Small Agency Services Bulletin - March 2019

March 2019

Important Dates Important Messages Small Agency Financial Services News Travel Tips Contact Us

Your feedback is important

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

Mar. 31

  • Special Open Enrollment for Long Term Disability paperwork must be signed and received by Mar. 31.

Apr. 1

  • Correctional Industries (CI) 60 day order cut-off date for delivery by June 30. See website for more order cut-off dates.

Apr. 5

  • To reflect in your agency’s monthly financial statements, all invoices and travel reimbursement requests are due to Accounts Payable.

Apr. 15

  • IRS Tax Deadline – If any vendors have questions about their 2018 1099-MISC forms, please call Accounts Payable at 360-407-8183 before the filing deadline.

Apr. 25

  • Monthly Department of Revenue (DOR) Use Tax Filing due.

Apr. 30

  • Performance measure actuals for quarter ending Mar. 31 are due.
  • Quarterly Department of Revenue (DOR) Use Tax Filing due.

Back to the top.​​​

Important Messages

Time to think about the end of the fiscal year

  • Be sure to get all fiscal year 2019 invoices so they can be paid promptly. Belated claims will apply against your fiscal year 2020 spending authority.
  • Does your agency bill for its services or send out interagency billings? Create a plan to ensure that June's billings are processed promptly and mailed by mid-July.
  • Reference the Office of Financial Management's (OFM's) year-end resources.

Time to think about the 2019-2021 biennial budget allotments

  • Supplemental budget allotment adjustments due in early-May. After the legislative session, your agency may need to amend your allotments to reflect legislative changes. Allotment amendments are due in early-May (dependent on when bills pass Legislature) for expenditure, revenue, cash receipts and cash disbursement revisions related to 2019 supplemental changes. Your DES small agency budget analyst will contact you soon after the legislative session to discuss adjustments.
  • If your board or commission needs to approve your allotments for the new 2019-21 biennial budget or 2019 supplemental budget, start talking with your budget analyst to draft versions of your budget to accommodate your commission schedule and create a plan.

Time to think about capital assets

DES encourages small agencies to evaluate internal policies and procedures around capital assets and be sure they include the following:

  • An internal written policy for managing small and attractive assets, timely removal of capital assets from inventory, and proper approval of disposal requests.
  • A revolving schedule to perform physical inventories every other year. Inventories can be performed anytime - there is no need to wait until June.
  • Procedures to follow if a capital asset is lost or stolen.

Visit these websites to find out more about capital assets:

Back to the top.​​​

Small Agency Financial Services News

DES SAFS will present our "Fiscal Year-End" and "2019-21 Biennial Allotments" workshop soon.

Watch for your invite!

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 2019-21 biennium allotments by covering:

  • The basic allotment process
  • Fixed costs
  • Discretionary costs
  • How SAFS will help you
  • What we need from you

A question and answer period will follow. If you have specific questions or topics you would like to see covered, please email Gwen McClanahan.

DES Payroll statistics for Feb. 2019

  • 18 New Hires/Rehires
  • 4 Transfer In/Transfer Outs
  • 16 Separations
  • 2 Walk Throughs
  • 4 Overpayments

DES Accounts Payable statistics for Feb. 2019

  • 1,981 payments ($6,752,308) were processed.
  • 1,805 non-travel invoices ($6,711,835) processed.
  • 176 travel and other reimbursements for employees and board members/commissioners ($40,473) processed.
  • 23 percent of the non-travel invoices ($556,433) were paid using delegated authority letters provided by agencies.
  • 83 percent of the travel and other reimbursements were submitted and processed through the Travel and Expense Management System (TEMS).

Back to the top.​​​

Travel Tips

SAAM travel rules can sometimes be confusing, and creating a travel policy may seem daunting. But SAFS AP is here to help! Following recent communications regarding options for board member and commissioner travel, SAFS AP has been able to assist agencies in creating policy templates and updating policy content. If this sounds like something your agency could benefit from, please contact SAFS AP at 360-407-8183 or travel.safs@des.wa.gov.

Back to the top.​​​

Contact Us

If you have suggestions or feedback about the Small Agency Services Bulletin, please send your comments to SmallAgencyBulletin@des.wa.gov.

Back to the top.​​​