CAR Newsletter - June 2022

Volume 32 |Number 12 | Fiscal Year 2022 | June 13, 2022

• Message from the State CFO
• Increase in Payroll Fraud Attempts
• Additional Payroll Fraud Information
• FY Combo Code Conversion Schedule
• New Departments for use in PS HCM
• Changes in Fees for SoonerSave Deferred Savings Plan
• Changes in Fees for Pathfinder Retirement Plan
• No Change in State Share of Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System
• No Change in Employer Contribution Rate for Justices and Judges Retirement System
• No Change in State Share of Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement System
• No Change in Contribution Rates for Teachers Retirement System
• Schedule of FY 23 Pay Periods
• Form EWC – PFT Reversals
• Higher Ed Deferred Payroll
• Mid-Year 1099 IRS TIN Match
• Mileage Rate for Remainder of 2022
• FY 2022 Year-End Miscellaneous Claim Vouchers and Orders Processing
• Ratification Expenditure Codes
• Financial Reporting Unit
• BrightPath News
• There are no trainings at this time.

I am so excited for what is to come for Oklahoma state finance. We will resume our Statewide Agency CFO meetings on July 14, 2022, where we will work to establish a forum for both communication and collaboration.

Further, I hope to walk away with even more ideas of how we can move the state of Oklahoma forward. One topic of discussion will be the new Strategic Plan format which will have already been rolled out. With a focus on measurability and efficiency, it is geared to ensure our plans will bring us to Top Ten status. This theme will carry over into the FY 2024 budget request documents as we look to streamline services, improve customer experience, and become a leader in automation and technology.

Ashley Plyushko, CPA

There has been an increase in fraud attempts to change employees’ banking information, including multiple change requests coming from a single email address. This article is a reminder to be cognizant that this issue is still ongoing and to be aware when receiving requests to update payroll information. To avoid processing fraudulent information, it is necessary to verify any attempts for payroll changes.

Immediate steps to take:

• Agencies must pull all Payroll Change/Direct Deposit forms from their public websites and move the forms to an intranet or distribute by employee request only. 
• Additionally, until otherwise notified, personnel who handle employee payroll direct deposit procedures should verify all requests for changes to direct deposit by personally contacting the employee by phone and verifying information such as employee ID number, employment start date, etc. Do not contact the employee by responding to an email requesting the change. Make direct contact and ensure you are actually communicating with the employee and not someone posing as the employee.
• We advise agencies to set a time delay when changing direct deposit information to decrease the chance of wage theft.

Call the OMES Service Desk at 405-521-2444 or contact the appropriate IT or security support for your organization if you receive a suspicious phone call or email.

Agencies are reminded that employees must submit a signed and dated Automatic Deposit Transmittal (HCM-73) form along with a voided check or official document from the financial institution showing the financial institution’s routing number and the employee’s account number. If both documents are not provided by the employee, the change should not be completed in the HCM system.

If it’s discovered that an employee’s banking information was submitted fraudulently, the employee should contact the HR/Payroll Department immediately along with the authorities. Agency IT personnel should be notified if any correspondence was by email.

If the individual is also established in the Vendor File, please contact Victoria Baker at Victoria.Baker@omes.ok.gov or 405-522-3093.

For helpful information and tips, please visit the Oklahoma Cyber Command website.

The National Automated Clearing House Association website also has general information on electronic payment security along with a document for protecting against fraud.

The schedule for running the FY Combo Code Conversion process is:

• Evening of June 30 and July 1, 2022 – All state agencies having bi-weekly payrolls. This process must be run prior to running ‘B01’ or ‘C01’ payrolls, which pay on July 15, 2022. Note: This date includes agencies that run both monthly and bi-weekly payrolls. All supplemental and off-cycle payrolls must be completed and processed to GL by 3 p.m. on July 01, 2022. The EBS payroll team will monitor agencies to help ensure payrolls are completed before the conversion begins.
• Evenings of July 11 and 12, 2022 – All monthly anticipatory agencies. Do not begin processing M01 until July 15, 2022.

