that meet the standards and guidelines established by the Secretary for such a purpose.
(g) The procedures established by the Secretary to incur expenses and pay for the same, to receive and deposit public funds and to control and keep a record of the public property, shall have the proper controls that would prevent or make difficult the commission of irregularities, and should these be committed, allow for responsibilities to be fixed while at the same time guaranteeing the clarity and purity of the fiscal procedures. To this end, the Secretary shall advise the legislative bodies so they may adopt procedures consonant with the prior objective.
(h) The dependencies and the corporate entities shall cooperate with the Secretary in the design of their fiscal organization and of their accounting systems and procedures. Once approved by the Secretary, the dependencies and the corporate entities shall be bound to install and give continuous use to the same. However, the Secretary shall provide the advice and the help deemed pertinent for the installation of said systems and procedures. The Secretary shall also provide advice as to the design and help for the installation of the fiscal organization and the accounting systems and procedure to be approved and adopted by the legislative bodies to exercise their functions.
(i) The Secretary may authorize agencies and corporate entities to design their own systems, accounting procedures and fiscal organizations when, for any reason, he/she cannot design them; or when, in his/her opinion, the fiscal organization, the accounting system, the internal procedures and the administrative practices existing in the agency or corporate entity, warrant it; provided, that they have the proper and necessary personnel for such work. The systems, procedures, and fiscal organizations which may be so designed, shall follow the rules and practices established by the Secretary, and shall require his/her final approval for their implementation. Not later than July 1st, 2018, all agencies of the Central Government shall use the same accounting system used by the Department of the Treasury. After the implementation of said accounting system, the Secretary shall not authorize any agency to design its own accounting system, accounting procedures or fiscal organization.
(j) The Secretary shall, from time to time, audit the fiscal organization and the accounting systems and procedures of the various dependencies, corporate entities and legislative bodies in order to verify whether they are being properly followed and whether they capably accomplish their purpose. In order to prevent the accounting systems and procedures from losing their effectiveness, the Secretary shall revise the same according to the changing needs of the government and the modern standards that govern this matter. The Secretary shall propose that the legislative bodies take action regarding the revision of their fiscal organization and the accounting systems and procedures.
(k) The Secretary may authorize the dependencies and the corporate entities to audit their own systems, accounting procedures and fiscal organizations when, for any reason, he cannot audit them, or when in his opinion, the effectiveness of the fiscal organization, the accounting system, the internal procedures and the administrative practices in the dependency or corporate entity so warrant, and provided they have the available adequate personnel necessary for such work. Such audits shall be made in accordance with the norms and practices that the Secretary may establish, and any changes which, as a result of such audits, must be made to such systems, accounting procedures and fiscal organizations in force, shall require the approval of the Secretary for their establishment. The result of said audits shall be notified to the Secretary through a report to that effect.
History —July 23, 1974, No. 230, Part 2, p. 183, § 4; May 27, 1976, No. 61, p. 175, § 1; June 11, 2004, No. 140, § 3; Dec. 8, 2015, No. 208, § 302a.