Streamlined Banking Newsletter SLBFeedback@sao.ga.gov sao.georgia.gov 404.656.2133 November 2006 Issue 4 INSIDE THIS ISSUE 1 Important Dates to Remember 1 Spotlight: Streamlined Banking Pilot Agencies 4 Transition Session 2 Q&A's 5 Highlighted SB Team Members of the Month 6 Upcoming Events 7 We Need Your Help! 7 Glossary of Terms 8 Contact Us See Transition Session 2 Questions and Answers on page 4 Important Dates to Remember Date Change * Transition Session #3 - November 14, 2006 * Transition Session #4 - January 11, 2007 * Transition Session #5 - TBD Transition Session #6 - TBD Spotlight: Streamlined Banking Pilot Agencies In the next few issues of the newsletter, we will be highlighting the Streamlined Banking Pilot agencies. Our pilot agencies include: Department of Administrative Services Department of Banking & Finance Department of Audits & Accounts Office of Treasury & Fiscal Services Board of Pardons & Paroles State Accounting Office. In this issue we are highlighting the Board of Pardons & Paroles and the Office of Treasury and Fiscal Services. We are very grateful for their participation in this very important project. We couldn't do what we do without you! Thanks to all of our pilot agencies! Page 2 Streamlined Banking Newsletter Spotlight: Streamlined Banking Pilot Agencies (continued) Office of Treasury and Fiscal Services (OTFS) The Georgia Office of Treasury and Fiscal Services is the cash and investment manager for the State of Georgia, preserving both capital and public trust by managing Georgia's cash resources efficiently and conservatively. The Office of Treasury and Fiscal Services also administers the Georgia Higher Education Savings Plan. OTFS consists of 18 employees. They are responsible for the receipt and disbursement of state and lottery funds, management of the state's cash resources, Georgia Fund 1 and the Georgia Extended Asset Pool. Both of these funds are AAA rated by Standard and Poor's (S&P). They serve both state agencies and local government. OTFS is responsible for ensuring that state agencies' cash management practices are coordinated with the policies of the State Depository Board. OTFS has established the Bank Fee Payment Program and a cash management team to fulfill these responsibilities. The cash management team serves as an intermediary between agencies and banks, providing assistance in acquiring necessary bank services; managing total banking costs and ensuring that bank compensation is fair and reasonable. Agencies are required to submit requests for new bank accounts directly to OTFS. The director of OTFS presents the requests to the State Depository Board for approval. State law requires state depository board approval of all agency bank accounts. In addition to their role as a Streamlined Banking Pilot Agency, OTFS is also a SAO partner in designing, developing and implementing the new Streamlined Banking Project for the State of Georgia. They are currently not on PeopleSoft, but will now be added as business unit 48600. They will continue to support Non Streamlined Banking agencies and take on additional duties for the new Streamlined Banking agencies. OTFS is located at: 200 Piedmont Avenue Suite 1202, West Tower Atlanta, Georgia 30334 Phone: 404.656.2168 Fax: 404.656.9048 Streamlined Banking Newsletter Page 3 Spotlight: Streamlined Banking Pilot Agencies (continued) State Board of Pardons and Paroles (P&P) The State Board of Pardons and Paroles is the only entity in the state with the constitutional authority to grant executive clemency. The State Board of Pardons and Paroles is a part of the executive branch of Georgia's government, authorized to grant paroles, pardons, reprieves, remissions, commutations, and to restore civil and political rights. The Parole Board makes informed decisions on which inmates are deserving of parole, thereby ensuring prison beds are dedicated to the offenders who have committed the most serious crimes. The Board is also responsible for managing prisoner re-entry for certain offenders released from confinement after he or she has served an appropriate portion of their prison sentence. Parole Officers skillfully and carefully reintegrate offenders back into the community under strict supervision. Persons on parole remain under state supervision and control according to conditions which, if violated, allow for re-imprisonment. Without the influence of parole's strict supervision, more offenders would return to Georgia prisons, creating a costly cycle of increasing recidivism. The agency is composed of 3 major operational divisions, which include: Executive Offices, the Clemency and Parole Selection Division and the Field Operations Division. Each of these divisions is made up of several specialized units and employs approximately 800 employees statewide. State Board of Pardons and Paroles is located at: 2 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive Suite 458, Balcony Level Atlanta, Georgia 30334 SAO Fiscal Leadership for Georgia Page 4 Streamlined Banking Newsletter Transition Session 2 Survey Questions and Answers Q: How do I wire money to an international site? A: Enter the transaction in PeopleSoft as a wire/ACH and budget check; submit a wire transfer request form to OTFS by 11:00 AM; OTFS will wire the money through the cash management module (bank proprietary as back-up). Q: What if you want to move money at 5:00pm? Who do I need to contact? A: You need to send your wire request form to OTFS by 11:00 am each day. If there are extenuating circumstances where the agency has an emergency situation, they will need to contact OTFS directly and OTFS will deal with each situation on a case by case basis. Q: Will agencies get to keep interest earned? A: Only if the law requires the agency to keep interest earned. All State funds that earn interest will be kept in the Treasury's General Fund for investment purposes. Agencies that have money invested in GF1 or GEAP will continue to earn interest. There will be no change to this policy due to Streamlined Banking. Q: Is there a possibility