Small Agency Services Bulletin - May 2020
| Important Dates | Important Messages | Small Agency Financial Services News | Travel Tips | Contact Us |
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Please send your feedback about the Department of Enterprise Services' (DES) Small Agency Financial Services (SAFS). Your feedback helps us improve and better meet your needs. Finance welcomes your feedback at any time.
Important Dates
May 29
- Correctional Industries (CI) 30 day order cut-off date for delivery by June 30. See website for more order cut-off dates.
June 2
- Fiscal Year-End 20 and 21-23 Biennial Budget Build Workshop – Zoom Edition
June 5
- To reflect in your agency's May financial statements, all invoices and travel reimbursement requests are due to Accounts Payable.
June 24
- Donations for shared leave are due.
June 29 & 30
- For state fiscal year-end accounting and cash cut-off purposes, accounts payable documents will not be processed on Monday, June 29, or Tuesday, June 30. All FY20 payment processing will resume as normal on Wednesday, July 1.
June 30
- Replenish petty cash per SAAM.
- Obtain list of assets in the Capital Asset Management System (CAMS). If needed, complete a physical inventory.
- Use compensatory time. The remaining balance will be cashed out on the July 10 paycheck (represented employees only).
- All services must be rendered and tangible goods must be received.
July 2
- Deadline to send cost coding updates to payroll for FY21 (July 25 payroll).
July 10
- If DES prepares invoices for your agency for goods and services you provide others, submit invoicing information to DES.
July 14
- Contact vendors to obtain invoices for goods and services.
July 17
- If you prepare invoices internally for goods and services you provide others, mail invoices for goods and services to agencies and colleges. Please report your invoices to DES to be recorded properly in FY20.
July 22
- Notify your DES Budget Analyst of any unrecorded assets or disposed assets.
July 31
- Information on accrued expenses must be received by DES.
- All payment documents must be received by DES for payments of goods, services, and equipment received on or before June 30.
- Manual (paper) travel vouchers must be received by DES.
- Electronic travel vouchers must be approved in the Travel Expense Management System (TEMS).
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Important Messages
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resource
Keep informed via Washington State's coronavirus response website Coronavirus.wa.gov
Time to think about the end of the fiscal year
- All checks dated June 30 or before will be recorded in FY20. All checks dated July 1 and beyond will be recorded in FY21. If you know that your agency will be receiving FY20 related funds after July 1, a receivable (i.e., accrual) must be set up. Please send a request to the FinanceCashier@des.wa.gov to have the item recorded prior to July 17. Questions? Don't hesitate to call Kara Skinner 360-407-8205.
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Over the next several months, DES may have questions or need assistance from your budget and accounting staff. Please notify your DES Budget Analyst to provide vacation schedules for your budget and accounting staff from June through September so that we can coordinate to help meet these important deadlines.
Time to think about the 2021-2023 biennial budget
Here are some things to think about when planning your agency's 2021-2023 biennial budget:
- Decision packages are one set of budget building blocks used to prepare your budget. Agencies must describe and support each requested incremental change to the current budget with a decision package. They are the place for agencies to make a persuasive case for their requests.
- Consider additional costs (or savings) that will occur in the future because a budget item in the current biennium was not fully implemented.
- Evaluate your budget for any economic or demographic factors that will have a significant effect, such as inflation rates or state population changes in certain age groups.
- The carry-forward level is a reference point created by calculating the biennial cost of decisions already recognized in appropriations by the Legislature. OFM calculates the carry-forward level and provides agencies with a worksheet for review. Carry-forward levels should be finalized by June 30.
"MyPortal" (ESS Replacement Project) - Now available!
MyPortal is an employee self-service tool that allows employees to view their earnings statements and manage their own email address, mailing or permanent residence address, emergency contacts, and leave requests. MyPortal replaced the ESS Portal with a more modern user interface and improved accessibility using assistive technology.
Here is a link to all the user procedures. https://ofm.wa.gov/it-systems/myportal
Here are the links for logging on:
- MyPortal.wa.gov (most common) – Use this link for single sign on if your agency is part of the State Enterprise Active Directory (EAD) or Active Directory Federated Services (ADFS). You will automatically be signed into the application once you have selected Active Directory (most common) or your organization's ADFS account from the list of available accounts.
