Subject:

SFS Imaging and Attachment Guidance; Record Retention for Accounts Payable Vouchers

Guidance:

Consistent with the Guide to Financial Operations (GFO), Chapter XII, Section 3 - Record Retention – Accounts Payable Vouchers and Land Claims, Business Units may now use the Attachment Feature in SFS’ Accounts Payable module to facilitate OSC’s transaction approval.

OSC’s Bureau of State Expenditures audits and processes Business Units’ payment vouchers. As such, OSC’s auditors require access to documentation from Business Units to support payments processed in the SFS. OSC may contact Business Unit personnel to either request documentation be sent to OSC or conduct an on-site review. In either case, supporting documentation must be readily available to OSC’s auditors to facilitate timely payment approval. The auditors’ requests for information may be limited depending on the extent to which scanned documentation attached to an Accounts Payable Voucher meets the auditors’ needs.

Business Units electing to use the attachment feature in SFS must continue to retain hard copy originals as the documents of record unless certified to dispose of the originals by the New York State Archives. Business Units must also comply with the requirements outlined in the Electronic Signatures and Records Act. Please see the GFO, Chapter XII, Section 3 - Record Retention – Accounts Payable Vouchers and Land Claims, for further policy references.

If a Business Unit decides to attach supporting documents to accounts payable vouchers, it must establish a well–developed, documented procedure to ensure the attachments (i) retain the integrity of the original documents, (ii) support legitimate payments, and (iii) comply with relevant records retention requirements. For more information regarding the requirements for attaching images in support of payments, please see the GFO, Chapter XIV, Section 9 - Statewide Financial System Imaging and Attachment Guidance.