COA CIRCULAR NO.

2023-008 dated August 17, 2023

Subject: Guidelines on the Proper Disposition of Dormant Accounts of National Government
Agencies (NGAs) and Instrumentalities, Local Government Units (LGUs) and Government
Corporations (GCs)
Circular Amended: COA Circular No. 2016-005 dated December 19, 2016 re: Guidelines and
Procedures on the Write-off of Dormant Receivable Accounts, Unliquidated Cash Advances, and
Fund Transfers of NGAs, LGUs and GCs.
Coverage: (Item 4.2a-bb)
a. Accounts Receivable
b. Due from Officers and Employees
c. Other Receivables
d. Advances for Operating Expenses
e. Advances for Payroll
f. Advances to Special Disbursing Officer
g. Advances to Officers and Employees
h. Due from National Government Agencies
i. Due from Government-Owned or Controlled Corporations/Other Government
Corporations
j. Due from Local Government Units
k. Due from Non-Government Organizations/Civil Society Organizations/People's
Organizations
l. Due from Central Office/Home/Head Office
m. Due from Bureaus
n. Due from Regional Offices/Branch Offices
o. Due fromOperating/Field Units
p. Due from Other Funds
q. Due from Special Accounts
r. Due from Local Economic Enterprise
s. Due to NGAs
t. Due to GOCCs/Other Government Corporations
u. Due to LGUs
v. Due to Central Office/Home/Head Office
w. Due to Bureaus
x. Due to Regional Offices/Branch Offices
y. Due to Operating Units/Field Units
z. Due to Other Funds
aa. Due to Special Accounts
bb. Due to Local Economic Enterprise
Coverage: (Item 4.3a-f) pertains to dormant accounts of NGAs, LGUs and GCs
a. Investments;
b. Inventories;
c. Investment Property;
d. Intangible Assets;
e. Deferred Credits; and
f. Other accounts which are not covered by specific laws, rules and regulations for their
proper disposition.

Exclusions:
1. Write-off of loans and advances of Government Financial Institutions which are
governed by the General Banking Act. (Item 4.4)
2. Item 4.5
a. Receivables arising from disallowances and charges;
b. Receivables arising from cash shortages;
c. Claims from entities' officers and employees and other parties for transactions
which are the subject of a pending case in court or before investigative authorities;
d. All dormant accounts covered by specific laws, rules and regulations for their
proper disposition, such as, but not limited to, the following:

Dormant Accounts Applicable laws, rules and regulations

i. Cash, unauthorized COA Circular No. 2015-001 dated January 29,
accounts, unnecessary 2015
special and trust funds
and related accounts
ii. Accounts Payable Section 98 of PD 1445
Unliquidated Obligations COA Circular No 99-004 dated August 17, 1999
EO No. 87 dated August 13, 2019
COA-DBM Joint Circular No. 1, s. 2021 dated
march 8, 2021
iii. PPE Section 73 of PD 1445
COA Resolution No. 2018-020 dated February 1,
2018
COA Circular No. 2020-006 dated January 31,
2020
iv. Deferred Tax Assets/ Section 10 of RA No. 9337 amending Section
Liabilities 112(A) of the 1997 Tax Code
When are accounts considered dormant?
 Item 5.6 – it is considered dormant when the balance of the account remained NON-
MOVING/NO ACTIVITY FOR TEN (10) YEARS OR MORE from the last transaction
recorded in the books.
 Accounts Receivable (Item 5.7), Unliquidated Cash Advances (Item 5.8) and
Unliquidated Fund Transfers (Item 5.9) are considered dormant, when:
1. The balances remained inactive or non-moving in the books of accounts for ten (10)
years or more; AND
2. Where settlement/collectability could no longer be ascertained.

How are dormant accounts disposed? (Item 5.10)

 Write-off or derecognition of accounts
 Preparation of adjusting entries to bring the balance to zero;
 Etc.

Does write-off of account tantamount to condonation/extinguishment of the obligation of the

accountable officer?
 No, write-off is just a process of cleansing the balance an account. It is not one of the modes
of extinguishing obligation under the Philippine laws. Thus, previously written off
accounts may be recovered thru subsequent payment/settlement.

