FBIC Automation Overview

New York State pays Fringe Benefit and Indirect Costs (FBIC), as they are incurred and subsequently recovers each agency’s share of the costs from Federal and other dedicated revenue funds using established rates. A new automated process was implemented as of July 1, 2018 that will no longer use quarterly agency billings and AP vouchers to record FBIC transactions. Instead, the new process generates journal entries to the General Ledger in the Statewide Financial System (SFS) on a more real-time basis that is better aligned with the timing of payroll charges. These journals follow the normal system budget check processing and automatically post to the General Ledger with a source code of “FIC”.

The process will identify any eligible personal service (PS) charges since the prior FBIC run. The FBIC process will determine which journal lines can post successfully and which are in error, and split the lines to allow for separate agency review and action as needed.

For additional instruction on this topic, visit job aid "FBIC" published to SFS Coach. SFS Coach is accessible from the SFS home page after logging in with your SFS user ID and password.

Standard Rates

At the beginning of each fiscal year, FBIC rates are calculated and entered into SFS on the Standard Rate page by The Division of Budget (DOB). The nine fringe components (Health Insurance, Workers’ Compensation, Pensions, Social Security, Dental Insurance, Vision Benefits, Employee Benefit Funds, Survivors’ Benefits and Unemployment Benefits) and Indirect Costs are displayed on the Standard Rate page as well as the total rate. There are four types of Standard Rates entered into SFS each year. The Federal Fringe, State Fringe and State Indirect Rates are the same for every agency. The Federal Indirect Rate is specific for each agency. These rates will be applied to PS disbursements from Federal and other dedicated revenue funds to determine FBIC charges. Agencies can view these rates on the SFS Standard Rate page or by using the FBIC_STANDARD_RATE query.

Waivers

Agencies who require FBIC charges to be modified or eliminated entirely must submit a request for a waiver to DOB.

With the implementation of the FBIC Automation, agencies will submit their waivers to DOB directly in SFS where DOB will approve or deny them through a workflow process.

Once approved by DOB, agencies should review their waivers in SFS on the Waiver Rate page or by using the FBIC_WAIVER_RATE query to ensure the correct FBIC rate will be applied to their PS and report any discrepancies to their DOB budget examiner immediately.

Redirects

By default, the system will always generate FBIC charges to the same chartstring as the PS with the exception of the account code. If an agency has a need to charge the FBIC amount to another funding source, a Redirect should be entered in the Redirect page in SFS. Redirects can be viewed using the FBIC_REDIRECT_MAINTENANCE and FBIC_REDIRECT_SETUP queries. Using this functionality eliminates the need to do journal entries after the FBIC process is complete, which requires staff resources and adds additional time to the proper reporting of the FBIC charges.

In order for Redirects to be available prior to the first payroll of the new fiscal year, Redirects must be entered prior to April 1st each year. Redirects will be submitted, approved and managed by the agency in SFS. A source and target set of chartfields must be entered. Redirects can be updated or inactivated throughout the fiscal year using Effective Dated rows. Effective dating allows you to retain historical data, see changes to Redirect data over time and enter Redirect data that is valid as of a future date. When the FBIC process is run it will apply the most recent Effective Dated Redirect row to the charges. The use of the General Fund is not allowed on a redirect, since this constitutes a waiver which must be approved by DOB budget examiners.

When a new Redirect Set is created it can be done using the "Add" method or the "Copy" method. The Add method should be used when your agency has never entered a Redirect Set before and the Copy feature is unavailable. To avoid errors in keying redirect sets, the Copy method is recommended anytime an agency has a prior year Redirect Set to copy from. In addition, the copy feature allows an agency to easily link back to the prior year.

Where two redirects have matching Source definitions for a set of chartfields within a single Redirect Set but one Redirect includes additional chartfield definitions, the FBIC process will ignore the less detailed match and apply the more detailed match.

Review Posted FBIC Journals

Agencies must monitor posted FBIC journals using the FBIC_TRANSACTIONAL_DETAIL and FBIC_TRANSACTIONAL_SUMMARY queries to ensure the correct rates were used and the charges were posted to the correct chart string. Agencies should report any issues to their DOB budget examiner immediately.

