DCAR Newsletter - March 2015

DCAR Newsletter Office of Management and Enterprise Services

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OFMA Quarterly Meeting

Don't Forget

The Oklahoma Financial Managers Association has planned its next quarterly meeting for Thursday, April 9, 2015. The option to register for the meeting on the OKFMA website is currently unavailable for use.  While maintenance is being performed on the website we invite you to attend the seminar without pre-registering.  As always, the seminar is provided free of charge.

DATE:           Thursday, April 9, 2015
TIME:            1:30 - 4 p.m.
PLACE:          Business Conference Center Auditorium
                     MetroTech Springlake Campus
                     1900 Springlake Drive, Oklahoma City, OK

Below is a link to the agenda.

April 2015 Agenda


PAYROLL

Biweekly Payroll Conversion Procedure Reminder

Pursuant to HB 1111, of the 1st session of the 52nd Legislature, 2009, the Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES) has established procedures for agencies converting to the biweekly payroll schedule.  As part of the pre-conversion process, interested agencies must first present a financial plan to the director of OMES and certify that sufficient funds are available within the agency’s existing budget to make the conversion.  Interested agencies should contact the OMES Service Desk to request information on the correct procedures for the conversion. The Service Desk can be contacted at 405-521-2444 or ServiceDesk@omes.ok.gov.

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PeopleSoft HCM Query for 633xxx Account Reconciliations

Public query ‘GO_PY_DED_RUNID_BY_CONFIRM_DT’ is available to assist with the reconciliation of agency 633xxx accounts. The query contains useful information such as deduction codes and descriptions for payee identification, the number of employees with a specific deduction, the total amount deducted for those employees, and the general ledger 633xxx accounts to which the deductions were posted. The query is driven by payroll confirm dates, and system prompts allow the user to select a time frame for payrolls processed. Access to the query is included in the payroll processor role. Agency finance personnel will need to coordinate with payroll personnel to have this query run for them. For questions or more information, please contact James Eyadiel at (405) 522-4064 or james.eyadiel@omes.ok.gov, or Lisa Raihl at 405-521-3258 or lisa.raihl@omes.ok.gov.

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Higher Ed Reminder: Class-Funding 994 and use of 633xxx accounts

As a reminder to institutions of higher education, upon conversion to the PeopleSoft HCM system, changes were implemented to include the total payroll cost in payroll claims. Amounts withheld are held in the 994 fund until payment is submitted to the appropriate vendor. 

The 633xxx accounts are used in the 994 class funding for amounts to be paid from money withheld on the payroll claim.  This withholding could be either employee withholding or state share.  The primary purpose of this fund is to pool money due to providers/vendors that the agency is responsible to submit.  It should not be used for other agency expenses.  Funds that are disbursed from the 994 class funding should use the same 633xxx account that was used when the money was put into the 994 class fund.  The 633xxx accounts are structured similarly to a tax withholding account or a ‘due to’ type of account. 

For example, the retirement expense related to the payroll is recorded in the operating class funding when the payroll is processed using a 5xxxxx account code and is also recorded in the 994 class funding appropriate 633xxx account. Using the 5xxxxx code again when making the payment from the 994 class fund would duplicate the expenditure at the agency. The correct 633xxx account should be used to make payment to the vendor.

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Employee Direct Deposit Verification of Bank Routing Number

Agencies are reminded that employee bank deposit slips should NOT be used to get the bank routing/transit number for setting up direct deposit information. A voided check from the employee is the most reliable method. If the employee does not have a voided check or wants to deposit into another type of account, have the employee call the bank directly to get the routing/transit number. A bank routing/transit number should never start with the digit “5”. This indicates a branch of the bank and will cause the direct deposit to fail and not leave the state. A direct deposit that fails will not leave OST to be paid and additional processing by the agency will be required to pay the employee.

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Employee Direct Deposit Verification of Account Number

In addition to bank routing number errors, an incorrect bank account number could cause significant delays in the employee’s receipt of his or her paycheck. Many banks do not reject bad account number deposits until after the pay date. This means the deposit for the rejected deposit may not be returned to the state for several days after the pay date. A replacement warrant cannot be reissued until the money is returned to the state. Please check and double check when entering employee direct deposit information into the HCM system.

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Searching for Individuals using the Statewide Employee View

The Statewide Employee View functionality can be used to find any person in PeopleSoft HCM.  When trying to determine if an individual already exists in the system, please search by “National ID” (social security number). Searching with criteria other than National ID can cause an agency to identify a person that isn’t truly the one they want. Please review the search results carefully to ensure the correct individual is found. The navigation is:  Home > Workforce Administration > Personal Information > Statewide Employee View (0491).

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Oklahoma Child Support Employer Services

The Oklahoma Child Support Employer Services website is a useful tool to be used by agencies regarding income withholding orders, medical support, reporting terminations, and other related transactions. The Employer Handbook, Training Videos and Webinars can also be found on the website.

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Updating Employee Bank Routing Numbers

Agencies that receive the Office of the State Treasurer’s (OST) Participant Old/New Routing Number Report must update the banking information for the employee(s) listed. OST’s current ACH application automatically updates bank routing numbers based on the latest table of Federal Reserve Bank routing numbers.  This update allows the items to continue processing for payment.

