The State Legislature authorizes State agencies to make expenditures and incur obligations for specific purposes each fiscal year in the form of an appropriation. Contract encumbrances and expenditures are made against the program appropriations and recorded using an expenditure account code in SFS.

Every effort has been made to provide expenditure account codes that are specific enough to provide accurate management information, yet broad enough to cover the wide variety of goods and services purchased by New York State. In order to establish a chart of accounts for expenditures that is both usable and manageable, a list of account codes has been developed and organized according to industry best practices which requires that a minimum number of accounts be created for major expenditure classes. When the expenditure account code is used in combination with COMMODITY or PRODUCT CODES, it will provide essential information that can be used for financial reporting and analytical purposes, and enable State managers to monitor and track how State funds are spent.

The following major classes of expenditures have been developed for use by all State agencies and public authorities that transact in the SFS. Each of these is described in the sections of this manual that immediately follow.

• Department Operations:
  • Personal Service (PS):
    • PS – Regular
    • PS – Temporary Service
    • PS – Holiday/Overtime Compensation
  • Non-Personal Service (NPS)
    • NPS – Contractual Services
    • NPS – Travel
    • NPS – Equipment
    • NPS – Supplies and Materials
    • NPS – Indirect Costs
    • NPS – Other - Clearing Accounts, Allocation Accounts and Other Account Codes used on SFS System-Generated Transactions
• General State Charges (GSC):
  • GSC – Employee (Fringe) Benefits
  • GSC – Fixed Costs
  • GSC – Claims, Awards, Judgments, and Settlement Agreements

• Debt Service
• Grants and Public Assistance
• Capital Projects

Guide to Financial Operations

REV. 11/26/2019