Bienvenida y reglas de oro

undeposited check amounts are considered to be cash equivalents. Cash is also held outside the Treasury to be used as imprest funds. Additional details are provided in Note 4.

Property, Plant, and Equipment, Net

The USPTO’s capitalization policies are summarized below: Classes of Property, Plant, and Equipment Capitalization Threshold for Individual Purchases Capitalization Threshold for Bulk Purchases IT Equipment $50 thousand or

greater $250 thousand or greater

Software $50 thousand or

greater $250 thousand or greater Software in Progress $50 thousand or

greater $250 thousand or greater

Furniture $50 thousand or

greater $50 thousand or greater

Equipment $50 thousand or

greater $250 thousand or greater Leasehold Improvements $50 thousand or

greater Not applicable

Costs capitalized are recorded at actual historical cost. Depreciation is expensed on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful life of the asset with the exception of leasehold improvements, which are depreciated over the remaining life of the lease or over the useful life of the improvement, whichever is shorter. Additional details are provided in Note 5.

Contractor costs for developing custom internal use software are capitalized when incurred for the design, coding, and testing of the software. Software in progress is not amortized until placed in service.

Property, plant, and equipment acquisitions that do not meet the capitalization criteria are expensed upon receipt.

Workers’ Compensation

The Federal Employees’ Compensation Act (FECA) provides compensation and medical cost protection to covered federal civilian employees injured on the job and for those who have contracted a work-related

occupational disease, and beneficiaries of employees whose death is attributable to a job-related injury or occupational disease. Claims incurred for benefits under the FECA for the USPTO’s employees are administered by the DOL and are paid ultimately by the USPTO. Accrued Liability: The DOL bills the USPTO annually as its claims are paid, but payment on these bills is deferred approximately two years to allow for funding through the budget process.

Actuarial Liability: The DOL estimates the future workers compensation liability by applying actuarial procedures developed to estimate the liability for FECA benefits. The actuarial liability estimates for FECA benefits include the expected liability for death, disability, medical, and miscellaneous costs for approved compensation cases, plus a component for incurred but not reported claims. The actuarial liability is updated annually.

NOTE 1. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (continued)

Unemployment Compensation

USPTO employees who lose their jobs through no fault of their own may receive unemployment compensation benefits under the unemployment insurance program administered by the DOL. The DOL bills each agency quarterly as its claims are paid.

Annual, Sick, and Other Leave

Annual leave and compensatory time are accrued as earned, with the accrual being reduced when leave is taken. An adjustment is made each fiscal quarter to ensure that the balances in the accrued leave accounts reflect current pay rates. No portion of this liability has been obligated. To the extent current year funding is not

available to pay for leave earned but not taken, funding will be obtained from future financing sources. Sick leave and other types of non-vested leave are expensed as used.

Employee Retirement Systems and Post-Employment Benefits

USPTO employees participate in either the CSRS or the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). The FERS was established by the enactment of Pub. L. No. 99-335. Pursuant to this law, the FERS and Social Security automatically cover most employees hired after December 31, 1983. Employees who had five years of federal civilian service prior to 1984 and who are rehired after a break in service of more than one year may elect to join the FERS and Social Security system or be placed in the CSRS offset retirement system.

The USPTO’s financial statements do not report CSRS or FERS assets, accumulated plan benefits, or liabilities applicable to its employees. The reporting of such amounts is the responsibility of the OPM, who administers the plans. While the USPTO reported no liability for future payments to employees under these programs, the federal government is liable for future

payments to employees through the OPM who administers these programs. The USPTO financial statements recognize a funded expense for the USPTO’s share of the costs to the federal government of providing pension, post-retirement health, and post-retirement life insurance benefits to all eligible USPTO employees. In addition to the funded expense, the USPTO financial statements also recognize an imputed cost for the OPM’s share of the costs to the federal government of providing pension, post-retirement health, and post-retirement life insurance benefits to all eligible USPTO employees. The USPTO’s appropriation requires full funding of the present costs, as determined by the OPM, of post- retirement benefits for the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program (FEHB), the Federal Employees Group Life Insurance Program (FEGLI), and pensions under the CSRS. While ultimate administration of any post- retirement benefits or retirement system payments will continue to be administered by the OPM, the USPTO is responsible for the payment of the present value associated with these costs calculated using the OPM factors. Any difference between the OPM factors for funding purposes and the OPM factors for reporting purposes is recognized as an imputed cost. Additional details are provided in Note 13.

For the years ended September 30, 2014 and 2013, the USPTO made current year contributions through agency payroll contributions and quarterly supplemental payments to OPM equivalent to approximately 19.0 percent of the employee’s basic pay for those employees covered by CSRS, based on OPM cost factors. For the years ended September 30, 2014 and 2013, the USPTO made current year contributions through agency payroll contributions equivalent to approximately 11.9 percent of the employee’s basic pay for those employees covered by FERS, based on OPM cost factors. As contribution funding increases, imputed costs will correspondingly decrease.

NOTE 1. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (continued)