- MyPortalExt.wa.gov – Use this link if your agency is not single sign on since it is not part of the EAD or ADFS. You will be required to enter your personnel number and system issued password. Contact your agency's Human Resources office if you are unsure of your personnel number.
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Small Agency Financial Services News
DES SAFS will present our "Fiscal Year-End" and "2021-2023 Biennial Budget Build" workshop Tuesday, June 2 via Zoom.
Date: Tuesday, June 2
Time: 2 p.m. - 3 p.m.
Location: Zoom Conference
Our workshop will cover all you need to know about the fiscal year-end close such as:
- Important dates and deadlines
- How to identify expenses that need accrued
- What are overspends and how to avoid them
We'll also help you prepare for the 2021-2023 biennium by covering:
- The basic budget process
- What to expect from us
- What we need from you
- Timeline of budget due dates
- What makes a good decision package
A question and answer period will follow. If you have specific questions or topics you would like to see covered, please email Gwen McClanahan.
SAFS (Small Agency Financial Services) Team Updates
Did you know? Your DES financial support team consists of ALL of our SAFS team members. Even though you may work with specific SAFS members regularly, other SAFS members often step in to assist and provide continuity of services. We would like you to know about our whole SAFS team. Below is a list of each work group within SAFS, the members you may hear from, and recent news or a message from each team.
| Team | Members | News / Message |
|---|---|---|
| Accounts Payable |
Sarah Parker |
We are still teleworking. The easiest way to get a hold of us with questions during this time is to email our APquestions inbox. Please continue to scan invoice batches to our Payments inbox and we will process accordingly. Staff news: Brailyn promoted to another agency at the end of April. We will miss having her on the SAFS team, but wish her well in this new role. Congratulations Brailyn! |
| Budget |
Chad Johnson |
We are still teleworking. Please contact us as usual via email or telephone. |
| Payroll |
Carrie Knudson |
We are still teleworking. Please continue to send documents electronically. We can receive electronic signatures during this time and emailed from the employees. Those will be followed up with physical signatures for those documents that need them when operations resume to normal. Staff news: Stephanie promoted to DES HR. We will miss having her on the payroll team but are thrilled that she is still with DES. Congratulations Stephanie! Please contact Tasha or Phuong for shared leave questions. |
| Revenue Management |
Kara Skinner |
We are still teleworking. Cash/check payments received will be deposited on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Customers are able to call and make credit card payments during limited hours via phone Thursday mornings 8:30-11:30 a.m. at 360-725-5700. |
| Administrative Assistance |
Danelle Guerin |
Danelle is in the office a few days per week to process mail and payments for small agencies. |
DES Payroll statistics for April 2020 (40 agencies served)
| Total Employees Paid | 1,240 |
|---|---|
| New Hires / Rehires | 12 |
| Transfer In / Transfer Outs | 2 |
| Separations | 11 |
| Supplemental Payments / Walk Throughs | 3 |
| Overpayments | 3 |
DES Accounts Payable statistics for April 2020 (31 agencies served)
| Invoices Received from Agency | 1,021 | 67.84% | $6,809,537.41 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Invoices Paid on Delegated Authority | 459 | 30.50% | $710,960.55 |
| Travel Requests Paid through TEMS | 17 | 1.13% | $4,304.86 |
| Payments Reissued (SOL, Lost Warrant) | 8 | 0.53% | $1,190.79 |
| Total Payments Processed | 1,505 | 100% | $7,525,993.61 |
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Travel Tips
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Travel Advice
Experts advise canceling all non-critical travel plans. The World Health Organization has tips about traveling if you absolutely must during COVID-19.
Year-End Guidelines
Travel and travel reimbursements follow the same year-end guidelines as goods and services. Travel that occurs on or before June 30 will be accounted for in FY20. Travel that occurs on or after July 1 will be accounted for in FY21.
If you have questions, please contact us at travel.safs@des.wa.gov
Contact Us
If you would like to know what budget analyst, payroll analyst and HR business partner is assigned to your agency, see our Agency Assignments webpage.
If you would like to get contact information for DES SAFS and HR staff, see our Contacts webpage.
If you have suggestions or feedback about the Small Agency Services Bulletin, please send your comments to SmallAgencyBulletin@des.wa.gov.
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