This bulletin outlines the process agencies should follow to obtain the conversion status of their vendors into the new Statewide Financial System vendor file.

New York State will be implementing a new Statewide Financial System (SFS) in April 2011. Part of this initiative is the establishment of a centralized vendor file and centralized vendor management function. The Vendor Management Unit (VMU) within the Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) will be responsible for managing the functions related to the vendor file within SFS.

VMU is in the process of populating the vendor file by cleansing historical vendor information provided from either the vendor or NYS agencies. All vendors with an OSC approved contract or enrolled in the ePayments electronic payments program will be converted. Creation of the file will continue until December 2010. The new vendor file is anticipated to be available early in 2011.

VMU understands that many agencies currently maintain their own separate vendor files. Agencies also have an interest in ensuring the vendors they do business with are being considered in the conversion process. However, VMU has found that not all data being used by agencies is reliable or can be included in a central vendor file.

Procedure:

This process will allow the agency to submit a file of vendor taxpayer identification numbers and receive in return a file detailing the conversion status of that number. As this process utilizes vendor identifying information, the process will require encryption of the data to protect the sensitive information during transport. Care must be exercised not to expose sensitive information.

1. Create a comma-delimited text file containing each vendor’s Employer Identification Number or Social Security Number (known as Taxpayer Identification Number or TIN).  The file may include an optional field used for an agency identification value; however the field MAY NOT contain the vendor name.  DO NOT include any other information in the file.  (If the agency cannot produce a text file, an excel file will be accepted)
2. Encrypt the file.  If your agency does not have encryption software, please contact Deanna Franklin at (518) 474-2169.
3. Email the encrypted file to vmu@osc.state.ny.us with “Vendor Conversion Status” in the subject line or contact Deanna Franklin at (518) 474-2169 for physical mailing procedures.
4. Email the password for the encrypted file to vmu@osc.state.ny.us with “Vendor Conversion Status” in the subject line.
5. OSC will provide agencies with return encrypted files containing:
   • the TIN provided,
   • the conversion status for that TIN,
   • the optional identifier if provided, and
   • if the conversion of the vendor’s record has been completed, the name and new SFS vendor identification number as it is anticipated to appear.
6. OSC will provide the agency with a password so they can view the file.
7. A report will be provided summarizing the match.
   
   

Conversion Reason Codes:

The following are the conversion reasons being used by the VMU:

• Vendor Has Been Converted
• Vendor Not Recognized (Identification Number is not recognized as previously doing                                     business with NYS)
• No Final Determination  (Vendor is a potential vendor for conversion, but the final                                     vendor conversion status has not yet been determined)
• TIN Not Being Converted – Entity dissolved
• TIN Not Being Converted – Taxpayer Identification Number is invalid
• TIN Not Being Converted – Contract terminated
• TIN Not Being Converted – Cannot locate vendor
• TIN Not Being Converted – Contract expired prior to April 1, 2010
• TIN Not Being Converted – Agency decision - not to convert vendor
• TIN Not Being Converted – Duplicate entry, vendor will be converted under                                        different tax identification number
• TIN Not Being Converted – Determination made vendor will be single payment                                        vendor and will not be stored in vendor file
• TIN Not Being Converted – Vendor will be loaded from agency files
• TIN Not Being Converted – Vendor was paid only once within a fiscal year
• TIN Not Being Converted – No significant business activity
• TIN Not Being Converted – No response from vendor for repeated requests for                                        vendor information
• TIN Not Being Converted – Vendor is an employee of NYS
  
  

Additional Information:

Requests for additional information concerning the file submittal can be obtained by emailing the VMU at vmu@osc.state.ny.us.

Additional information about the matching process, interpreting the match results and next steps will be supplied when the matched file is returned by VMU.
Files may be submitted at any time prior to SFS go live. Turnaround time may vary depending on volume of requests received.

Questions:

For questions about this process, please contact Deanna Franklin at (518) 474-2169 or email to vmu@osc.state.ny.us.