OFFICE OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

Updated 10/05/2004


DEPOSIT PROCEDURES FOR COLLECTIONS
RECEIVED AT FOREIGN POSTS

USFCS posts located in foreign countries may receive US Dollars or other foreign currencies in the form of U.S. and foreign checks, money orders and cash. Collections may be for user fees for commercial information products and business facilitation services, participation fees collected for trade promotion events and other miscellaneous purposes.

All collections, regardless of type of monetary exchange and for whatever reason collected, need to be recorded on an "International Trade Administration Collections Transactions Record" (CTR), and transmitted to the BANK ONE, Lockbox at the address and in the manner detailed below. All foreign posts transmitting funds to the Lockbox for deposit must follow the procedures described herein to ensure that collections are properly accounted for and deposited in the US Treasury.

ITA's policy is to encourage collections by credit card and if a credit card cannot be used then collection should be drawn in US Dollars (USD) on US banks.

For receipt of foreign currency checks or U.S. dollar checks drawn against a foreign bank (CANADA EXCEPTED) posts are required to add a collection fee to the charge for the service. The fee will vary between two groups of countries listed below:
 

Group A. A $10.00 Fee will apply for receipt of foreign currency checks, or dollar checks drawn on a foreign bank from the countries in this group.
 
JPY Japanese Yen FRF French Franc
ITL Italian Lira GBP Great Britain Pound
DEM German Mark ZAR South African Rand
CAD Canadian Dollar HKD Hong Kong Dollar
SGD Singapore Dollar CHF Swiss Franc
NLG Netherlands Guilder SEK Swedish Krona
NOK Norwegian Krone ESP Spanish Peseta
AUD Australian Dollar IEP Irish Punt
DKK Danish Krone PTE Portuguese Escudo
FIM Finish Markka ATS Austrian Schilling
BEF Belgian Franc NZD New Zealand Dollar
EUR Euro MXP Mexican Peso
  Group B. ALL OTHER COUNTRIES (CANADA EXCEPTED) Foreign currency checks or dollar checks drawn against any foreign bank in this group will be subject to a $55.00 fee. ALL FEES SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN THE PAYMENT FOR THE SERVICES ORDERED. For example, if the service ordered costs $500 and the payment is made in the form of a foreign currency check, then the total check amount should be $500 plus the appropriate ($10 or $55) fee.

A.) Processes and Responsibilities for Receiving Funds:
 

CHECKS:

Checks or money orders must be made payable to one of the six following payees. Checks made payable to any other payee will be returned to the transmitting office.

  • U.S. Embassy
  • International Trade Administration
  • ITA
  • Department of Commerce
  • U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service
  • US&FCS
    •
    Record the specified appropriation code (J/XXX), project code/performance measure (XXXXXX) and organization code (XX-XX) on each check and money order received. Appropriate accounting codes for the various collection types are described in the current fiscal year ITA Financial Management Policy and Accounting Classification Instructions.

    Each post must ensure the following endorsement language appears on the reverse side of all checks and money orders prior to forwarding them to the Lockbox:

    " Pay to the Order of any Federal Reserve Bank or Branch or General Depository for credit to the Treasurer of the United States. This check is a payment of an obligation to the United States and must be paid at par. N.P. Do not wire nonpayment. International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C. 20230 13-12-0001".
     

     Each post making collections is encouraged to obtain a rubber stamp that includes the above endorsement language for this purpose.

    CASH:
     

    All cash received at the post must be converted to a money order or check in U.S. Dollars. The money order or check must be made payable to the AInternational Trade Administration@ and transmitted to the Lockbox. Costs associated with converting the cash into a money order or check must be received from the customer given you the cash, may be paid from the amount being converted, and must be noted on the Collection Transaction Record (CTR). B.) Procedures and Responsibilities to Transmit and Reconcile Deposits:
      Posts will use the Collection Transaction Record (CTR) form to list and document collections being sent to the Lockbox.

    Checks must be separated into two groups before being transmitted to Lockbox. Each group must be accompanied by a separate CTR. Each CTR will constitute a separate batch.

    US Group: USD drawn on a US Bank and USD drawn on Canadian banks, for which is no collection fee.

