Small Agency Services Bulletin - October 2025
| Important Dates | Important Messages | Small Agency Financial Services News | Travel Tips | Contact Us |
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Important Dates
Oct. 31
- Payroll Timesheets Due
- Performance Measure actuals for quarter ending September 30, to be entered into the Results through Performance Management (RPM) system.
Oct. 27 - Nov. 24
- Healthcare Benefits Open Enrollment
Nov. 6
- DES SAFS Annual Travel Workshop from 10-11 AM. ASL Interpretation will be provided.
Nov. 7
- To reflect in your agency's October monthly financial statements, all invoices and travel reimbursement requests are due to Accounts Payable.
Nov. 17
- Payroll Timesheets Due
Dec. 1
- Payroll Timesheets Due
Dec. 16
- Payroll Timesheets Due
Dec. 31
- Payroll Timesheets Due
Important Messages
Open Enrollment is happening soon
- Open Enrollment for PEBB Benefits is Oct. 27 – Nov. 24, 2025.
- Hyperlink to Benefits 24/7
- Important changes to benefits & plans | Washington State Health Care Authority
- Questions – email despayroll@des.wa.gov or submit a Payroll Request form
Payroll News & Reminders
- Payroll now has a Payroll Request form, for procedures on how to complete the form, email despayroll@des.wa.gov.
- We recommend that all correspondence and forms are sent using the Payroll Request form or to the despayroll@des.wa.gov inbox. Items sent via these methods are ticketed and monitored for completion.
- Reminder that payroll journals need to be signed prior to payday per SAAM 25.20.30 & RCW 41.06.270 and returned by the due date mentioned in the email that is sent with the journal.
- Once the payroll journals are signed, they should be sent back to DES Payroll for retention.
Leave donations to/from another agency affect your budget
Often employees have excess leave that they may never use or actually lose on their anniversary date. Donating excess leave to other state employees in need and who qualify for shared leave donations is common.
But did you know... leave donations can affect your budget?
- If an employee donates leave, the hours AND the monetary value of those hours transfer.
- If an employee is donating to an employee within the same agency, there is no impact on the agency's budget except possibly between the agency's program budgets.
- If an employee is donating to another agency's employee, the budget of the giving agency is decreased by the monetary value of the leave being donated -- and the gaining agency's budget is increased.
Before approving an employee's leave donation to an employee at another agency, check with your DES SAFS Budget Analyst to see that your agency's budget can afford the decrease/expenditure.
Supporting small agencies: Procurement updates from DES
A friendly reminder that all state agencies that have renewed or entered into a goods and services contract in the previous fiscal year must submit an annual report to DES by Oct. 31.
DES collects and posts these contracts to data.wa.gov as required by RCW 39.26.210. If an agency does not meet contract reporting requirements, it may affect its delegated authority.
To save agencies' work, the Office of Minority & Women's Business Enterprises (OMWBE) will use data from the agency contract report to fulfill a reporting requirement in RCW 39.19.060. This RCW requires OMWBE to collect and report data to the Legislature.
For instructions and more information, please see this webpage. Additionally, DES' Small Agency procurement team is more than happy to assist or answer any additional questions you may have!
Small Agency Financial Services News
DES SAFS AP Annual Travel Workshop – Thursday, Nov. 6 from 10-11 a.m.
Our SAFS AP team will be facilitating the Annual Travel Workshop which will be conducted virtually over Microsoft Teams. ASL Interpretation will be provided.
This workshop will cover topics such as:
- SAAM Travel Policy overview
- Meals with Meetings & Light Refreshments
- TEMS Live Tutorial
- Telework & Travel
- Other topics to include an interactive Q&A section
Please email travel.safs@des.wa.gov with any questions or if you have not received an invitation and would like one sent to you.
Payroll reminder
- Open Enrollment for PEBB Benefits is Oct. 27 – Nov. 24, 2025. More information will be available as the date approaches.
