Checking your RE Ledger Balances frequently will help you stay on top of your organization’s deposits and help minimize any penalty interest incurred resulting from shortages in your ledgers. You should check your ledger balances at least once per month. TRS recommends that you do so once your Regular Payroll (RP) and Employment After Retirement (ER) reports have been completed for the current month.
To access your RE Ledger, click on the “Wage & Contribution Reporting” tab in the RE Portal and select “View RE Ledger” from the drop-down menu.
Determine what time period you would like to review. Remember that the starting date will default to 09/01 of the current fiscal year. If you need to look further back, you may change the starting date. If it has been a while, you may want to set the Posted Date Range back to the start of a prior fiscal year, such as 09/01/2018 or 09/01/2017 so you can get a full picture of your balances.
You can also view your RE Ledgers by the Reporting Period Range. You will be shown debits and credits by report month, rather than by date.
Next, select the “Contribution Type” that you want to review. Your TEXNET deposits go into each of these fund types, which your reports debit each time they clear.
It is important to isolate the fund type that you wish to look at, because if you select contribution type “All,” then you will get a listing of all the contribution types in a single list.
The "All" view provides a summary of the current balance in each contribution type. Using the contribution type list allows the RE to review the transactions in that contribution account that led to the Total RE Ledger Balance.
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Non-Higher Education REs All View
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Higher Education REs All View
Once you select a contribution type and period you wish to view, click “Search” and it will display all transactions for this fund type.
When looking at this ledger, it is important to notice how it is displayed. Please note that the RE Ledger balances are using a cash-basis display, rather than a double entry bookkeeping display. Your TEXNET deposits are shown as CREDITS and your report clearing shows as DEBITS, which works like a checkbook. When your TEXNET deposit comes into TRS, there will be a credit shown in your ledger in black. When your report clears, there will be a debit shown in red.
Ideally, your ledger balance in the far-right column should be zero each month. It is important to reconcile your RE Ledger balances periodically, ensuring that you do not have a large balance or shortage with TRS.
FAQs
You can use the Transfer Funds screen to move funds between allowable buckets, if the destination bucket has a shortage (negative balance). Visit the Limits on Transfers and Refunds webpage to view allowable transfers.
To reach the transfer menu, please select the “Administration” menu from the options at the menu bar in the RE portal. Then select “Transfer Funds.”
If you have a shortage and no allowable transfers, please submit the shortage as soon as possible via TEXNET. If there is a large balance that may cause a hardship for your RE to transfer, please reach out to your RE Coach for assistance.
You should be viewing your RE Ledgers each month after your report clears. Check with your RE’s accounting department for guidance on how often you should reconcile your ledgers.
TRS recommends bringing each account to a zero balance each month. However, there is currently no limit to the amount of time you can carry a credit balance forward. Check with your RE’s accounting department for further guidance.