State Agencies Bulletin No. 2070

Subject
Process Change for AC 230 Check Reversals and AC 1476 Check Exchanges
Date Issued
November 4, 2022

Purpose:

The purpose of this bulletin is to notify agencies of a business process change in the submission of the AC 230 Check Reversals and AC 1476 Check Exchanges to the Office of the State Comptroller.

Affected Employees:

All employees for whom an AC 230 Check Reversal and AC 1476 Check Exchange is submitted are affected.

Background:

OSC currently processes AC 230 Check Reversals and AC 1476 Check Exchanges after receiving the required documentation and either the physical payroll check or successful direct deposit reversal.

Following the PayServ 9.2 upgrade, stop payments of physical payroll checks can now be submitted through PayServ, see Payroll Bulletin 1964. The Stop Payment panel in PayServ will automatically populate check information to minimize the possibility of data entry errors. With this new functionality and business process change, OSC will no longer require agencies to forward the physical payroll check being stopped to OSC.

Effective Dates:

Immediately

OSC Actions:

OSC will review and approve stop payment requests daily and payroll checks will be stopped twice per week. If a stop payment request is denied, comments will be included as to the reason for the denial. Please keep in mind, OSC Payroll cannot stop a check that is future dated. If a check has been cashed the agency preparer of the stop payment request will be notified. Upon request, OSC can provide a copy of the cashed check.

OSC will continue to monitor the Payroll Reversal and Exchange mailbox. AC 230 and AC 1476 forms will be reviewed for accuracy and the required documentation will be verified. Once all required documentation has been received and processed the payment will be reversed in PayServ or the check will be exchanged to the appropriate party. If any additional funds are due to the employee once an AC 230 Check Reversal has been processed, the check will be issued and mailed to the employee’s preferred address as listed in PayServ. If the appropriate forms and required documentation have not been submitted by December 1st annually the checks requested as stopped within the current calendar year will automatically be reissued. Once reissued the checks will be held at OSC until the required documentation has been received or the checks are escheated to the Office of Unclaimed funds. For more information regarding the escheatment schedule, see the Operational Advisory 9 – Current Year Escheatment.

OSC will continue to process check holds at the request of the agency payroll officers and will continue to receive certified bank checks or money orders by mail. Please make sure the AC 230 is submitted along with the payment.

Agency Actions:

Agencies should submit a stop payment request for physical payroll checks in PayServ. The required documentation (AC 230, AC 1476, Next of Kin Affidavit, Death Certificate) should be submitted to the Payroll Reversal and Exchange mailbox at the same time as the stop payment request or as soon as possible. For questions regarding the navigation and submission of stop payments through PayServ, see Payroll Bulletin 1964.

Agencies may continue to request check holds for physical payroll checks that have yet to be distributed to the employee. These submissions should be made no later than the Wednesday prior to the check date and should be submitted by email to the Payroll Earnings mailbox and copying your agency auditor.

Agencies should continue to use the AC 3197 Direct Deposit Reversal form for any direct deposit payments that should be reversed for an AC 230 or AC 1476. The AC 3197 Direct Deposit Reversal form should be submitted to the DD Returns and Reversals mailbox. For questions regarding the direct deposit reversal process please see Payroll Bulletin 422.1.

If an AC 230 Check reversal is needed for an overpayment when the physical check has already been cashed or the direct deposit is not recoverable, the agency payroll office must continue to request the funds from the employee via a certified check or money order. The certified check or money order should be submitted to the following address along with the corresponding AC 230 Check Reversal form. Please keep in mind OSC cannot accept personal checks.

Office of the State Comptroller

110 State Street

Remittance Control

Albany, NY 12236

Attn: AC 230 Unit

Agency payroll officers should continue to refer to the Payroll Check Notification report for updates on AC 1476 Check Exchanges or funds issued to the employee as a result of an AC 230 Check Reversal. For guidance on the Payroll Check Notification Report please refer to Payroll Bulletin 1683.

Questions:

Questions regarding this bulletin may be directed to the [email protected] mailbox.