STARS inquires search for files and accounting information. File inquiries include both financial balance information and record inquiry information. STARS Online Inquiry has two types of inquiries:

Record Inquiries. Record Inquires are more detailed than Financial Inquiries. When STARS posts to the financial files, they are posted to the level of the Record Inquiries screen.

Financial Inquiries. The Financial Inquiries will combine some of the Record Inquires together for summary information.

To use either inquiry, you must enter a ‘record key’ (certain data fields) and then specify the ‘period of time’ and ‘balance type’ indicators. Or use the default ‘period of time’ and ‘balance type’ indicators.

When a record is retrieved, balances are displayed in file posting categories which accumulate all financial data posted to STARS. For example, the Appropriation File has a category called “Adjustments”. Financial transactions are posted to these categories based on the Transaction Code on each transaction.

While this information can be viewed in STARS, it is also available in STARS reports. The reports are generated in PDF format and can be printed at your office. You can request reports from the State Controller’s Office.

Record Key

On an inquiry screen, the data fields that come before the period of time and balance type indicators (see below) are collectively known as the “record key”. The record key is used to query a record in any given file. However, the fields that you use to query a record vary with each screen and can also vary with each agency. Not all fields in any given record key area are required or used in the query, so it helps to understand your agency structure to know which fields apply to your inquiry. 

Figure 1 - Record Key and Period of Time example

If you do not know the entire record key, enter the first few data fields and press ENTER. STARS will display the first record it can find with the specified fields. If STARS cannot find a record containing the key you have entered, it will display the next available record in ascending sequence of the record key. You can then page through each record in the file by pressing ENTER.

Period of time (Accounting Periods)

You inquire on your financial data for a given period of time, which you select by using the period of time indicators. You can accept the default indicator or delete the ‘X’ from the default and enter an 'X’ next to the indicator you want to use. The period of time indicators are:

• CM (default) - Current Month (amounts through the current date)
• PM - Prior Month (amounts through the end of the previous month)
• CP - Current Period (amounts through the current date for the current fiscal quarter)
• PP - Prior Period (amounts through the end of the previous fiscal quarter)
• PY - Prior Year (amounts through the end of the prior fiscal year)

Most agencies use the default. You can change the accounting period and/or balance type indicators at any time and press the ENTER to re-run the inquiry.

Balance Type

In addition to the accounting period, you can also accept the default selection for the balance type to be displayed or select a different one. Again, most agencies use the default. The balance types are:

• CUM (default) - Cumulative balance information (typically July 1 to current date, or inception to current date for grant and project files)
• ACTV - Activity (activity for the requested period of time)

The following table describes the type of financial information that will be displayed for each combination of the period of time and balance type indicator.

Using Online File Inquiries

1. From the STARS-Main Menu, type I in the FUNCTION field and press ENTER.
2. ype the number of the File Inquiry in the FUNCTION field and press ENTER. (E.g., type 61 in the FUNCTION field for the Allocation File Record Inquiry.)

Stars File Inquiry Menu Example

3. Enter the record key (or as much of it as you know).

4. Use the default period of time and balance type indicators or select different ones. To select different indicators, delete the X from the default fields and type an X next to the indicators you want to use.

5. Press ENTER. The financial information for the specific record will be displayed.

6. If necessary, press ENTER to display the next record in sequence.

If you are in a STARS screen already, you can use the INTERRUPT function to go to the File Inquiry menu:

1. Press HOME and then press SHIFT+TAB to move the cursor to the INTERRUPT field.

2. Type MI and press ENTER. The File Inquiry Menu will open. (If you know the file number, type it in the INTERRUPT field and press ENTER. E.g., type 61 and press ENTER to open the Allocation File.)