of a payroll debit card for those employees without a bank account to keep the agency from having to generate checks for those who don't have direct deposit? A: The State is recommending direct deposit for all employee payroll transactions. For those that can't receive funds by direct deposit, the State would like to recommend the payroll debit card; however, this enhancement is not directly related to Streamlined Banking, but is a statewide goal. Q: Does the agency only reconcile the deposit side? A: Yes the agencies will be responsible for reconciling their Agency Main Depository Account. All disbursements will be made from the State Operating Accounts or the State Payroll Account. Both disbursement accounts will be reconciled by the SAO Cash Management Team with assistance from the agencies on exceptions. Streamlined Banking Newsletter Highlighted SB Team Members of the Month Sue Ferguson has recently joined SAO as an Accountant on the Cash Management Team. Prior to joining SAO, Sue had three years of state government experience and over 20 years of construction industry accounting experience with a Fortune 100 company. In her role at SAO, she will concentrate on payroll operations with relation to cash management. Sue earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting from Georgia State University and holds certification as an Internal Auditor (CIA). She maintains a membership in the Atlanta chapter of the Institute of Internal Auditors and the Georgia Fiscal Management Council. Sue likes to spend her free time reading, collecting antique glassware, working in the yard, and traveling. Page 5 Sherilyn Manus has twelve years of consulting experience in PeopleSoft Human Capital Management implementations, maintenance and upgrades. She has served as the PeopleSoft HCM consultant on projects for companies such as Wachovia, Bellsouth, Cox Enterprises, Automatic Data Processing and the Southern Company. Sherilyn earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science at the University of North Carolina. Sherilyn spends her spare time traveling, shopping, watching and attending sporting events and spending time with her family and friends. Daphnie Colclough has been employed with the SAO since May 2006. She is currently on the Cash Management Team. Daphnie has over 11 years of governmental accounting experience. Prior to joining SAO she worked for the Department of Natural Resources as a Supervisor in the Cash Management group. Daphnie earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting from East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, TN. Daphnie likes to spend her free time playing or watching sports and listening to the radio. Page 6 Streamlined Banking Newsletter Upcoming Events! Make your reservation today! Transition Sessions The Transition Sessions will disseminate important information to Leadership, Key Users and Production Support concerning the Streamlined Banking Project and the transition activities ahead. Session Transition Session #3: SAO Disbursement Center and Accounts Receivable / Billing Course Description and Modules This session provides an overview of the SAO Disbursement Center (including changes to Accounts Payable and HCM). Also discussed: Bank Administration Accounts Receivable and Billing Changes Agency Readiness and Task List Review Upcoming sessions Transition Session # 4: Overview of Accounting Process, General Ledger and Commitment Control This session provides an overview of accounting processes as affected by Streamlined Banking. Also to be discussed: General Ledger Commitment Control Contingency Planning Clean up needed Agency Readiness Task list review Upcoming Sessions Planned Date November 14, 2006 January 11, 2007 Time 9am - 11am 9am - 11am Location Course # 200 Piedmont Ave, Suite 1514 B & C, West Tower 407FR01 200 Piedmont Ave, Suite 1816 A&B, West Tower 407FR01 Session # 0003 0004 Transition This session addresses specific TBD TBD TBD Session #5: activities related to Go-Live. Also Ready for Go- discussed: Live Pilot Deployment Roll-out Schedule, Start up Activities, Agency Readiness Task List Review Checklist Upcoming Sessions Go-Live Support & Resources 407FR01 005 Have your Agency Training Coordinator sign you up today! If your agency has no training coordinator or the session is full, please email SLBFeedback@sao.ga.gov and someone will register you for the session number listed above. Please be sure to have you employee ID number, phone number, and email address ready. Streamlined Banking Newsletter We Need Your Help! The Streamlined Banking Team Needs Your Help!!!!!! In order for us to create training that is helpful and understood we need your feedback. Please take the time to fill out our Transition Session Online Surveys. Transition Session #3 November 14, 2006 Feedback Survey Your feedback is important to us and will allow us to create training that will be beneficial to you as the end-user. Page 7 Glossary of Terms GF1 - Georgia Fund 1 GEAP - Georgia Extended Asset Pool Investment Fund - an investment fund as it relates to the State of Georgia would be funds that are invested in one of the two AAA rated funds managed by OTFS. These pools are Georgia Fund 1 and Georgia Extended Asset Pool. Recidivism - a tendency to relapse into a previous condition or mode of behavior; especially: relapse into criminal behavior. Standards and Poor's - is the world's foremost provider of financial market intelligence, including independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research and data. Page 8 Contact Us! Give Us Your Input! Streamlined Banking Newsletter For more information on the Streamlined Banking Project or comments/ questions about the Project Newsletter, contact the communications team at: SLBFeedback@sao.ga.gov Additional information can also be found at the SAO Website by clicking on the Streamlined Banking link: http://sao.georgia.gov State Accounting Office Statewide Accounting 200 Piedmont Ave., Suite 1604, West Tower Atlanta, GA. 30334 - Phone: 404-656-2133 - Fax: 404-463-5089