31 USC 3530 – Adjusting accounts
(a) An appropriation or fund currently available for the expense of an accountable function shall be charged with an amount necessary to adjust an account of an accountable official or agent when—
(1) necessary to adjust the account for a loss to the United States Government resulting from the fault or negligence of the official or agent; and
(2) the head of the agency decides the loss is uncollectable.
Terms Used In 31 USC 3530
- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- individual: shall include every infant member of the species homo sapiens who is born alive at any stage of development. See 1 USC 8
(b) An adjustment does not affect the personal financial liability of an official or agent for the loss.
(c) The Comptroller General shall prescribe regulations to carry out subsection (a) of this section.
(d) Under procedures prescribed by the Comptroller General, the head of an agency may charge the net amount of unpaid and overpaid balances in individual pay accounts against the appropriation for the fiscal year in which the balances occurred and from which the accounts were payable. The net amount shall be credited to and paid from the corresponding appropriation for the next fiscal year.