The New York State Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) has defined certain formatting requirements for New York State Contract Identifiers to ensure that contract information contained in the Statewide Financial System (SFS) can be accurately reported (see Section 2.B - New York State Contract Identifiers of this Chapter for additional information). This section provides the minimum requirements for State agency creation of New York State Audit IDs for new contracts entered in the SFS.
Please note that contracts not subject to approval by the State Comptroller must adhere to contract prefix guidelines (see Section 2.B - Contract Prefixes of this Chapter for additional information). A “T” contract prefix must be utilized for such contracts, except for centralized contracts for which the appropriate “P” prefix must be used.
- Contract Prefixes
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A New York State Contract Number is assigned by a State agency to each contract to aid in identifying the contract. The New York State Contract Number begins with a letter prefix that provides a categorization of the contract. The following is a list of acceptable contract prefixes and their associated categories:
C = Miscellaneous Service, Consultant, or Grant
A contract for services or consulting (except architect and engineering services, which start with a ‘D’) or a grant award (except for Community Projects funded legislative initiatives, which start with an ‘M’).
CC = Miscellaneous Services, Commodities or Consultant for Multiple Agency Use
A contract for services, commodities or consulting that is intended for use by multiple purchasing State agencies through the issuance of purchase orders. OSC approval is required for the establishment of the awarding agency contract and any amendment thereto, but OSC review and approval is not required for individual purchasing agency usage once the contract has been approved. (Section 8.B – Multi-Agency Contracts of this Chapter provides additional information).
CM = Multi-Agency Contract for Miscellaneous Service, Commodity or Consultant
A contract for services, commodities or consulting that is available for use by multiple State agencies where each individual purchasing agency establishes a contract under its respective Business Unit and Department ID. The awarding agency contract and amendments thereto and individual purchasing agency contracts and amendments are subject to OSC review and approval. Prior to assigning a CM number the lead agency should communicate with all potential users to ensure that they can accommodate the CM numbering scheme being assigned. Agencies are encouraged to consider existing CM numbers for contracts in which they may intend to participate, to avoid duplication when attempting to create a CM contract under their Business Unit and Department ID. (Section 8.B – Multi-Agency Contracts of this Chapter provides additional information).
D = Construction-Related Contract
A contract for construction-related work, including building construction, highway construction, architectural, engineering, geological, landscape architecture, surveying, construction management and other construction-related professional services.
F = Repayment to State
An agreement outlining a specific payment schedule for the repayment of funds by entities that either have been advanced funds by the State or must otherwise satisfy outstanding debt.
K = Transportation Grant
A transportation-related grant award made by the Department of Transportation.
L = Lease
A contract to lease property for use by a State entity. Leases of State-owned property begin with an 'L' prefix and end with an 'R' suffix.
LM = Multi Agency Lease
A lease contract that covers multiple State agency space needs. (Section 8.B – Multi-Agency Contracts of this Chapter provides additional information).
M = Legislative Initiative
A contract, commonly referred to as a member initiative, awarded by the Legislature and funded through the Community Projects Fund.
OP= One Time Purchase (Purchase Order Subject to OSC Approval)
A transaction used as the mechanism to allow OSC review of a purchase order valued above the OSC pre-approval threshold. (Section 3 - Purchase Orders Subject to OSC Review of this Chapter provides additional information).
OC = Office of General Services (OGS) Centralized Contract Purchase
A transaction used as a mechanism to allow OSC review and approval of purchases from OGS Centralized Contracts valued above the OSC approval threshold. (Section XI.8.A Centralized Contracts of this Chapter provides additional information).
P = Office of General Services (OGS) Purchase Contract
A contract for commodities or services negotiated by OGS which can be used by state agencies or other users authorized by law. Includes:
- PC prefix for commodity contracts
- PD prefix for distributor umbrella contracts
- PM prefix for manufacturer umbrella contracts
- PN prefix for the NYSTEC contract
- PR prefix for consulting service contracts
- PS prefix for service contracts
- PT prefix for technology contracts
- PB prefix for project based information technology services contracts
- PH prefix for hourly based information technology services contracts
Section 8.A – Centralized Contracts of this Chapter provides additional information.
PA = Purchase Authorization
A contract entered into by a State agency which allows the purchase of commodities on an as needed basis.
S = Consultant for Miscellaneous Service – Individual
A contract under which an individual or sole proprietor is hired to provide professional knowledge, skills or expertise.
T = Contracts Not Subject to OSC Approval
A contract where the amount of the contract is below the threshold that requires approval by OSC or is otherwise not subject to OSC approval. Includes:
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TM prefix for a legislative initiative that is below the OSC approval threshold, and
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TW prefix for contracts for the purchase of property by New York State where the dollar value is below the OSC approval threshold.
W = Land Purchase
A contract for the purchase of property by New York State.
X = Revenue
A contract that generates income for the State or where the State agrees to give consideration other than payment of money.
- New York State Contract Identifiers
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Contracts created in the Statewide Financial System (SFS) will have two key identifiers:
- the State agency entered New York State Audit ID, containing the agency assigned NYS Contract # (e.g., C1234567) that appears on the actual contract documents; and
- the SFS auto-generated 25 digit identifier that appears in the Contract ID field.
Both identifiers can be used to search for transactions in the SFS.
New York State Audit ID
The SFS requires State agencies to enter a New York State Audit ID for all new contracts, including but not limited to services, goods, leases, revenue, construction, and grants. The New York State Audit ID in the SFS is composed of the State agency’s Business Unit (5 alphanumeric characters), NYS Contract # (up to 11 alphanumeric characters) and Department ID (7 numeric characters). These three components are joined and displayed in the contract description field with a hyphen (-) between the Business Unit, NYS Contract #, and Department ID.
Depending on how the contract transaction is created in the SFS, the three fields that comprise the New York State Audit ID are separately entered on either the requisition or the contract header. For additional instructions on this topic, visit the job aids published to SFS Coach. SFS Coach is accessible from the SFS home page after logging in with your SFS user ID and password. SFS Coach is accessible from the SFS home page after logging in with your SFS user ID and password. The Business Unit and Department ID fields enable users to quickly find and select from a pre-populated list of values as they type. For the NYS Contract # segment of the New York State Audit ID, State agencies assign up to a total of 11 alphanumeric characters, which must include the appropriate OSC designated contract prefix. (See Section 2.B - Contract Prefixes of this Chapter, for additional information). The NYS Contract # may not contain special characters (e.g., %, #, @, *, >, etc.).
SFS Auto Generated Contract ID
In addition to the New York State Audit ID created by the State agency and entered into the SFS, the SFS automatically generates a unique 25-digit number for the contract. This number is displayed in the Contract ID field.
Guide to Financial Operations
REV. 05/26/2023