When an update is made, a report is generated listing the employee, the incorrect bank routing number and the correct bank routing number. This report is distributed to agencies to update employee banking information. This report is sent out by OMES to the contact listed for the Updated Banking Information. These updates must be made so transactions will continue to process without interruption after migration to the new application.

If banking information is not updated before OST goes live with the new application, items with invalid routing numbers will be rejected and not processed to pay. The new application will validate the submitted information against the latest Federal Reserve Bank routing numbers table and will reject the transaction if the bank routing number is determined to be invalid. If an item is rejected, it will not leave OST to be paid and additional processing by the agency will be required to pay the employee(s). Again, it is imperative that these updates be made so transactions will continue to process without interruption after migration to the new application.

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ACCOUNTING

FY 2016 Electronic Payments

As anticipated the total volume of paper warrants issued for FY2014 fell below 1.5 million.  FY2015 volume is expected to decrease to 1.2 million paper warrants.  Paper warrant volume has declined by 73 percent over the last seven years.  Title 62 § 34.64H requires that funds disbursed from the State Treasury be sent electronically.   State agencies are able to request an exemption from this requirement with cause.  All exemptions that were requested and approved for FY 2015 will expire June 30, 2015.  The FY 2016 Electronic Payment Exemption Request Form (Request) can be found by clicking here, and should be used by state agencies to seek an exemption for cause from this requirement.  Only requests submitted using this document and to the web address noted below will be considered.  

State agencies must complete and submit the Request electronically via email to Electronic.Payment.Exemption@treasurer.ok.gov. Each Request will be evaluated based on the information provided.  Each agency will receive a confirmation of the receipt of their Request.  Subsequently agencies will receive a notification of whether the exemption(s) sought has been approved.  All FY2016 exemptions will expire on June 30, 2016.  Agencies should submit their Request(s) by May 15, 2015, to ensure the exemption(s) can be processed before July 1.   

Payments can be processed electronically and remain confidential, consequently, exemptions will generally not be granted for this reason alone.  If you have any questions about the requirement or the exemption process, please submit them to Electronic.Payment.Exemption@treasurer.ok.gov.  Additionally, the State Treasurer has statewide contracts available to state agencies for sending electronic payments via ach or via a debit card.   If you are interested, please contact Diedra O’Neil at diedra.oneil@treasurer.ok.gov or 405-522-4256.

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Volume 25, Number 9
Fiscal Year-2015
March 17, 2015


In This Issue ...


TRAINING

AGA CPE Luncheon

The Oklahoma City Chapter of the Association of Government Accountants offers one-hour CPE luncheons almost every month throughout the year.  Luncheons are held in the Burk Burnett Board Room at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd.  The cost is $15 for members and $20 for non-members.  Mark your calendars for the following CPE events:

March 18:
11:30 a.m.  – 1 p.m.
Speaker: Bill Miller, National AGA President
Topic: Citizen Centric and Performance Reporting

April 22:
11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Speaker: Colleen Flory, OMES Performance Division
Topic: Performance Measurement

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2015 Spring Nonresident Alien Tax Compliance Training Workshops

Offered by Arctic International LLC

Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas, NV

April 27-30, 2015 

The workshops are geared towards developing solid skills and learning how to manage nonresident alien tax compliance. The Workshop class schedule and all of the details are available on their website.

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Payroll 101: Foundations of Payroll Certificate Program

Offered by the American Payroll Association

San Antonio, Texas or Las Vegas, NV

Classes are held several times throughout the year at both locations.

The class is designed to help employees understand the procedures and processes in all aspects of payroll to include new employee forms, calculating pay, withholding and paying taxes, and preparing tax returns. The classes can be found on the APA website.

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Payroll 201: Payroll Administration Certificate Program

Offered by the American Payroll Association

San Antonio, Texas or Las Vegas, NV

Classes are held several times throughout the year at both locations.

The class is designed for employees who have the fundamentals of payroll and wish to improve job performance and gain more knowledge. The class gets more in-depth in all aspects of payroll to FLSA, taxable fringe benefits, paying non-resident and resident aliens, corrections to Form W-2 and 941. The classes can be found on the APA website.

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Contacts

Accounting:
Jennie Pratt, CPA, CGFM
(405) 521-6160 jennie.pratt@omes.ok.gov

General Ledger:
Dan Thomason, CPA
(405) 522-4992 dan.thomason@omes.ok.gov 

Payroll:
Lisa Raihl, CPA
(405) 521-3258 lisa.raihl@omes.ok.gov 

Transaction Processing:
Steve Wilson
(405) 521-4679
steve.wilson@omes.ok.gov 

Payroll Processing:
Elsa Kunnel
(405) 521-6178
elsa.kunnel@omes.ok.gov 

AP Manager:
Patricia Garcia, CPA, CGFM
(405) 522-6855
patricia.garcia@omes.ok.gov

ISD Finance:
Cathy Menefee, CPA, CGFM
(405) 521-6584
cathy.menefee@omes.ok.gov

Vendor Maintenance:
Victoria Baker
(405) 522-3093
victoria.baker@omes.ok.gov 

OMES Service Desk:
(PeopleSoft questions)
(405) 521-2444
helpdesk@omes.ok.gov 

Financial Reporting Unit:
Matt Clarkson, CPA
(405) 521-2759
matt.clarkson@omes.ok.gov

ABS:
Steven Hawkins, CGFM
(405) 521-4249
steven.hawkins@omes.ok.gov