A: Abbuchung (Direct Debits) to Auszahlungsauftrag (Payment Request)
Abbuchungen (Einzugsermächtigung für Lastschriftverfahren) [Direct Debits (Direct Debit Authorization]
Payments via direct debit (direct debit authorization) require prior authorization by the Hauptkasse (Cashier’s Office) of Freie Universität Berlin (II B 3). Such payments are only permitted in substantiated exceptional cases (e.g. public utility companies); in principal, standard payments have to be made by transfer to a bank account of the rightful recipient.
Abschreibungen (Anlagenbuchhaltung) [Depreciation (Asset Accounting)]
Freie Universität Berlin uses the straight line depreciation method.
Änderungsanordnung (förmliche Zahlungsanordnung) [Change Request (Formal Payment Order)]
If any information in a formal payment order already submitted to the Hauptkasse needs to be changed or supplemented, a change request has to be filled out.
Change requests usually apply in connection with standing orders. In this case, change requests are used, for example, to provide information about changes of address, bank account changes, increases/decreases in the payment amount, or changes to the duration of the standing order.
Anlage (Fixed Asset)
A fixed asset is an object, a right or another item owned by the enterprise that is intended for long-term use and can be individually identified in the balance sheet.
Anlagenbuchhaltung (Asset Accounting)
See: Inventarisierung (Inventory)
Anlagenart (Asset Type)
The asset type is a category identifier that classifies assets into the following groups:
01 – Office and laboratory furniture and fittings
02 – Office equipment
03 – Financial investments (securities, shares and holdings)
04 – Vehicles
05 – Non-scientific devices, equipment and furnishings (not applicable in the 2014 budget year)
06 – IT and TC hardware, detectors
07 – Scientific devices, equipment and large equipment/major instrumentation, laboratory instruments
08 – Real estate
09 – Gardening tools/equipment/machinery
10 – Household appliances and cleaning equipment, tools
11 – Transport equipment, devices and aids
13 – Media and audio-visual equipment, photo-optical equipment
14 – Software and licenses
15 – Sports equipment and vehicles:
Anlagenklassen (Asset Class)
In asset accounting, the asset class is the main criterion for classifying fixed assets according to legal and management requirements.
Anlagennnummer (Asset Number)
The asset number uniquely identifies a fixed asset. At Freie Universität Berlin, the asset number has been used as the inventory number since 2004.
Anlage zu Werkverträgen mit Privatpersonen (Appendix to Contracts for Work and Services with Private Individuals)
A social security status check must be conducted prior to concluding contracts for work and services with private individuals. This status check is done using the “Appendix to Contracts for Work and Services with Private Individuals” (Appendix 3 to Newsletter H 2 /2000), which must be filled in by the principal. To complete the form and check, the principal has to obtain certain personal information from the contractor.
The appendix is not required for corporate bodies and entities under public law (public law institutions, foundations, trusts and corporations), private corporations/stock corporations (Aktiengesellschaft / AG), limited liability companies (Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung / GmbH) and limited partnerships (Kommanditgesellschaft / KG) or for general partnerships (offene Handelsgesellschaft / oHG) and civil law partnerships (Gesellschaft bürgerlichen Rechts, GbR).
Since there are no clear and definitive rules for differentiating registered companies, freelancers and other similar entities from private individuals working on a permanent self-employed basis or as independent entrepreneurs, the appendix to contracts for work and services with private individuals has to be completely filled out in all cases.
Work and services subject to social security contributions can be identified by cross-checking the appendix to contracts for work and services with the “Positive-Negative List”. If any work and services are or are likely to be subject to social security contributions, contracts may not be awarded. Otherwise, the form notifies the contractor that any relevant tax payments are his or her own responsibility, and contains information about Freie Universität Berlin’s obligation to submit a disclosure notice to the relevant fiscal authorities.
Also see: Positiv-Negativ-Liste (Positive-Negative List); Werkverträge (Contracts for Work and Services)
Annahmeauftrag (Acceptance Order)
Form for collecting and processing any payments made to Freie Universität Berlin. The acceptance order has to include information and/or documents that enable the Hauptkasse (Cashier’s Office) to unequivocally allocate the expected payment to the designated account. As a rule, this information includes the address of the payer, the amount, as well as the purpose of the payment. In all cases, an authorized employee has to verify the factual accuracy of the transaction.
