Small Agency Services Bulletin - April 2020
| Important Dates | Important Messages | Small Agency Financial Services News | Travel Tips | Contact Us |
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Important Dates
Apr. 25
- Monthly Department of Revenue (DOR) Use Tax Filing due.
Apr. 30
- Performance measure actuals due for quarter ending March 31.
- Correctional Industries (CI) 60 day order cut-off date for delivery by June 30. See website for more order cut-off dates.
- Quarterly Department of Revenue (DOR) Use Tax Filing due.
May 3-9
- Public Service Recognition Week information.
May 7
- Compensation Data for 2021-23 Collective Bargaining/Budgeting Data Calculations due.
May 8
- To reflect in your agency's April financial statements, all invoices and travel reimbursement requests are due to Accounts Payable.
May 16
- MyPortal replaces ESS.
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 24
- Donations for shared leave are due.
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).
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Important Messages
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resource
Keep informed via Washington State's coronavirus response website Coronavirus.wa.gov
Teleworking Tips / Opportunities / Classes
- OFM's COVID-19 Teleworking Policy Memorandum with information on homeschooling, meetings, data security, staying connected and more.
- LMS (Learning Center) training - WA-State Mobile Work for Supervisors
- OFM's tips on managing mobile employees.
Time to think about the end of the fiscal year
- All fiscal year 2020 travel reimbursement requests should be submitted within one month after travel.
- All purchases of goods and services must be received (in possession) by June 30, 2020 to be posted to fiscal year 2020.
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:
- Will your agency have any employees retiring and thus resulting in large annual leave and sick leave buyout expenditures?
- Does your building's lease expire soon, and will your lease expenses increase? Or, will you need to move?
"MyPortal" (ESS Replacement Project) - "How to" resources now available
The Office of Financial Management is working on a replacement for ESS called MyPortal - modern user interface with improved accessibility using assistive technology.
Check out these useful resources:
- Log on / sign out / password help
- Accessing your earnings statements
- Submitting and managing leave requests
- Updating your permanent and mailing addresses
- Updating how to communicate with you (your email)
- Updating emergency contacts
- Step-by-step video on all topics
- And more.
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Small Agency Financial Services News
CIM (Compensation Impact Model) Compensation Data for 2021-23 is due May 7.
With the passage of the 2020 supplemental budget, the Office of Financial Management (OFM) requests agencies update the compensation data they submitted in January 2020. OFM will use this data for developing compensation costs to inform the 2021-23 collective bargaining process as well as budget development.
It is likely that some agencies will find they need to adjust their data for changes made to staffing levels in the 2020 supplemental budget. It is not necessary to reconstruct the data submittal entirely; rather you should be able to add, subtract, or modify records in order to approximate the changes made in the recently enacted budgets or incorrect data submitted in January 2020.
Please work with your DES Budget Analyst to make updates to your compensation data.
DES SAFS will present our "Fiscal Year-End" and "2021-2023 Biennial Budget Build" workshop soon.
Watch for your invite!
New features! Interactive workshop! OFM Budget staff!
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 |
While teleworking, our team is prepared to keep AP services as close to normal as possible. We are checking voicemail messages on our shared phone line daily, but 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. |
| Budget |
Chad Johnson |
While teleworking, budget staff continues to offer normal services. Please contact us as usual via email or telephone. Most office telephones are forwarded to the teleworking location. |
| Payroll |
Carrie Knudson |
While teleworking, our team is providing payroll services as close to normal as possible with some exceptions: Payroll receives voicemail messages from our shared phone line via email. We receive an email with the audio from the voicemails. Payroll staff checks their personal voicemail multiple times per day, the fastest way to get ahold of us for questions during this time is to email our shared email at despayroll@des.wa.gov. 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. Payroll will send PDF letters to SAFS liaisons for distribution to employees for bank account change confirmations. |
| Revenue Management |
Kara Skinner |
While teleworking, all services are operating as normal except: Printing and mailing invoices for DES and SAFS weekly. 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 going into the office a few days per week to process mail and payments for Small agencies. Vivian is working remotely to support the teams with various projects. |
DES Payroll statistics for March 2020 (40 agencies served)
| Total Employees Paid | 1,243 |
| New Hires / Rehires | 7 |
| Transfer In / Transfer Outs | 5 |
| Separations | 10 |
| Supplemental Payments / Walk Throughs | 1 |
| Overpayments | 2 |
DES Accounts Payable statistics for March 2020 (31 agencies served)
| Invoices Received from Agency | 1,354 | 77.33% | $4,930,448.84 |
| Invoices Paid on Delegated Authority | 321 | 18.33% | $604,987.00 |
| Travel Requests Paid through TEMS | 75 | 4.28% | $26,595.73 |
| Payments Reissued (SOL, Lost Warrant) | 1 | 0.06% | $150.81 |
| Total Payments Processed | 1,751 | 100% |
$5,562,182.38 |
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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.
Fees or Credits
If you have questions regarding fees or credits from COVID related travel cancellations, 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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