Small Agency Services Bulletin - October 2024
| Important Dates | Important Messages | Small Agency Financial Services News | Travel Tips | Contact Us |
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Important Dates
Oct. 28 through Nov. 25
- Healthcare Benefits Open Enrollment
Oct 31
- Performance Measure actuals for quarter ending Sept. 30, to be entered into the Results through Performance Management (RPM) system.
- Timesheet deadline for pay period ending 10/31.
Nov 4
- DES SAFS Annual Travel Workshop
Nov 8
- To reflect in your agency’s October monthly financial statements, all invoices and travel reimbursement requests are due to Accounts Payable.
Nov 15
- Timesheet Deadline for pay period ending 11/15.
Dec 2
- Timesheet Deadline for pay period ending 11/30.
Dec 6
- CFD proceeds are due to SOS
Important Messages
Healthcare Benefits Open Enrollment
Annual Healthcare Benefits Open Enrollment is October 28 – November 25, 2024.
During the Health Care Authority's (HCA) Public Employees Benefits Board's (PEBB) annual healthcare open enrollment, you must enroll in a vision plan, or you will be defaulted into the MetLife Vision. You can also enroll in or make changes to your PEBB benefits, including:
- Enroll in a vision plan.
- Enroll in or waive medical and dental coverage.
- Add or drop dependents.
- Change medical and dental plans.
- Enroll or re-enroll in Medical FSA or DCAP.
- Re-attest for spouse or state-registered domestic partner coverage premium surcharge.
- And more!
Watch for more information on PEBB open enrollment in your inbox and mailbox throughout the next few weeks.
- View the 2025 PEBB employee monthly premiums.
- Log into Benefits 24/7 to make updates or enroll.
- How to enroll in Benefits 24/7.
- Benefits 24/7 helpful information
- If you have questions about enrollment, email DESpayroll@des.wa.gov.
Under directive 24A-05, OFM revised policies in the State Administrative and Accounting Manual (SAAM)
Effective October 1, 2024.
- Update to the Per Diem rates, see updated map for In-State travel.
- The meal percentage allocation has also changed, per the update to SAAM 10.40.10c. This is usually used when calculating Out-of-State Per Diem meal rates.
- The breakfast portion is 26% of the set daily meals entitlement.
- The lunch portion is 29% of the set daily meals entitlement.
- The dinner portion is 45% of the set daily meals entitlement.
- The capital assets capitalization threshold has increased from $5,000 to $10,000.
View the complete directive
TEMS Modernization for OneWA Phase 1A Implementation
The Office of Financial Management (OFM) is making changes to the Travel and Expense Management System (TEMS) in preparation for the OneWA Workday Phase 1A implementation. This is being done so TEMS can continue to be used by agencies for managing travel reimbursement requests when Workday goes live.
The following system changes are being made to TEMS for the OneWA Workday Phase 1A implementation:
- Existing fields for account codes (AFRS Chart of Accounts) will be replaced with associated fields for Workday Foundational Data Model (FDM).
- Data will be sent line-by-line from TEMS to Workday rather than how batch jobs are currently sent from TEMS to AFRS.
No changes are being made to TEMS that will impact existing Traveler users.
For more information and guidance, please reach out to the OFM TEMS Modernization Team with subject line: TEMS Modernization.
Small Agency Financial Services News
DES SAFS AP Annual Travel Workshop – Monday, November 4, 2024 from 2-3 p.m.
Our SAFS AP team will be facilitating the Annual Travel Workshop which will be conducted virtually over Teams.
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.
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 2024 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 December 6, 2024 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.
New positions will help smooth transition from AFRS to Workday
DES is pleased to announce two new positions that will be very instrumental in supporting our small agency customers transition from AFRS to Workday: SAFS OneWa accounts payable manager and SAFS OneWa accounts receivable manager.
| Team | Members | News / Message |
|---|---|---|
| Accounts Payable |
Diana Huynh |
Megan Finger has been promoted to another DES finance position. She will be missed. |
| Budget |
Diann Lewallen |
|
| Payroll |
Molly Guinan |
Erica Williamson promoted to another DES Finance position. She will be missed but we're excited for her in her new journey. Rachel – Manger |
| Accounts Receivable |
Betti Bartoldo |
Betti promoted to the SAFS OneWa AR Manager. Congrats Betti! |
| Administrative Assistance |
Danelle Guerin |
Robin Fleskes accepted a promotion with another agency. |
DES Accounts Payable statistics for August 2024 (34 agencies served)
| Invoices Received from Agency | 1,284 | 53.25% | $10,437,079 |
| Invoices Paid on Delegated Authority | 995 | 41.27% | $3,143,146 |
| Travel Requests Paid through TEMS | 121 | 5.02% | $41,784 |
| Payments Reissued (SOL, Lost Warrant) | 11 | 0.46% | $4,046 |
| Total Payments Processed | 2,411 | 100% | $13,626,055 |
| Turnaround days | 1.87 |
DES Accounts Payable statistics for September 2024 (34 agencies served)
| Invoices Received from Agency | 1,805 | 74.04% | $22,173,070 |
| Invoices Paid on Delegated Authority | 421 | 17.27% | $1,230,823 |
| Travel Requests Paid through TEMS | 201 | 8.24% | $63,829 |
| Payments Reissued (SOL, Lost Warrant) | 11 | 0.45% | $14,005 |
| Total Payments Processed | 2,438 | 100% | $23,481,727 |
| Turnaround days | 2.03 |
DES Payroll statistics for Quarter 2 (Monthly Average) (42 agencies served)
| Total Employees Paid | 1,611.5 |
| Action Processed | 70 |
| Supplemental Paments/Walk Throughs | 2.67 |
| Overpayments | 6 |
Quarterly DES Accounts Receivable statistics for July-Sept (32 agencies served)
| Invoices Produced | 455 | $1,185,085 |
| Revenue Recorded | 506 | $3,903,777 |
| Expenditure Reductions Recorded | 125 | $929,243 |
| Accounts Receivable FTEs Completing the Work | 1.49 |
Travel Tips
New travel reimbursement rates for per diem and lodging went into effect October 1, 2024.
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.