If the Hauptkasse receives payments for which an acceptance order does not exist, it notifies the department by sending a Cashier’s Office notification. This notification is the basis for preparing an acceptance order. The recipient of the Cashier’s Office notification should promptly prepare an acceptance order and forward it to the Clerical Accounts Office (Wirtschafts- und Rechnungsstelle, II B 1).
Division II forms or BIOS forms
Also see: Anordnung (Order); Kontierung (Account Allocation); sachliche Richtigkeit (Factual Accuracy)
Anordnung (formal payment order)
After the orders (acceptance order, disbursement order, re-posting/transfer order, etc.) submitted to the clerical accounts offices have been recorded, the accounting system used at Freie Universität Berlin creates the corresponding payment orders. This does not apply to change requests.
See: Annahmeauftrag (Acceptance Order); Auszahlungsauftrag (Disbursement Order); Umbuchungsauftrag (Re-posting/Transfer Order); Kassenänderungsanordnung (Change Request for Cash Office Orders)
Ansatz (Budget Appropriations)
Budget appropriations allocate the expected receipts, expenditures and commitment authorizations in the budget. The budget includes all receipts categorized by their causal origin, and all expenditures and commitments categorized by their purpose, itemized and in their full amount.
Anordnungsbefugnis (Authority to Issue Orders)
The authority to issue orders to the Hauptkasse (Cashier’s Office) of Freie Universität Berlin.
The person authorized to issue orders is the officer commissioned with managing the budget (Director of Administration and Finance) or the employee to whom an authority to issue orders has been assigned.
The authority to issue orders is executed by signing the formal payment order (see, e.g., “Änderungsanordnung (Change Request)”). The person authorized to issue orders may also verify the factual and arithmetical accuracy of the formal payment order at the same time.
By signing the formal payment order, the person authorized to issue orders affirms that:
- the formal payment order does not contain any obvious errors
- the authorized employees have verified the factual and arithmetical accuracy
- in the case of collective certification, a payment liability is incurred for the formal payment order or the appendices to the same from the enclosed records or documents and the amount, payer or authorized recipient correspond to these documents
- that funds and resources are available for expenditure
- the correct account allocation (posting attribute) is specified
- if a checklist for installment payments is maintained, it was available for checking at the time of authorization
See: rechnerische Richtigkeit (Arithmetical Accuracy); sachliche Richtigkeit (Factual Accuracy); Wirtschafterbefugnis (Management Authorization for Budget Funds)
Arbeitsprozess (Work Process)
Essentially, all steps involved in an administrative procedure. The term is used in budget management, especially for the Digital Document Management System (DMS). A detailed description of the workflow is documented in the accompanying training materials.
See: Workflow (Work Process)
Auftragserteilung (Order Placement / Awarding of Contracts)
A written order placement is required [No. 10.1 Section 55 of the Regulatory Statutes for the Berlin State Budget Code (AV LHO)] for purchase orders/orders which exceed the value of 150 EUR. As a rule, the order forms of Freie Universität Berlin must be used for this. Please note: Orders without order forms also have to be signed by a person with management authorization for budget funds (e.g. disbursement requests).
The relevant provisions of Section 55 LHO in conjunction with the AV (“public calls for bid”, also called “open procedure”) apply to orders and awards for contracts. These are primarily governed and supplemented by the applicable regulations specified in the German Award and Contract Code for Supplies and Services (Verdingungsordnung für Leistungen, abbreviated as “VOL/A”). In principle, these regulations stipulate that a freihändige Vergabe (single tender action/direct award, also called “negotiated procedure”), i.e. the placement of an order or contract with no prior formal procedure, selected based on comparing various offers that were obtained, is only permitted up to a value of 7,500 EUR. If the order value exceeds this limit, we strongly recommended consulting the relevant department administration and/or the II C Procurement subdivision. In this connection, please also refer to Newsletter V 04/2006 (German only) concerning the new regulations for placing orders and awarding contracts.
