Sec. 663.8. Work order system required

(a) Each company shall record all changes in telecommunications plant by means of a work order system which shall include a work order estimate and a work in progress record, and all installations, additions, retirements and replacements of retirement units (note the Retirement Units List at the end of this system of accounts) shall be covered thereby. Standing work orders (sometimes known as routine estimates) may be used (1) by Class A companies, for plant changes of like character whose estimated gross additions or retirements for an individual project are less than $100,000, and (2) by Class B companies, for plant changes of like character whose estimated gross additions or retirements for an individual project are less than $10,000. These limits may be modified by order of this commission, upon application, when warranted by particular circumstances.

Note:

When work is to be done for which a work order estimate is not used and when part or all of the cost will be ultimately billed to others, the records shall be kept so that details of the costs, including an allowance for funds used during construction, can be readily ascertained. (This type of order is commonly known as custom work order or keep cost order and should be identified by a series of distinctive designations.)

(b) The work order estimate shall include the following:

(1) A designation number or letter and the signature of the officer or employee who authorized the work, purchase or sale, and the date of such authorization. If the authorization is by the board of directors or another body or committee, the proper officer shall so state over his signature. In case a new set of numbers is started at the beginning of each calendar or fiscal year, the designation shall identify each estimate so that it will not be confused with other estimates bearing the same number.

(2) A description and the location of the work to be done (or the purchase, or retirement to be made) and the dates between which it is proposed to progress the project, the date when work was begun and the date when completed. The date when any major portion or complete assembly is placed in or discontinued from service shall be shown consistently either in the work order estimate or in the work in progress record.

(3) Detailed estimates of the cost of the project to be supported by maps, plans, diagrams, specifications, etc., applicable.

(4) The account or accounts to which the cost of the project is to be distributed and retirements credited, and the amount estimated for each such account.

(5) Any variations between estimates and the actual cost of the project.

(6) When a project involves changes in existing telecommunications plant, the work order estimate or the work in progress record shall show the year or period of installation of the property retired or otherwise affected, and shall show or refer to other records which cover the book cost (estimated if not known, with the basis of the estimate stated) and the name and page of the accounting and engineering books and records covering such installation and the cost thereof.

(c) The work in progress record shall contain the following:

(1) A designation number or letter which shall correspond to the number or letter on the work order estimate covering the same project. When more than one work in progress record covers the expenditures on a work order estimate, each shall be numbered or lettered so as to be readily identifiable with the work order estimate for that project.

(2) The accumulated charges and credits applicable to each project, the total cost of the complete project, the cost of removal and value of salvage recovered shall be shown together with the quantity of material installed or retired and, so far as practicable, the number of retirement units installed or retired. When any project involves amounts distributable to more than one telecommunications plant or other account, the work in progress record shall be kept so as to show the amount applicable to each account. Every charge or credit on a work in progress record shall be readily verifiable from detailed underlying sources. Indirect construction costs (see section 663.3[b][13] of this Part) shall be separately stated for each account by classes. Credits representing contributions toward construction shall be recorded so as to show name of contributor and a distribution by plant accounts of the amount received. (Note section 663.1[b] of this Part.)

(d) Amounts on open work orders shall support accounts 2003 and 2004, Telecommunications Plant Under Construction—Short Term and Long Term respectively, and account 3100.01, Retirement Work In Progress, (note also account 3100, subdivision C), except that standing work orders (routine estimates) may reflect expenditures on short term construction or retirement projects which are not carried through those accounts. Upon coming into service, completed portions involving additions to plant accounts shall be transferred to appropriate accounts although other portions of the work covered by the same order are not yet completed and the work order has not been closed. Maintenance costs initially charged to a work order shall be cleared monthly. When use of a retirement unit ceases, the book cost thereof, estimated if not known, shall be credited to the proper account even though the plant has not been actually dismantled. (Note also section 663.5 of this Part.)

Note A:

Requirement of the use of the work order system here outlined may be suspended by order of this commission when a company satisfies this commission that the procedure which it follows gives equivalent detail of changes in telecommunications plant accounts in substantially the same form and with the promptness which the accounting system contemplates. The identification of expenditures with property must be completed and clear and the detail of each project must be readily available.

Note B:

The work order system is required to record changes, both additions and retirements, in plant used wholly or partly, in telecommunications operations. Its use is recommended, however, in recording other expenditures such as repairs and research projects, plant changes in other departments, and custom, construction or maintenance work for others.