Shortages

All shortages, explainable or not, should be corrected by submitting an AP voucher for reimbursement to bring the account in balance. Pursuant to Chapter XII, Section 10.E - Reporting the Theft, Loss or Misuse of State Assets of this Guide, if the Business Unit suspects the shortage is due to theft, loss, or misuse of State assets, documentation explaining the shortage should be submitted to the Office of The State Comptroller, Deputy Comptroller - Division of Contracts and State Expenditures. Improper transactions must be reported to OSC as soon as they are identified. It is not appropriate to wait until an investigation has been completed and/or forwarded to an investigative agency before notifying OSC. The documentation should include the steps that will be taken to prevent a shortage from happening in the future.

1. Prepare a voucher, as described in Chapter XII, Section 5 - Agency Payment Preparation and Submittal of this Guide to replenish the advance for un-reimbursed payments. Online Business Units should use the attachment feature in the SFS to attach the documentation previously sent to OSC explaining the shortage. Bulkload Business Units should ensure this documentation is available upon request.

2. Upon receipt of the electronic deposit, the advance account will agree to the reported advance amount on the NY_AP_CASHADV_AUTHORIZED_LIMIT public query.

Overages

In rare instances, overages can be accounted-for as 'unearned' check payments to payees where such check payments are canceled or voided after the advance account has been reimbursed. For example, many agencies issue advance account checks for witness fees for individuals subpoenaed to testify. If the witness fails to appear, or if subsequent to the issuance of the subpoena, the witness' appearance is excused, the liability of the State and the issued check is canceled. Similarly, a partial payment check issued to secure future goods or services (e.g. deposit placed with an order) must be voided if the order cannot be filled or is canceled for any reason. Whenever the advance account has already been reimbursed for canceled check issuances, the proceeds of such cancellations that are due to ' unearned ' payments must be returned to the State Treasury following the procedures outlined in Chapter VI, Section 5 – Project Budgets of this Guide.

If unexplained overages exist for less than $250, reduce the next reimbursement voucher to bring the account in balance. Excess funds of $250 or more must be remitted to the state Treasury pursuant to Section 121 of the State Finance Law.

Agencies must submit a check in the amount of the overage, payable to the Commissioner of Taxation and Finance and enter an Accounts Receivable (AR) Deposit in SFS per the instructions in Section 2 - Miscellaneous Receipts/ Accounts Receivable Receipts of this Chapter.

Guide to Financial Operations

REV. 03/29/2017