As a rule, various bids on purchase orders/orders have to be obtained and compared prior to placing orders. For orders up to an amount of 500 euros, an informal price comparison is sufficient (amounts in euros, including sales tax). Further price checking is not required for purchases made via the BIOS online ordering system of Freie Universität Berlin, since BIOS only contains products that have already been checked or selected via calls for bids by the II C Procurement subdivision. In the case of more favorable offers, it is sufficient to include a reference to the prices and to the regulations governing contracts in BIOS.
Please take into account that the offers contained in BIOS usually include additional services, which, in some cases, may give rise to slightly higher prices in comparison to obtained bids.
Decisions to award contracts have to be documented and put on record; in particular, negotiated procedures in the case of amounts exceeding 7,500 euros require detailed substantiation with reference to the exceptional cases permitted by the LHO and/or VOL/A. All contract award documents are subject to the customary retention period for receipts and documents, usually 6 years.
Prior to awarding a contract or placing an order, purchases of IT equipment/materials have to be coordinated with the IT officers of the decentralized departments. Also see “Procurement – IT”.
See also: Bestellbefugnis (Purchase Authority); BIOS-FU; freihändige Vergabe (Single Tender Action/Direct Award)
Ausgeschlossene Personen (Excluded Persons)
Pursuant to Section 20 of the German Administrative Procedures Act (Verwaltungsverfahrensgesetz/VwVfG), the following persons may not act on behalf of Freie Universität Berlin in administrative proceedings:
- whoever is himself/herself a participant
- whoever is a relative (Section 15) of a participant
- whoever by virtue of a law or authorization represents a participant in general or in specific administrative proceedings
- whoever is employed by a participant and receives remuneration from him/her, or is active on his/her board of management, supervisory board or similar body; this shall not apply to a person whose employing body is a participant
- whoever, outside his/her official capacity, has furnished an opinion or otherwise been active in the matter
The Administrative Procedures Act remains on a relatively abstract level in this regard; specifically, this means that with respect to all administrative procedures related to budgetary matters (purchase orders and contracts, notes of endorsements, orders, etc.), the aforementioned persons cannot make decisions or sign documents, since is not (or is no longer) ensured that these persons are impartial in exercising their duties. This is the general assumption about the persons listed above.
See: Anordnungsbefugnis (Authority to Issue Orders); Bestellbefugnis (Purchase Authority); rechnerische Richtigkeitit (Arithmetical Accuracy); sachliche Richtigkeit (Factual Accuracy)
Auslagen / -erstattung (Expense Reimbursement / Refunds)
See: Erstattung (Refunds)
Aussonderungsantrag (Request for Disposal of Assets)
Requests regarding the disposal of fixed assets subject to inventory and goods that are relevant to asset accounting (see the Instructions and Guidelines Regarding Inventory) need to be submitted using the designated form to the II B 12 unit via the respective department administration or department head. Please also submit information about changes to existing assets (e.g. changes in locations) using the available “Notification of Change” form.
Auszahlungsanordnung (Payment Order)
See: Auszahlungsauftrag (Payment Request)
Auszahlungsauftrag (Payment Request)
In addition to the invoice cover sheet and the account assignment stamp, a payment request is a form for the expenditure/payment preparation of funds.
The invoice cover sheet and the account assignment stamp have to be used for payment transactions that arise from an invoice.
The "payment request" form should only be used when an invoice that clearly shows the payee’s information does not exist or there is no document which has already been signed by a person granted management authorization rights for budget funds. This can, for example, be disbursements of discretionary funds or reimbursement of expenses. In such cases, both the signature of a person granted the appropriate management authorization rights for budget funds and the verification of the factual accuracy are required. Both signatures may be made by one person if that person has been granted management authorization rights for budget funds.
See: Rechnungsanweisung (Payment Authorization); Kontierungsstempel (Account Allocation Stamp)
Automatische Budgeterhöhende Einnahmen (Automated Procedures for Revenues Increasing the Budget)
See: Budgeterhöhende Einnahmen (Revenues Increasing the Budget)