Note: As soon as all on- and off-cycle payroll processes are completed for the June pay period, please notify Enterprise Business Services by creating a service desk case asking for the case to be assigned to the App Support-EA-ERP Support group.

This will enable the EBS team to try and schedule the agency’s FY Combo Code Conversion Process earlier. After funding has been processed, the pay calendars will be created and your agency will be notified. Questions may be directed to HRMSPeopleSoftSupport@omes.ok.gov.

If your agency will have any new departments for FY 23, please request a combo code for the funding string and ask that it be set up in the department budget table prior to June 16, 2022. The new department will then be rolled over with the FY 23 funding.

The rate certified for the administrative cost to be calculated in payrolls submitted for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2022, has changed to $2.80 per month for any qualified participant. The equivalent amount for a bi-weekly pay period is $1.29. This change will be reflected in any payrolls submitted with a pay period code of M01, B01 or C01.

The rate certified for the administrative cost to be calculated in payrolls submitted for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2022, has changed to $2.63 per month for any qualified participant. The equivalent amount for a bi-weekly pay period is $1.21. This change will be reflected in any payrolls submitted with a pay period code of M01, B01 or C01.

The amount the State of Oklahoma pays for employee retirement will remain at 16.5% for FY 2023.

The amount the State of Oklahoma pays for employee retirement will remain at 22% for FY 2023.

The amount the State of Oklahoma pays for employee retirement will remain at 11% for FY 2023.

The federal matching contribution rate for the Teachers Retirement System will increase to 8% for FY 2023. The federal matching contribution rate must be paid when salaries are paid by federal funds or externally sponsored agreements such as grants, contracts and cooperative agreements. Other TRS contribution rates remain the same for FY 2023.  For a complete list of rates, please see the TRS website.   

Please distribute the FY 2023 Pay Date schedules found at ScheduleofFY23PayPeriods to Payroll and Human Resources directors.

Questions on the codes may be directed to payrollreporting@omes.ok.gov.

All Electronic Warrant Cancellation (EWC) forms that are associated with payroll warrants must have PFT Reversal files processed before the warrants are canceled in the PS Financial system. Agencies are notified when funds have come back from the bank and are instructed to process the PFT Reversal file(s). A PFT Reversal file must be submitted timely in order for the agency to move the money from the 789 class fund and return the amounts to the funds that were used for the payroll. When this process isn’t completed, the net pay and associated withholdings remain in the 789 class fund and are not available for the agency to use as needed.

Note: Institutions are required to reconcile the 789 class funding no less than monthly. All balances remaining in the 789 class funding must be documented and identifiable. The only balance left in a 789 class funding after a payroll should be related to timing differences. A manual documenting the reconciliation process is available on our website.

Payroll claims for hours worked in fiscal years 2022 and 2023 on one payroll fund transfer file will record payroll expenses to the institution’s operating funds with bud refs 22 and 23. The claim number will begin with 23, which will require that all class 78900 transactions on the PFT file be recorded with bud ref 23. The first two digits of the claim number determine which 78900 budget is used for the net payroll vouchers, so all 78900 transactions on the PFT must be recorded with bud ref 23 to ensure the same allotment budget is used. Please ensure the FY 2023 78900 allotment budget is sufficient for the FY 2022 expenses paid in July and August 2022.

If a payroll contains only FY 22 expenses, then the claim number will be 22aaaxxxxx and the PFT bud ref will be 22.

If a payroll has FY 22 and 23 expenses, then the claim number will be 23aaaxxxxx and the PFT bud refs for the operating funds (290, 430, 700) will be as applicable and the 789 bud ref must be 23.

If a payroll contains only FY 23 expenses, then the claim number will be 23aaaxxxxx and the PFT bud ref will be 23.

In June, OMES will TIN Match names and tax id numbers with the IRS on all vendors who have received 1099 reportable payments for the first half of tax year 2022. By doing this we will be able to provide more correct information on the 1099 that vendors will receive at year end. We will notify individual agencies of vendors that don’t match with the IRS, asking for them to provide the necessary correcting information.