General guidelines:
 One-time cleansing (Item 6.1)
 The responsibility of determining dormant accounts lies on the government entities (Item
6.2); and to further determine whether the dormant accounts are covered by specific laws,
rules and regulations (Item 6.4). If the entity cannot be addressed through Item 6.4, then
the entity shall apply this Circular (Item 6.5).
 If accounts are non-moving for 10 years or more, the Head of Accounting Unit shall
prepare and submit Annexes 1-4 to their respective ATL, RSA, SA.
 Start
Procedures on Proper Disposition of
Dormant Accounts

Account cannot be
analyzed due to absence
of records/documents
(lost, destroyed or
cannot be produced)
Yes No

Head of Accounting Unit

1. Prepare letters, signed by the Head of
Agency (HoA), addressed to AO
demanding to execute a certificate of
justification (Annex 5) as to why the
supporting documents are not available
in his/her office or in any other office.
He/she shall also include
narration/documentation of all the
efforts exerted by Management to locate
such documents. In case of retirement,
death or separation from service of AO,
the current AO shall execute the
required certificate of justification.
2. Prepare a list of available records
relative to the dormant account and
indicate the extent of validation made
thereof All documents must be
attached to the list. Include a detailed list
of the lost documents or
records; and
3. Prepare and submit a detailed report to
the HoA together with all the
documents recommending the conduct
of an investigation to determine the
cause/s of the loss of documents and
pinpoint the official/s and employee/s
liable for such loss.
Head of Accounting Unit
1. Conduct regular and periodic
verification, analysis, and validation of
the existence of all dormant accounts;
2. Secure/collate all available documents
relative to the said accounts;
a 3. Review, analyze and determine the
existence and validity of the accounts;
4. Reconcile the account with other
related accounts in the trial balance;
5. Ensure fairness in the presentation of
accounts in the financial statements, and
prepare the necessary adjusting entry/ies
for the following:
a. Correction of inadvertent errors,
or inaccurate measurement, calculation
or computation; and
b. Recovery/settlement of previously
written off accounts.
The above adjustments need not be
submitted to COA for approval but are
subject to the usual audit.
C
 C

Head of Agency
1. Cause the conduct of investigation;
2. Create an Investigation Committee;

Investigation Committee
1. Within 5 days from the receipt of
the order of the HoA, shall
conduct and complete the
investigation within 30 working
days thereafter;
2. Within 5 working days from the
completion of the investigation,
submit Investigation Report (IR –
Annex 7)

Head of Agency
1. Within 5 working days from the
receipt of the IR, shall decide the
approval of the IR.
2. Furnish the accountant of the copy
of the IR-approved.
Procedures on Proper Derecognition of Dormant Accounts
 Who shall grant the Derecognition? - COA
 When to file the request for derecognition? – Within 1 year from the effectivity of COA
Circular No. 2023-008 dated August 17, 2023
 Where to file? – ATL and/or RSA/SA, if the amount does not exceed P100,000 PER
ACCOUNT, PER SUBSIDIARY LEDGER, PER ITEM, PER FUND, PER
GOVERNMENT ENTITY, if more than P100,000.00 but not more than P1,000,000.00 –
file to Cluster/Regional Director, if more than P1,000,000.00 – file to Assistant
Commissioner of the Sector.
 Upon receipt of the request, the ATL:
o Assign a reference number using the prescribed format:
RDDA-[Name of Agency]-2023[year of receipt of request]-001[number/series for
the year]
o Shall decide within 15 working days from the receipt thereof;
 Grounds for denial:
 Request is not supported with the documents listed in Annex 8;
 Dormant Account is not covered by COA Circular 2023-008;
 Beyond the jurisdictional amount of ATL;
 In case of denial, the requesting party may file within 15 working days
from the receipt of the denial an Appeal Memorandum before the Cluster
Director or the Regional Director, the latter shall furnish a copy and order
the ATL/RSA/SA concerned to file an ANSWER within 15 working days
from the receipt of the Order to Answer.
Monitoring and Reporting:

Head of Accounting Unit ATL/RSA/SA

1. Prepare the Schedules of Donnant Accounts (SDA) 1. Verify the SDA;
quarterly to be submitted to the ATL/RSA/SA on or before 2. Submit to the RD/CD a Report on
the 15day of the ensuing month. the Request for Disposition of
2. Ensure that current transactions and those below ten years Dormant Accounts on the 20th day
are properly documented and appropriately acted upon after the end of every quarter
immediately to avoid being dormant. If the AO fail to (Annex 12);
settle his/her accountabilities despite the demand, the 3. Issue an AOM, if warranted.
action could either be salary deduction or filing of
appropriate cases.
3. Disclose comparative information in the Notes to
Financial Statements relative to the above dormant
accounts.
4. In the event of recovery or settlement of accounts
previously written-off, refer to COA Circular No. 2022-
001 dated January 24, 2022 re: Supplemental Accounting
Guidelines on the Recovery of Accounts Previously
Written-Off as prescribed under COA Circular No. 2016-
005 dated December 19, 2016, and Amendments to Item
10. 0- Illustrative Accounting Entries of the same
Circular. Illustrative accounting entries on the recovery
of accounts written-off are shown in Annex 9.