    Foreign Group: Foreign currency drawn on Foreign Banks and USD drawn on Foreign Banks (Canadian exception, see above).This is the group subject to the collection fees ($10 or $55)
     

     A copy of the CTR and instructions are attached. They are also available on the Internet in the ITA on line Administrative Information and Procedures area of "Through the Maze"at hhtp://www.ita.doc.gov/launchpad/ At the launchpad site click on OOMS and then click on Administrative Guidance and Organizational Orders and then go to Collections Transaction Record. The Acrobat Reader program is needed to view the CTR form.

    The original copy of the CTR must accompany the checks to the Lockbox. A copy of the CTR should be retained at the post until a processed copy confirming the deposit and related accounting entries has been received from the National Business Center.

    A copy of the Participation Agreement, invoice, or other billing document supporting the purpose of the collection must accompany the check or money order to the Lockbox. The original Participation Agreement must be mailed to OTEM.

    Trade event collection information must be entered into the Trade Event Management System (TEMS) Collection Database. Follow the instructions of OTEM to transmit this information to Headquarters in the manner and time frame required.

    Collection information also must be entered in the Overseas Transaction Database system (OTD). Follow OTR instructions to ensure that this information is entered on a timely basis and correctly.

    After processing the deposit, Bank One will sent the Collections Transaction Record (CTR) to the National Business Center (NBC) for reconciliation. After the NBC has reconciled the deposit it will sent the CTR back to the post. Upon receipt of the processed CTR from the NBC, the post should compare those records of deposit with their transmittal records and their Overseas Transaction Record. Any differences should be brought to the attention of NBC.
     

     C.) Collections and Deposit Requirements of the U.S. Treasury:  
    Collections received in U.S. dollars that total $5,000 or more must be transmitted to the Lockbox on the same business day in which they are received. Collections of foreign currencies with a United States dollar (USD) converted value of $5,000 or more must also be transmitted on the same business day received.

    Collections totaling less than $5,000 received in U.S. dollars may be transmitted to the Lockbox at the end of the workweek. Collections of foreign currencies with a USD converted value totaling less than $5,000 may be transmitted at the end of the workweek (Note: per separate the Foreign Affairs Manual and the Foreign Affairs Handbook require that when small collections reach $5,000 in aggregate the sum should be deposited then, instead of waiting until the end of the week.)

    In general, collections received too late in the day to meet the deposit cutoff time must be deposited the following business day.No single individual may control a collection transaction. Offices must ensure that collection duties are separated and performed by different individuals. For example, Collections received and posting to the Overseas Transaction Record (CTR) should be done by one individual, preparing and mailing the CTR to the lockbox and reconciling the CTRs received from NBC to the OTD by another. We understand that in some cases the posts do not have the necessary FSN staff to follow this example. In that case, a commercial officer would have to be involved in the process. Remember that PSCs can only handle funds in specified, limited ways.
     

     D.)Transmitting Collections to Lockbox:
      A survey of a selected number of foreign posts was conducted by the Foreign Commercial Service to determine the variety and best transmittal options available to posts to get their collections to the Bank One Lockbox. As expected, the best method of transmittal varies. Generally, however, the most secure and cost effective method was determined to be the U.S. Mail (APO) where available. Each post should consider the options available for transmittal. Security of the checks, costs of shipping, and time that it takes to reach the lockbox should be considered. We suggest the posts batch the checks in different days, taking into account APO routine, to ensure batches go on different flights and days. In the event that a batch of checks get lost in the mail, the post must to go back to the participants and ask for a replacement of the lost checks.

    Regardless of the method in which the post transmits its collections to the Lockbox (APO, Courier, etc.) all collections, the accompanying CTR, and required documentation will be sent to the following Lockbox address:

                                                 Bank One
                                            8th Floor Mailroom
                                            525 West Monroe
                                            Chicago, IL 60661

                                            Attn: International Trade Administration/Lockbox # 21695
     

    E.) National Business Center (NBC) Role:
    NBC must receive a record of each CTR deposit from the Lockbox bank, both electronically and hard copy. The hard copy records sent by the bank to NBC must include all supporting information transmitted by the post, as well as a photocopy of the checks or money orders.

    After reviewing the package received from the Lockbox, the NBC will confirm recipt of the deposits by e-mailing each post that sent deposits.
     
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