Please be ready to respond promptly if/when you are notified. Please contact Alicia Reel at 405-522-1099 or Alicia.Reel@omes.ok.gov or Beth Brox at 405-401-5792 or Beth.Brox@omes.ok.gov if you have any questions.

Note: This does not apply to Higher Ed Institutions since they will be doing their own 1099 reporting for 2022.

The IRS announced an increase in the mileage reimbursement rate effective July 1, 2022, to $0.625 per mile. This is an increase from the $0.585 IRS rate for the first half of 2022 (refer to Internal Revenue News Release 2022-124, released June 9, 2022). All state agencies may use the IRS rate for travel incurred on and after July 1, 2022.

The Trip Optimizer law is still in place for determining the lowest cost of transportation for travel on state business. The new $0.625 rate is now used for the mileage calculation and for the OMES mileage reimbursement amount referenced in paragraphs E and F of 74 O.S. § 85.45l.

Following are the procedures for closing out the current fiscal year and then beginning the new fiscal year activity.

• Miscellaneous claim voucher processing Voucher batches received by 1 p.m. on Wednesday, June 29, 2022, will be processed for payment by the close of business June 30. Vouchers received at OMES after 1 p.m. may be held and processed for payment in FY 2023. Vouchers may be created through 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 29, 2022, to accrue for 2022 expenditures in FY 2023. New vouchers should not be created on Thursday, June 30, 2022, since that day is reserved for fiscal year closing activities. Agencies should resolve all voucher exceptions by the close of business on June 30, 2022. New vouchers may be created beginning on Friday, July 1, 2022.
• EDT vouchers submission Agencies uploading voucher data via EDT transmissions (vouchers from remote) should provide for sufficient internal lead time so that vouchers arrive at OMES by the 1 p.m. Wednesday, June 29 deadline. Alternate system agency vouchers transmitted after noon on June 29 will be paid on Thursday, June 30, 2022. Do not submit EDT transmissions on Thursday, June 30. EDT agencies should resolve all voucher exceptions by the close of business on June 30. New EDT transmissions may be submitted beginning on Friday, July 1.
• Manual warrants The cutoff for issuing manual warrants is noon on Wednesday, June 29, for non-alternate system agencies, and 5 p.m. for alternate system agencies. Agencies whose warrants are entered into the system by OMES must have the supporting paperwork to OMES by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, June 29. Manual warrants should not be issued to payees after these deadlines since vouchers should not be created on June 30. Beginning Friday, July 1, manual warrants may be issued and the associated voucher created.
• 340 fund expenditures Expenditure entries for 340 funds for June 29, 2022, and prior must be received by 9 a.m. on June 30, 2022 to be processed in FY 2022. Expenditure entries for 340 funds for June 30, 2022, must be received by 2 p.m. on June 30, 2022, to be processed in FY 2022.

WARNING! 2023 Expenses Due Early in July 2022

Payments for 2023 expenses (e.g., July rent) may not be paid with 2022 budget. These payments may not be paid until the agency receives its 2023 budget. Agencies should notify vendors and contractors of this end-of-year processing dilemma, which could delay payment beyond the due date.

In the past agencies have been instructed to use one of the 553*** account codes for ratifications. Effective July 1, 2022, when creating a voucher for ratifications, Agencies must use the appropriate account code for the expenditure. The 553*** account codes will be reserved for settlements as described in the account code descriptions.

We are happy to announce that Roy Garcia, CPA has been promoted to the position of financial reporting manager. Roy has worked in the Financial Reporting Unit for nine years and should be familiar to many of the agencies.

Join us in welcoming Roy to his new position.

Parallel Payroll Testing (PPT) ends June 8. At that time the BrightPath project team will assess the completion metrics to determine future steps.

Workday training is coming soon. The state workforce will receive virtual training on the Employee and Manager Self-service capabilities in Workday@OK, as well as role -specific responsibilities.

The BrightPath website is updated with new FAQs, change impact information, employee journey maps and recordings of Q&A sessions featuring Workday@OK subject matter experts.