Small Agency Services Bulletin – July 2024
| Important Dates | Important Messages | Small Agency Financial Services News | Travel Tips | Contact Us |
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Important Dates
July 1
- Submit all FY24 commissioners and board members stipend requests
- General Wage Increase - Will be reflected on the July 25 paycheck.
- Pension Contribution rates increase.
July 10
- WFSE & Coalition Compensatory time will be cashed out. It will be on the July 10th check.
July 22
- If SAFS Accounts Receivable prepares invoices for your agency for goods and services you provide others, invoicing information is due by this date.
July 24
- Notify your SAFS Budget Consultant of any newly purchased assets or recently disposed assets.
- If you prepare invoices internally for goods and services you provide others, mail invoices for goods and services to agencies and colleges by this date.
July 26
- All FY24 TEMS travel requests must be received by SAFS Accounts Payable.
- All FY24 payment documents must be received by SAFS Accounts Payable.
July 31
- Phase 1 Close
- Performance measure actuals for quarter ending June 30, 2024 are due.
Aug 2
- Deadline to submit July US Bank Statements to SAFS Accounts Payable.
- Deadline to submit completed FY24 accrual templates to SAFS Accounts Payable.
Aug 16
- “Due to/due from” balancing between state agencies is due.
- Phase 1B Close - Bond, Cash, and Certificates of Deposit State Disclosure Forms are due.
- 25-27 Biennial budget submittals are due to OFM Sept. 10. FY25 Supplemental budget submittals are due to OFM Sept. 24. Please submit all decision package narratives to your DES Budget Analyst on or before Aug 16. We will work closely with you to review and complete the decision packages to meet OFM's deadline.
Sept 6
- Phase 2 Close – Remaining State Disclosure Forms are due.
Sept 18
- Signed State Discloser certificate form is due.
Important Messages
US Bank P-Card/Travel Card/One Card best practices
- Submit statements to AP within 10 business days of statement date.
- Access statements online to avoid waiting for statements to arrive in the mail! Reach out to SAFS Accounts Payable at APquestions.safs@des.wa.gov for assistance.
- Submit statements monthly with all back-up every time. This applies even if the statement has a credit balance due to refunds.
Small Agency Financial Services News
OneWa (One Washington) Workday Implementation
This statewide initiative is a comprehensive business transformation program to modernize aging administrative systems and improve finance, procurement, budget, HR, and payroll processes used by state agencies.
Even though your agency may be receiving emails and meeting invites around OneWa, DES Small Agency Financial Services (SAFS) is coordinating, responding, and helping with preparation for OneWa for those small agencies for which DES provides accounting, budget, and payroll services.
If your agency has any questions around what we are participating in on your behalf, please reach out to Gwen McClanahan.
HRMS Remediation
In preparation for OneWa Workday, efforts are underway to prepare data in the state’s HR and Payroll system HRMS (Human Resources Management System).
Even though your agency may be receiving emails around HRMS Remediation, DES Human Resources and DES SAFS Payroll is coordinating, responding, and helping with HRMS remediation for those small agencies for which DES provides HR and/or payroll services.
If your agency has any questions around what we are participating in on your behalf, please reach out to Gwen McClanahan.
Time to think about the end of the fiscal year
- If there are any changes to implement in the new fiscal year, such as changes to coding structure to track expenses differently or track something new, please contact your SAFS Financial Consultant/Budget Analyst.
- Due to fiscal year end close and the beginning of FY25, DES Accounts Payable will not process regular accruals for June and July.
Time to think about the 2025-2027 biennial budget
- The 2025-27 Biennium budget instructions are now available.
- Is your Information Technology Security Policy and Standards Compliance Audit due? These audits are due at least once every three years.
- Is your agency planning to submit any IT decision packages? Consider getting started on the concept review process required by the OCIO.
- 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. View a sample decision package on the OFM website.
- 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.
- Your SAFS Financial Consultant/Budget Analyst will meet with you about the 2025-2027 budget soon. Please start thinking about potential budget requests or budget corrections to include in the submittal. Some common packages include mandatory caseload/workload adjustments, merit system increments, retirement buyout costs, transfers between program/funds/agencies/years, lease changes or website updates.
- Agency revenue estimates are used to identify funds that support agency expenditure requests and to help estimate statewide fund balances. Any agency that collects, deposits, transfers, or reports revenue for any budgeted account must complete and submit a Summarized Revenue Report.
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 | |
|
Megan Finger |
Several new team members have joined Accounts Payable |
| Budget | |
|
Diann Lewallen |
Ian and Christina joined Budget in January, and Annis joined |
| Payroll | |
|
Molly Guinan |
Payroll gained two new team members over the past few months! Molly – Supervisor |
| Accounts Receivable | |
|
Betti Bartoldo |
|
| Administrative Assistance | |
|
Danelle Guerin |
|
DES Accounts Payable statistics for May 2024 (34 agencies served)
| Invoices Received from Agency | 1,866 | 74.37% | $16,989,005 |
| Invoices Paid on Delegated Authority | 453 | 18.06% | $1,092,966 |
| Travel Requests Paid through TEMS | 184 | 7.33% | $56,870 |
| Payments Reissued (SOL, Lost Warrant) | 6 | 0.24% | $8,599 |
| Total Payments Processed | 2,509 | 100% | $18,147,440 |
| Turnaround days | 2.34 |
DES Payroll statistics for May 2024 (42 agencies served)
| Total Employees Paid | 1,628 |
| Appointment Changes | 40 |
| New Hires / Rehires | 32 |
| Transfer In / Transfer Outs | 4 |
| Separations | 18 |
| Supplemental Payments / Walk Throughs | 3 |
| Overpayments | 4 |
Quarterly DES Accounts Receivable statistics for Jan-Mar (27 agencies served)
| Invoices Produced | 968 | $4,774,472 |
| Revenue Recorded | 517 | $12,806,714 |
| Expenditure Reductions Recorded | 161 | $2,238,720 |
| Accounts Receivable FTEs Completing the Work | 1.7 |
Travel Tips
When claiming exceptions to the maximum allowable lodging rates as stated in SAAM 10.30.20.d, include the written approval for the exception. Make sure that:
- You include an explanation describing why an exception was necessary.
- The approval is signed by the agency head or authorized designee.
A separate written approval is required, even though there is a comment box that pops up in TEMS that needs to be filled out.
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.