3. When finished with your inquiry, press F4 to return to the screen you were on.

Record Inquires

61 Allocation File (Al)

After an agency’s annual appropriations have been approved, the allocations can be recorded. An allocation is a budgetary tool and represents a more detailed level of the approved budget than the approved appropriations designed to record, control, and monitor the flow of encumbrances and expenditures/disbursements. This provides an additional safeguard against over expenditure of funds.  The Allocation File provides the ability to account for and control allocations on a programmatic, organizational, fund and/or object basis. Where an appropriation is a legal budgetary amount, an allocation is a management tool used at the discretion of individual agency's management. STARS uses the Allocation File (AL) to provide reporting and control of each agency's allocations. 

You can establish allocations at lower levels of classification detail than the appropriations.  Allocation indicators in various system tables determine the levels of allocation detail posted to this file, such as the Index, PCA, and Budget Unit tables.

Below is an example of the (AL) file. The shaded information indicates the normal balances (‘+’ , ‘-‘ ) and the bucket number from the TC. The BALANCE is a summation of all of the categories except those noted as MEMO.

62 Appropriation File (AP)

Appropriations may be awarded to operating units at varying levels of organization structure, activity structure, object and fund. Your agency's legislative appropriation bills govern most of the levels used.

The Appropriation File provides the ability to record, monitor, and budget control expenditures against available appropriation balances at the level they are awarded. Expenditure related transactions post to the Appropriation File.

The Appropriation File provides a way of accumulating costs in various financial accumulator "buckets". This provides the ability to monitor and control items such as appropriation adjustments, transfers, and re-appropriations that are associated with each appropriation. Reporting from the AP file will enable the agency to relate current data to the original budget act. 

Below is an example of the (AP) file. The shaded information indicates the normal balances (‘+’ , ‘-‘ ) and the bucket number from the TC.

Appropriation File Record Inquiry Example

63 Cash Control File (CC)

In addition to the appropriation and allocation controls which are applied to all expenditures, disbursements must also be monitored to verify that there is an adequate cash balance on hand to fund the disbursement. The Cash Control File provides the ability to control and monitor disbursements at the required level. All cash activity posts to the Cash Control File.  You can maintain the cash control at various combinations of agency, fund, fund detail, and grant. As disbursement transactions are processed, verification is performed against the Cash Control File to ensure that an adequate available cash balance exists in the fund.

Below is an example of the (CC) file and financial buckets in relation to the TC Table (S028).  The shaded information indicates the normal balances (‘+’ , ‘-‘ ) and the bucket number from the TC.

Cash Control file example

64 Document File (DF)

The Document File (DF) provides operating and planning information for those general ledger accounts that require document level support. Document level tracking is provided for accounts such as encumbrances, pre-encumbrances, due from other funds and accounts receivable. You can track items such as purchase orders and accounts receivable based on their unique document number.

Payment activity against a particular encumbrance is also posted to each encumbrance record so that the current balance of each outstanding item can be reported at any time. Due Froms/Receivables are processed similarly to encumbrances. When receivables are recorded, individual records are established on a document-by-document basis. When collections are made, the receivables are reduced by the amount of the collection.

Using the information on the initial transaction, STARS tracks and updates items such as revenues and expenditures by classification elements such as Subobject, Program, and Organization.  These items are recorded in the Document File.

The DOCUMENT FILE RECORD INQUIRY Screen (S064) provides Document File detail by Document Number and BFY. Screen S064 will also show adjustments and payments to the document and shows the classification structure and the subsidiary, if applicable.

Below is an example of the Document File. The shaded information indicates the normal balances and the bucket number from the TC. The normal balance of each financial bucket may be + or - depending on which GL the transaction is supporting.

Document File Record Inquiry Example

65 General Ledger File (GL)

The General Ledger (GL) File provides general ledger control account information about each asset, liability, fund balance, budgetary, and nominal account. The GL File records and tracks financial data by fund and by general ledger account number. From this file, STARS can generate trial balance reports (and other summary level reports) that indicate the status of each account within each fund.  All transactions, except those posted with 900 series transaction codes, post to the GL file.

