This bulletin describes the Quick Pay Travel Voucher process, related procedures, and internal control requirements.

The Quick Pay Travel Voucher process is designed to increase efficiency in processing travel payments that do not exceed agency limits, while maintaining an effective pre-audit of these payments. Streamlining processing for these high-volume, low-dollar payments will allow payments to be made within one day of the agency entering/certifying them on the CAS without submitting the paperwork to OSC.

New Quick Pay Travel payment screens (Exhibit A) have been added to the existing Quick Pay Entry/Correct conversations so that additional travel data can be entered in the CAS. The Quick Pay Travel screens include four new fields to describe the travel payment. A new payment screen, also including the four new fields (Exhibit B) will be used for the online certification of Quick Pay Travel voucher batches by finance officers/designees. With the additional travel data on the CAS, OSC will pre-audit the electronic travel voucher.

OSC will conduct periodic post-audits of the Quick Pay Travel process to ensure agency compliance with internal controls, records retention requirements and travel reimbursement rules and regulations.

Employees (including non-salaried members of Boards, Commissions, etc.) must still complete and certify travel vouchers, obtain appropriate supervisory certification and submit vouchers to their agency finance offices according to current agency procedures.

Quick Pay Travel can be used for all employee travel expense payments that do not exceed agency limits. Agencies may use either the Quick Pay Travel or regular quick pay process for vendor related travel payments (i.e. transportation carriers and lodging establishments).

NOTE: All vendor payments, including travel related payments, may be paid under the regular quick pay process (see Bulletin A-285).

Do not send travel vouchers processed through the Quick Pay Travel process to OSC. All documentation, including original vouchers and receipts are to be retained by the agency and must be available for post-audit.

NOTE: Agencies may not reimburse their advance accounts via the Quick Pay Travel process or reimburse non-employees (i.e. contractors, consultants).

The Quick Pay Voucher Entry/Correct Conversations are in Correction Menu 27. The Quick Pay batch header entry screen will no longer automatically display batch type 'KPV', because a new batch type 'KTV' must be used to enter Quick Pay Travel batches. Entering batch type 'KTV' will cause the system to display the new Quick Pay Travel payment screen and entering batch type 'KPV' will display the regular Quick Pay payment screen. Quick Pay Travel payment screens require the entry of four new fields as follows:

Purpose
Destination(s)
Official Station
Residence

This information should be obtained directly from the travel voucher.

To reduce agency data entry, the Quick Pay Travel payment screen will automatically display the following data.

Field	Data Input
Interest Eligible	N
Route Code	A
Payment Date	Current Date Plus One
Liability Date	Current Date
MIR Date	Current Date

Agencies may override these fields where appropriate. Vendor-related travel expenses must be mailed directly to the vendor by changing the route code to blank.

The Quick Pay Travel Voucher process requires an online certification by the agency finance officer or designee for each batch of Quick Pay Travel Vouchers. The certification is performed using the Quick Pay Certification conversation found on Menu 28. The finance officer, or designee, is assigned a Certification Operator ID to access this conversation. These certifiers must be authorized to sign vouchers in accordance with Section 110 of the State Finance Law, and must be on file with OSC Pre-Audit. (See Bulletin G-126.) Any person who has a Certification Operator ID cannot also perform Quick Pay data entry/correct. Agencies are responsible for requesting Operator ID's which ensure this separation of duties.

All individuals presently authorized to certify vouchers under the current Quick Pay voucher process will automatically be authorized to certify Quick Pay Travel vouchers. Any changes or additions to agency certifiers must be processed on the appropriate security form (AC2705 - Computer Security User Change Request), authorized and signed by the agency security coordinator.

The certifier can review online any or all documents in a batch and can reject vouchers when necessary. The certifier cannot change any information on the vouchers.

