Accountable Advances Regulations (SOR/86-438)

Short Title

1 These Regulations may be cited as the Accountable Advances Regulations.

Interpretation

2 In these Regulations,

accountable advance

accountable advance means

• (a) a sum of money advanced to a person from an appropriation, and

• (b) a sum of money advanced to a person from the sum of money described in paragraph (a)

for which the person is accountable and includes imprest funds and working capital advances administered under an imprest system; (avance comptable)

appropriation

appropriation includes a revolving fund; (crédit)

cash

cash means bank notes and coins; (espèces)

change fund

change fund means cash provided to a cashier or other individual for the purpose of making change; (fonds d’appoint)

collective agreement

collective agreement has the same meaning as in the Public Service Staff Relations Act; (convention collective)

deposit account

deposit account means an account with a supplier that is funded by an accountable advance and from which the supplier deducts the value of material as it is shipped; (compte de dépôt)

deputy head

deputy head has the same meaning as in the Public Service Employment Act; (sous-chef)

employee

employee means an individual appointed to a position in a department or other portion of the public service of Canada listed in Schedule I to the Public Service Staff Relations Act; (employé)

holder or custodian

holder or custodian means the person to whom an accountable advance has been issued or who is responsible for an accountable advance; (détenteur ou dépositaire)

person

person means an individual, a corporation, an organization and any branch or division of a department; (personne)

petty cash expenditure

petty cash expenditure means a disbursement made from a petty cash fund; (dépense de petite caisse)

petty cash fund

petty cash fund means cash kept on hand under an imprest system for the purpose of making small payments in cash; (fonds de petite caisse)

standing advance

standing advance means an accountable advance issued in a specified amount for an indeterminate period and replenished to that specific amount each time an accounting for expenditures is made. (avance permanente)

General

3 An individual to whom an accountable advance is issued is personally responsible and accountable for that advance and any loss or shortage in respect of that advance may be recovered from that individual.

Issuing of Advances

4 A deputy head may issue an accountable advance

• (a) to a person

  • (i) as a travel, relocation or posting advance where that person is entitled to such an advance pursuant to a contract, a collective agreement or a Treasury Board directive,

  • (ii) for the purpose of establishing a deposit account where a contract or the customary terms of trade require prepayment for goods or services,

  • (iii) for the purpose of establishing a change fund,

  • (iv) for the purpose of establishing a petty cash or other imprest fund,

  • (v) for the purpose of funding a departmental bank account established pursuant to Part III of the Cheque Issue Regulations, or

  • (vi) for any other purpose where payment has to be made by that person on the receipt of goods or on the rendering of a service and the usual payment facilities are not immediately available or their use would be impractical; and

• (b) to an employee as an emergency salary advance where the issuing of such an advance is otherwise authorized or required by statute, by a collective agreement or by a Treasury Board directive.

5 An accountable advance issued under these Regulations

• (a) pursuant to paragraph 4(a)(i) or (vi) shall not be issued as a standing advance unless the person to whom the advance is issued is required to incur expenditures or make payments or disbursements in respect thereof on a continuing basis;

• (b) shall not be issued for any type of payment owing on the termination of employment;

• (c) for a specific purpose shall not exceed the amount required to cover the expenditures that can reasonably be expected to be made for that purpose;

• (d) as a standing advance shall not exceed the amount required for expenditures expected to be made from the advance within a fixed period determined on the basis of operational requirements and the turnover of the advance; and

• (e) for the purpose of establishing a petty cash fund shall not exceed $2000 and no single expenditure from that fund shall exceed $200 without the prior approval of the Treasury Board.

Accounting for Advances

• 6 (1) The deputy head shall establish and maintain records of all accountable advances issued by him and all expenditures made therefrom.

• (2) The records referred to in subsection (1) shall include a separate account receivable for every accountable advance and those accounts receivable shall be controlled by a control account maintained within the principal accounting system of the department.

• (3) Every standing advance shall be accounted for by the holder or custodian thereof not later than 10 working days after the end of any month in which expenditures are incurred or, where a standing advance has been used to establish a deposit account required by contract, in accordance with the terms of that contract, and every other accountable advance shall be accounted for not later than 10 working days after the purpose for which the advance was made is fulfilled

  • (a) in the case of an accountable advance issued for the purpose of establishing a petty cash or other imprest fund, by showing that the cash on hand or bank balance plus receipts or paid vouchers equals the amount of the advance; or

  • (b) in all other cases, by submitting receipts or vouchers covering the expenditures made from the advance where proof of payment is required for those expenditures under a Treasury Board directive.

• (4) The deputy head shall at the end of every fiscal year

  • (a) require every holder or custodian of a standing advance to provide, within 30 days after the end of the fiscal year, written confirmation of the amount of the advance and his continuing responsibility therefor; and

  • (b) provide to the Receiver General such reports and certificates in respect of all accountable advances as may be required for the purposes of the Public Accounts.

Repayment and Recovery of Advances

• 7 (1) The unexpended balance of any accountable advance, other than a standing advance, shall be repaid to the department by the holder or custodian thereof not later than 10 working days after the purpose for which the advance was made has been fulfilled, unless the Treasury Board has authorized recovery by deduction from salary or wages or by deduction from a subsequent advance.

• (2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), where the deputy head has issued an accountable advance, he may at any time, by notice in writing to the holder or custodian of the advance, demand an accounting thereof and repayment of any unexpended balance and the holder or custodian shall, not later than 30 days after receiving such notice, provide an accounting and make the repayment.

• 8 (1) An accountable advance or any part thereof that is required to be repaid shall be repaid in full by the holder or custodian thereof in a single payment.

• (2) An accountable advance or any part thereof that is to be recovered by a department shall, wherever possible, be recovered in full in a single payment.