General Ledger File Record Inquiry Example

The S065 Record Inquiry screen shows the Start of Year Balance - amounts brought forward from the prior year. These will be transaction codes in the 600 range. The Current Balance shows current year information. Other elements include:

• TRANS YR – You can recall either the prior or current year information.
• Fund/Det – Shows the Fund or Fund Detail of posted transactions.
• GAAP Fund Type – Used for the ACFR reporting information. If changed mid-year, there may be two sets of records.
• Grant/Phase – Shows when a transaction posts to a Grant/Phase, if the Grant or Grant/Phase is setup to do so on the Grant Control Table.
• GL Acct – You can see the General Ledger to which the transaction code posted.
• TRANS CODE – shows which transactions codes were posted to under this GL account.
• FUND GROUP – No longer used for AC​FR reporting purposes.
• CREATE DATE – when you first made a posting to the transaction code. Helps to determine the date you can start looking for a transaction.
• DEBIT/CREDIT – Shows whether the GL Account should normally have a debit or credit balance.
• LAST PROCESS DATE – when you made your last posting to the transaction code. Create Date to Last Process Date would be the date range in which you might have processed a certain transaction code.

66 Grant File (GP)

The Grant (GP) is used to provide fund control and accountability over grant expenditures, encumbrances, and obligations and report the activities associated with grants. In addition, it provides the capability to uniquely identify expenditure and receipt transactions to specific grants. The Grant file is functionally similar to the Project file, but both files are required to provide the ability to simultaneously record and control expenditures against both grant and project budgets. Also, you can use Grant files for other types of information where you need a total or when you want detail of the Project file. Use the Grant file for sub-grantee reporting, with more detail available in the Project file. 

Data on the GP usually includes information based on the grant period rather than the state's fiscal year. Grants can cross fiscal periods and the GP can provide reporting of data across multiple state fiscal years. 

Below is an example of the (GP). The shaded information indicates the normal balances (‘+’ , ‘-‘ ) and the bucket number from the TC.

• Billable Balance* is equal to Billable Budget less Amount Billed.
• Expendable Balance** is equal to Expendable Budget, plus Units Budgeted, less Encumbrances, less Cash Expenditures, less Units Expended, less Program Income Expended.

Grant File Record Inquiry Example

67 Operating File (OF)

The Operating File is used to accumulate most of the detailed financial information to be reported from STARS. All budget, expenditure, encumbrance, pre-encumbrance, revenue, and planning transactions will post to the Operating File at the lowest level of detail provided on the transaction. In this file, expenditure transactions that contain the same classification elements are combined into a single amount.

The first time that a transaction occurs which impacts a specific combination of classification information, a new record is established and the amount is entered in the appropriate monthly/periodic and cumulative balance fields.

For each subsequent transaction that impacts the same classification data, the amount is added to the appropriate field in the existing record. If, for example, ten expenditure transactions are posted in a single month that all have the same classification information, the file will contain one record which reflects the sum of the ten transactions.

However, if an appropriation transaction and an expenditure transaction are processed that have the same classification data, two records are established on the file. Each record will reflect the cumulative activity that is entered against it.

Below is an example of the Operating File with descriptions of the month and period indicators in bold (the descriptions do not appear in the STARS screen).

Operating File example

68 Warrant Writing file (WW)

The Warrant Writing File (WW) contains information regarding the transaction code(s) used when writing a warrant.  This file is the basis for automatically generating warrants and remittance advices. For example, if you process a TC 230 for $50.00 for a vendor with a $100.00 credit balance, both the $100.00 credit and the $50.00 payment will stay in this file until a positive warrant amount is available to write a warrant.

The information elements contained in the Warrant Writing File describe the warrant and provide information required in the warrant payment transaction, including the vendor details, the date of the warrant and the fiscal month, the period and transaction year it was drawn, etc.

Below is an example of the Warrant Writing File. The Agency Code (AGCY) and the Document Number (DOCUMENT NO ) are the important fields for this inquiry. Transactions that create a warrant will update this file. 