- For changes to PEBB Benefits for 2026, visit Health Care Authority Announcements: Changes to PEBB benefits for 2026 | Washington State Health Care Authority
Basics guidelines (if DES/SAFS handles your cash receipting) for transferring Combined Fund Drive fundraising proceeds
Please submit your agency Combined Fund Drive (CFD) deposit on a separate A45 from your normal deposits and indicate "Combined Fund Drive." Please include a 2025 Fundraiser Transfer form with your deposit. CFD deposits will be posted to your agency (fund 525) and transferred by DES/SAFS to the Secretary of State's Office (SOS) on or before the Dec. 5, 2025 deadline. Your Fundraiser Transfer Form MUST match the total amount transferred to SOS.
For more information about what to do after your event, please visit the CFD website at give.wa.gov/cfd/fundraising-resources.
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.
Accounts Payable
Team Members:
- Diana Huynh - Supervisor
- Riley Hyland - Sr. Lead (FA5)
- Kaler Pearson - Sr. Lead (FA4)
- Bryn Parker - Lead (FA3)
- Vacant - Lead (FA3)
- Diana Dikhamindzhiya - Accounting Analyst (FA2)
- Kyler Oblad - Accounting Analyst (FA2)
- Forest Pope - Accounting Analyst (FA1)
Team update: We are excited to share that Kaler was recently promoted into the Senior Lead Analyst (FA4) position within SAFS AP! Please help us congratulate her on her next step into leadership! We are currently recruiting for her old position, the Lead Analyst (FA3) on our team.
Accounts Receivable
Team Members:
- Betti Bartoldo - Supervisor
- Stacey Millsap - Sr. Lead
- Jenifer Mobley - Accounting Analyst
- Brandy Leitgeb - Accounting Analyst
- Sarah Palazzo - Cash Receipts Specialist
- Sean Garcia - Cash Receipts Specialist
Budget
Team Members:
- Diann Lewallen
- Seth Flory
- Ian Shelley
- Christina Shearer
- Annis Jones
Payroll
Team Members:
- Rachel Rodgers – Manager
- Molly Guinan – Supervisor
- Kayla Preble – Lead
- Nichole Dahlin – Processor
- Amber Roberts – Processor
- Vanno Non - Garnishments
- Adam Oskvig – Out of State Taxes
- Treyson Ramos – Retirement Specialist
- Brandy Butterfield – Benefits Specialist
- Malachi Riedl - Time and Attendance Processor
Team message: "Work Hard, Be Yourself, and Have Fun!" - Michelle Kwan
Administrative Assistance
Team Members:
- Danelle Guerin
- Makaila Barbella
Team update: Danelle Guerin will be leaving DES Nov. 1 for an exciting new adventure. Please join us in saying goodbye to Danelle. We will miss her.
DES Accounts Payable statistics for September 2025 (34 agencies served)
| Invoices received from agency | 1,900 | 74.75% | $9,950,673 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Invoices paid on delegated authority | 492 | 19.35% | $1,381,188 |
| Travel requests paid through TEMS | 146 | 5.74% | $55,229 |
| Payments reissued (SOL, Lost Warrant) | 4 | 0.16% | $12,433 |
| Total payments processed | 2,542 | 100% | $11,399,523 |
DES Payroll statistics for August 2025 (42 agencies served)
| Total employees paid | 1,186 |
|---|---|
| Appointment changes | 3 |
| New hires/rehires | 16 |
| Separations | 40 |
| Supplemental payments/walk throughs | 0 |
| Overpayments | 9 |
Quarterly DES Accounts Receivable statistics for July, Aug., Sept. (28 agencies served)
| Invoices produced | 1,013 | $3,737,187 |
|---|---|---|
| Revenues recorded | 652 | $7,998,440 |
| Expenditure reductions recorded | 131 | $1,194,232 |
| Accounts receivable FTEs completing the work | 3.25 |
Travel Tips
SAAM travel rules
New travel reimbursement rates for per diem and lodging went into effect Oct. 1, 2025.
Check out these resources:
- OFM SAAM resource - Chapter 10 - Travel
- OFM Self-paced training course - OFM_Travel_Policies
- OFM Travel resources webpage - Travel Per Diem/Resources
As always, if you have any questions regarding travel: call SAFS AP at 360-407-8183 or email 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.