State Agencies Bulletin No. 1090

Subject
PayServ Data Conversion Requirements for the Statewide Financial System
Date Issued
January 24, 2012
Status
Reissued
Status Date
February 27, 2012

Purpose

To inform agencies of changes to the meaning and usage of some of the data elements in PayServ related to the implementation of the Statewide Financial System (SFS). Additional SFS information and the impact on PayServ will be provided in future Bulletins.

Effective Date(s)

The first pay periods to be processed in SFS are for the checks dated April 2, 2012 for Division of Military and Naval Affairs, April 5, 2012 for Institution, and April 11, 2012 for Administration

Background

In April 2012, the State of New York will discontinue use of the Central Accounting System (CAS) and will implement a new Statewide Financial System (SFS). The new system uses a new Chart of Accounts (COA) and, as a result, changes how PayServ processes personal service expenditures and accounting information.

Note: PayServ uses the term Account Code to mean the value on the Account Code page that represents the combination of CAS Cost Center and CAS Object Code. SFS is now using the term Account Code to refer to the value that replaces the CAS Object Code. For purposes of clarity, the terms PayServ or SFS will be used in conjunction with the term Account Code for the remainder of this document.

Not every change required in the COA will be made in PayServ at this time. Specifically, PayServ will not use SFS Business Unit or Department ID, but will continue to use the PayServ Agency Code. PayServ will replace the CAS values in Fund and Sub-Fund with the new SFS five digit Fund number.

Further, PayServ will continue to use the CAS Cost Centers. As such, all Cost Centers used in PayServ must be mapped to new SFS codes, even for SFS Phase 1 agencies. However, PayServ will replace the existing Object Codes used in CAS with the new Account Codes used in SFS. Please refer to http://www.sfs.ny.gov  for a comprehensive list of Account Codes.

As a result of these changes in PayServ, some agency actions and OSC actions are required.

Use of Business Unit, Department and Agency Code in PayServ

The concept of Business Unit being introduced in SFS will not be used in PayServ. The concept of Department, as it is used in SFS will also not be used in PayServ. However, PayServ will continue to maintain a field labeled Department, but the values will represent the existing payroll Agency Codes for payroll processing. For many agencies there are several Agency Codes that are grouped together and considered one Business Unit in SFS. This consolidation will be seen only in SFS data and reports. All data and reports generated in PayServ will continue to provide detail at the payroll agency level.

CAS Cost Centers in PayServ

PayServ will continue to use CAS Cost Centers in PayServ after SFS is in place. Once SFS is implemented, SFS will provide PayServ with a weekly file of all CAS Cost Centers that have been properly mapped and active in SFS, have valid chart field values, and have personal service segregation established (including zero segregations). These values will be concatenated with the new SFS Account Codes and loaded into the PayServ Account Code Table each week replacing the existing values in that table. All Position Pools in PayServ will need to be assigned to one of these PayServ Account Codes created based in the file provided by SFS.

For more information on the requirements to update Position Pools and Cost Centers for the transition to SFS, refer to Payroll Bulletin 1129.

SFS Account Codes in PayServ

The SFS Account Codes have been defined in a manner that facilitates the State’s accounting, financial reporting, and budgeting responsibilities. It is essential that agencies use the functionality within PayServ to ensure appropriate SFS Account Codes are charged.

There is not a one-to-one match between CAS Object Codes and SFS Account Codes. For example, there is now a specific set of codes established for individuals that are hired under the Sections 211 and 212 of the Retirement and Social Security Law. Additionally, there are CAS Object Codes that have no corresponding SFS Account Code. For example, 41700 and 42500 will no longer be available.

SFS Account Code Format

Personal service Account Codes in SFS are as follows:

Position Pool Base Salary Holiday Overtime Uniform Standby Extra Service Lump Sum Pay Add. Comp.
Regular 50101 50102 50103 50104 50105 50106 50107 50108
Temp Employee 50201 50202 50203 50204 50205 50206 50207 50208
211/212 Retiree 50301 50302 50303 50304 50305 50306 50307 50308
Student Assistant 50401 50402 50403 NA NA NA NA 50408
Student 50501 50502 50503 NA NA NA NA NA
Seasonal 50601 50602 50603 NA NA NA NA 50608
Adjunct 50701 NA 50703 NA NA NA 50707 50708

The SFS Account Codes for personal service are designed to capture payroll expense information related to the nature of the employment (i.e. regular, temporary, seasonal) and the type of compensation (i.e. base salary, holiday, overtime). The first three digits in the code represent the nature of employment while the last two represent the type of earnings. The selection of the PayServ Account Code on the Position Pool record controls how the first three digits are assigned. The last two digits are determined based on how the earnings codes are categorized within PayServ. Therefore, it is essential that the positions be grouped into pools by type of employment, and the Position Pools be assigned to a PayServ Account Code representing that type of employment.