Warrant Writing File Record Inquiry Example

69 Subsidiary File (SF)

The Subsidiary File (SF) provides additional detail for selected general ledger accounts.  Subsidiary records are listed by Agency, Fund, Grant/Ph, General Ledger account, and Subsidiary. The SF File identifies beginning balances, increases, decreases, and ending balances. The SF file does not provide any fund-related controls over financial data.  STARS uses the SF File to account for Due Tos, Due Froms, and other general ledger accounts when more detail is needed.

Below is an example of the Subsidiary File (SF). The shaded information indicates the normal balances and the bucket number from the TC. The normal balance of each financial bucket may be + or - depending on which GL the transaction is supporting.

Subsidiary File Example

The following describes the balances on the subsidiary file.

80 Project File (PJ)

STARS uses the Project File (PJ) in the same manner as the Grant File (GP).  The PJ File is for tracking and controlling projects such as capital projects or any other type of activity that spans a period of time other than a fiscal year.  Use the PJ File in combination with the Grant file to track detail of sub-grantee reporting.

Below is an example of the Project File (PJ). The shaded information indicates the normal balances (‘+’ , ‘-‘ ) and the bucket number from the TC.

• BILLABLE BALANCE* is equal to Billable Budget less Amount Billed
• EXPENDABLE BALANCE ** is equal to Expendable Budget , plus Units Budgeted, less Encumbrances, less Cash Expenditures, less Units Expended, less Program Income Expended.

Project File Record Inquiry Example

Financial Inquiries

71 Vendor Payment File (VP)

The Vendor Payment File (VP) maintains detailed transaction level information concerning encumbrance, expenditure, and disbursement payments by vendor. You can use this information to respond to queries from vendors and to provide an additional safeguard against duplicate payments.  In the Vendor Payment File, transactions are recorded at the transaction level. Each transaction affecting a vendor is separately tracked by agency.

The 1099 system uses this information to extract data for reporting to the IRS. See the Vendors chapter for a comprehensive understanding of the Vendor Payment File.

Vendor Payment File Record Inquiry Example

74 Document File (DF)

The DOCUMENT FILE FINANCIAL INQUIRY Screen (S074) provides similar but less information than the S064 screen and shows the document information in a different order. The S074 screen does not show the Classification Structure and Subsidiary.

S074 Document File Financial Inquiry (Due From) Example

75 Subsidiary File

Subsidiary File Record Inquiry Screen S075 lists all individual Subsidiary File records having the same Fund, Fund Detail, Grant, Grant Phase (if used) and GL account. This screen lists the subsidiary account numbers and summarizes information similar to your trial balance. The Subsidiary files are listed by your agency, by Fund, by General Ledger account, by Trans Yr, and by Grant/Phase.

The S075 subsidiary files are listed by your Agency, by Fund, by General Ledger account, and by Grant/Phase. It shows the BEGINNING BALANCE of all subsidiary records, their ACTIVITY (increases, adjustments, and decreases), and their ENDING BALANCE.

S075 Subsidiary File Financial Inquiry (Due From) Example

The ACTIVITY field combines ‘increases’, ‘adjustments’, and ‘decreases’ fields from the S069 Subsidiary File Record Inquiry screen. For each unique Subsidiary number, the BEGINNING BALANCE of S069 and S075 should be the same and the BALANCE of S069 and ENDING BALANCE of S075 should be the same.

76 General Ledger File

The S076 General Ledger File Financial Inquiry screen shows information by Fund and GL account. There are no transaction codes on the S076 screen. This screen totals the transaction codes by GL Account. Grant or Grant/Phase detail is shown, if set up on the Grant Control Table. It shows the BEGINNING BALANCE (brought over from the prior year), ACTIVITY (for the current year), and the ENDING BALANCE (BEGINNING BALANCE plus Activity).

This screen also shows whether the GL account should have a debit or credit (DEBIT/CREDIT) balance.  If this is a “D”, the ENDING BALANCE usually should not have a negative sign.

General Ledger “Financial” Inquiry – Screen S076