TO REVIEW a voucher: On the Quick Pay Certification Select screen enter the Batch Agency ID (ORIG AGENCY) and Batch Number to be reviewed. Then:

1. Press ENTER to view the first voucher in the batch; press ENTER again to view each successive voucher.   or
2. Press PF2 to view the BROWSE screen which lists all the vouchers in the batch and their dollar amounts. To then view a specific voucher key the document sequence number in the command input area at the bottom of the screen and press ENTER. or
3. Enter a document sequence number on the select screen and press ENTER to view a specific voucher.

To REJECT a voucher: With the voucher to be rejected visible on your screen type the word 'REJECT' in the command input area at the bottom of the screen and press the PF8 key. A message will appear on the screen to confirm that the voucher has been rejected. After all necessary rejections are complete the batch must be recapped (press PF5) and released (press ENTER) to finish processing.

To CERTIFY a batch: Press the PF5 key to RECAP. Then press ENTER to release the batch.

Once a batch is released a Certification BCL (Exhibit C) will print and will include the certification, certifiers name and a warning message for every voucher rejected.

NOTE: The online certification is the legal equivalent of a written certification and subjects the certifier to the same legal penalties that apply to written certifications. The User ID and name of the certifier of each batch will be retained in OSC automated files for historical reference.

A daily report, VOU930, will print at the agency and identify any batches awaiting certification. A weekly report, VOU452, will print at the agency and identify all vouchers awaiting correction or action. See Bulletin A-310.

OSC pre-auditors will normally have only one day to audit Quick Pay Travel Vouchers before the scheduled payment date. Therefore, it is imperative that agencies respond that same day if an auditor calls to request additional information on a Quick Pay Travel Voucher. Otherwise, the auditors will be forced to reject the voucher, requiring the agency to re-enter the document.

Using statistical sampling techniques, OSC auditors will periodically require agencies to submit original vouchers and supporting documentation for selected Quick Pay Travel Vouchers as an indication of adequate internal controls and document retention. Agencies must provide original documentation on request. Documentation will be returned to agencies for retention. Any indication of lack of proper internal controls will result in the agency's exclusion from the Quick Pay Travel process and will initiate a more detailed audit of its payments.

Since the Quick Pay Travel process requires no hard copy vouchers to be sent to OSC, the following internal control points deserve special attention from agencies.

• Ensure that individuals do not certify batches of Quick Pay Travel vouchers that include reimbursements to themselves.
• Adhere to all controls for terminal and password security, as explained in "Policies and Procedures for Remote Agencies" (Security Series Number 6). This Series is mailed to Agency Security Coordinators. Agency finance officers are responsible for ensuring that no employee can perform both entry/correct and certification of Quick Pay Travel Vouchers.

NOTE: Recently OSC has become aware of password security violations resulting from employees sharing ID's and passwords. These violations have led to substantial fines against employees and can lead to criminal prosecution under Section 156 of the penal law.

• Review the daily VOU065, Payee Lists, to verify that only authorized payments have been processed.
• Ensure that only travel expenses associated with authorized travel for official state business are reimbursed.
• Ensure that all travel rules, regulations and OSC guidelines are adhered to and that vouchers are adequately documented with original receipts, where necessary.
• Recover any overpayments that are identified in the post-audit process.
• Develop effective audit trails to source documents for Quick Pay Travel Vouchers. Questions from OSC pre-auditors will require same-day responses from agencies. Source documents will be required by OSC for post-audit. (Agencies should retain records relating to Quick Pay Travel Vouchers in accordance with records retention schedules approved by the State Archives and Records Administration. The minimum retention period is three years.)
• Retain Certification BCL's for a minimum of 3 years. These provide a hard copy record of the name and operator ID of the agency certifier. This information will also be retained on magnetic media by OSC.
• Ensure that excess (taxable) travel reimbursements are entered correctly on the Quick Pay Travel screens so they are properly reported to IRS. See Controls and Special Procedures Manual, Vol XI, Section 8.0140.