Section 32.6720 - General and administrativeThis account shall include costs incurred in the provision of general and administrative services as follows:
(a) Formulating corporate policy and in providing overall administration and management. Included are the pay, fees and expenses of boards of directors or similar policy boards and all board-designated officers of the company and their office staffs, e.g., secretaries and staff assistants.(b) Developing and evaluating long-term courses of action for the future operations of the company. This includes performing corporate organization and integrated long-range planning, including management studies, options and contingency plans, and economic strategic analysis.(c) Providing accounting and financial services. Accounting services include payroll and disbursements, property accounting, capital recovery, regulatory accounting (revenue requirements, separations, settlements and corollary cost accounting), non-customer billing, tax accounting, internal and external auditing, capital and operating budget analysis and control, and general accounting (accounting principles and procedures and journals, ledgers, and financial reports). Financial services include banking operations, cash management, benefit investment fund management (including actuarial services), securities management, debt trust administration, corporate financial planning and analysis, and internal cashier services.(d) Maintaining relations with government, regulators, other companies and the general public. This includes: (1) Reviewing existing or pending legislation (see also Account 7300, Nonoperating income and expense, for lobbying expenses);(2) Preparing and presenting information for regulatory purposes, including tariff and service cost filings, and obtaining radio licenses and construction permits;(3) Performing public relations and non-product-related corporate image advertising activities;(4) Administering relations, including negotiating contracts, with telecommunications companies and other utilities, businesses, and industries. This excludes sales contracts (see also Account 6611, Product management and sales); and(5) Administering investor relations.(e) Performing personnel administration activities. This includes: (1) Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Programs;(2) Employee data for forecasting, planning and reporting;(3) General employment services;(4) Occupational medical services;(5) Job analysis and salary programs;(6) Labor relations activities;(7) Personnel development and staffing services, including counseling, career planning, promotion and transfer programs;(8) Personnel policy development;(9) Employee communications;(10) Benefit administration;(11) Employee activity programs;(12) Employee safety programs; and(13) Nontechnical training course development and presentation.(f) Planning and maintaining application systems and databases for general purpose computers.(g) Providing legal services: This includes conducting and coordinating litigation, providing guidance on regulatory and labor matters, preparing, reviewing and filing patents and contracts and interpreting legislation. Also included are court costs, filing fees, and the costs of outside counsel, depositions, transcripts and witnesses.(h) Procuring material and supplies, including office supplies. This includes analyzing and evaluating suppliers' products, selecting appropriate suppliers, negotiating supply contracts, placing purchase orders, expediting and controlling orders placed for material, developing standards for material purchased and administering vendor or user claims.(i) Making planned search or critical investigation aimed at discovery of new knowledge. It also includes translating research findings into a plan or design for a new product or process or for a significant improvement to an existing product or process, whether intended for sale or use. This excludes making routine alterations to existing products, processes, and other ongoing operations even though those alterations may represent improvements.(j) Performing general administrative activities not directly charged to the user, and not provided in paragraphs (a) through (i) of this section. This includes providing general reference libraries, food services (e.g., cafeterias, lunch rooms and vending facilities), archives, general security investigation services, operating official private branch exchanges in the conduct of the business, and telecommunications and mail services. Also included are payments in settlement of accident and damage claims, insurance premiums for protection against losses and damages, direct benefit payments to or on behalf of retired and separated employees, accident and sickness disability payments, supplemental payments to employees while in governmental service, death payments, and other miscellaneous costs of a corporate nature. This account excludes the cost of office services, which are to be included in the accounts appropriate for the activities supported. 67 FR 5696 , Feb. 6, 2002