Position Pool Functionality

Processing within PayServ creates a PayServ Account Code for every possible combination of CAS Cost Center / SFS Account Code (personal service only). Yet only the PayServ Account Code representing “base salary” (50101, 50201, 50301, 50401, etc.) should be assigned to the Position Pool. When a PayServ Account Code value ending with 50101 is assigned to a Position Pool, earnings for those positions will be charged using one of the SFS Account Codes for regular employees, depending on the earn code. Similarly, when a PayServ Account Code value ending in 50201 is assigned, earnings for those positions will be charged using one of the SFS Account Codes for temporary employees, depending on the earn code. This pattern continues for all employment types. When a Position Pool is assigned to a PayServ Account Code value ending in something other than the base salary, the SFS Account Code embedded in the PayServ Account Code will be used regardless of the earn code.

OSC will be able to automatically convert CAS Object Codes to SFS Account Codes, but agencies may need to set up additional Position Pools to accurately account for personal service expenditures, specifically for 211/212 Retirees.

Updating SFS Account Code (formerly Object Code)

Most of the changes to SFS Account Code will be done automatically, but limited agency action may be required. PayServ Account Code and Position Pool Values will be converted as follows:

Employment Type Current PayServ Account Code New PayServ Account Code
Regular Employees CAS Cost Center - 41100 CAS Cost Center - 50101
Temporary Employees CAS Cost Center - 42100 CAS Cost Center - 50201
Student Assistant CAS Cost Center - 42620 CAS Cost Center - 50401
Student CAS Cost Center - 42610 CAS Cost Center - 50501
Seasonal Employee CAS Cost Center - 42410 CAS Cost Center - 50601
Adjunct CAS Cost Center - 42900 CAS Cost Center - 50701

If there are Position Pools with PayServ Account Codes other than the ones above, the SFS Account Code indicated on the Object to Account Crosswalk on the SFS web site is to be used. If there are invalid object codes in the Position Pool, OSC will update that value with 50101.

OSC will make available the Control D report NPAY716 Position Pool Conversions listing how each Position Pool will be converted in PayServ using data from FDR1. The report will be available no later than March 1, 2012 and then a final will be published for Go-Live on March 22, 2012. Agencies should review this report to ensure that accounting transactions will be correct after conversions.

Using SFS Account Code – 50301 211/212 Retiree

The new Chart of Account structure in SFS includes a distinct SFS Account Code for personal service expenditures for employees hired under Section 211 and 212 of the Retirement and Social Security Law. There is no equivalent CAS Object Code for this purpose. As a result, there can be no automatic conversion to this new SFS Account Code.

To ensure the proper SFS account code is charged, positions occupied by these individuals will require a distinct position pool. Agencies that employ numerous 211/212 Retirees should begin setting up new Position Pools for these employees as soon as practical using the PayServ Account Code Value ending in 41100 or 42100 depending on their appropriations. PayServ will automatically update the SFS Account code in the pool to 50101 for CAS Object Code 41100 and 50201 for CAS Object Code 42100 at conversion.

After conversion, agencies will need to assign the new PayServ Account Code value containing 50301 to the Position Pools for the 211/212 Retirees.

For Employees that reach the age criteria of 65 and are no longer under the 211/212 restrictions, they will be treated as a “regular” employee. Agencies should map their positions accordingly with the proper position pool containing the correct object code for regular employees and these will automatically be updated by PayServ.

The PayServ Account Code values contain the SFS Account Code (i.e. CAS Cost Center - 50101) will not be available on-line in PayServ until March 27, 2012. This is after the standard agency cut off of March 21, 2012 for Institution and very close to the March 28, 2012 agency cut off for Administration. Due to these unusual circumstances, PayServ will be available on March 27, 2012 to Institution agencies to update Position Pools for this purpose only. Administration agencies will be permitted to change Position Pools for this purpose through March 30, 2012.

OSC’s Cutover and Conversion Activities

OSC will begin converting PayServ to the new SFS Chart of Account values on March 23, 2012. The pay checks dated April 2, 2012 (Military) and April 5, 2012 (Institution) will be completed using the SFS Accounting information. There should be no disruption to PayServ system availability during this time. The Accounting Interface will be submitted to SFS on the same schedule currently in use in CAS. Please refer to SFS for any information regarding when the payroll charges will appear in SFS.

For agencies that utilize the NHRP521 (Agency Back-End Splits), the file will not be accepted during the SFS Cutover & Conversion. Checks dated April 5, 2012 (Institution) and April 11, 2012 (Administration), splits will need to be completed in PayServ manually. Going forward, the layout will remain the same with the exception of the SFS Account Code replacing the CAS Object Code.

Additional Information

Payroll officers should share this bulletin with their Finance and Human Resource Offices.

Questions

Questions related to SFS should be directed to http://www.sfs.ny.gov/.

Questions regarding this bulletin should be directed to [email protected].