Reasons for FBIC Journal Errors

Automated FBIC charges will not fail due to cash validation. All fringe and indirect accounts have “loan language” authorized in the budget to allow FBIC charges to disburse even if cash is unavailable. However, if cash runs negative for FBIC, no disbursements other than fringe, indirect and payroll can be made until the cash balance is positive (absent other loan language). As such, agency finance personnel must proactively monitor available cash fund balances to ensure the balance is sufficient to cover planned operational and programmatic spending, in addition to systematic FBIC charges.

In the event that the cash balance is expected to be insufficient, agencies should work with their budget examiner to address the shortfall proactively, to ensure minimal disruption to program operations. Repeated cash shortfalls should be identified and brought to the attention of DOB.

In addition to cash validation, FBIC charges for non-capital funds will also be exempt from DOB_KK and will not fail budget check due to insufficient DOB_KK Financial Plan cash ceilings.

Budget and cash projections should be utilized by the agency prior to each FBIC process run to avoid errors. The following is a list of possible FBIC journal errors and correcting actions:

• Appropriation/Segregation: Agencies must submit the appropriate budget transfer journal for DOB approval if additional appropriation is required or move existing charges to another appropriate appropriation.
• Agency KK: Agencies must increase control allowance or move PS charges. Alternately, SFS can be updated to exclude FBIC charges from updating agency Commitment Control budgets – this can be accomplished through a SFS Help Desk request.
• Project/Budget: Agencies must prepare project budget journals as necessary. If a Federal award project budget definition end date (liquidation date) is incorrect, prepare an AC-3286S form as per normal business process and email to OSC’s Federal Grants mailbox. See GFO Chapter IX, Section 3 and Chapter IX, Section 4 for more information. OSC will not move the project budget definition end date (liquidation date) back to allow FBIC charges to pass if the grant is not still open. Any FBIC charges in error due to being charged to a closed award should be addressed by moving PS costs to an open award or state funded source.

FBIC Journals in Error and Agency Monitoring

All FBIC charges are expected to be posted at the completion of each FBIC process run. Agencies should monitor budgets and redirect FBIC charges where applicable (prior to each FBIC process run) to proactively avoid errors. While it is expected that FBIC errors will occur, agencies must regularly monitor FBIC journals in error by using the FBIC_JRNL_ERROR_RPT query and resolve errors within 3 business days of the most current FBIC allocation or by month end, whichever is shorter. Once a correcting transaction is posted by the agency, the journal in error will be re-budget checked by SFS during the regularly scheduled batch and will post once all lines are successful and all errors are cleared.

While in general it is important to address journal errors within 3 business days, Agency Financial Officers should be aware of transactions in error with regard to the Office of Operations Events and Deadlines Calendar to ensure any errors are resolved before lapsing or other significant accounting dates.

Adjusting FBIC Charges

If an agency determines their FBIC charges are incorrect due to an incorrect rate or waiver they must notify their DOB examiner and update the rate or waiver in SFS for future charges.

GL Journals

If an agency has a business need to move PS or FBIC charges, please refer to the following chart when preparing the GL Journal:

AGY Source Type – if an agency has a business need to move PS charges and FBIC charges are to follow, they must enter a GL Journal using the source code of ‘AGY’. Use of an FBIC account code on this type of journal is not appropriate and will be automatically denied.

FIA Source Type – if an agency has a business need to move FBIC charges without moving PS, they must enter a GL Journal using the source code of ‘FIA’. Agencies must use only FBIC account codes. The use of PS account codes, the General Fund, multiple Business Units, or the use of MSC01 Business Unit on this type of journal will cause it to be automatically denied.

FIE Source Type – if an agency has a business need to move PS without automatically regenerating FBIC, they must enter a GL Journal to move the PS using the source code of ‘FIE’. Bulkload agencies must enter these journals online in order to enter the appropriate source code. The use of source code ‘FIE’ should be used rarely and should not be used in instances when the PS should not generate FBIC on an ongoing basis. In that instance, a waiver should be submitted to your budget examiner. The use of FBIC account codes on this type of journal will cause the journal to be automatically denied.

Reporting

SFS queries are available to agencies to monitor posted journals, journals in error, PS/FBIC calculations, standard rates, waivers and redirects. All queries begin with “FBIC” in the title.
For additional instruction on this topic, visit job aid "FBIC" published to SFS Coach. SFS Coach is accessible from the SFS home page after logging in with your SFS user ID and password.

The FBIC WorkCenter Dashboard is also available to agencies to review this information.

FBIC Automation Role Mapping

Agencies are able to view their standard rates, waiver rates and FBIC redirects in SFS that impact their FBIC charges. Agency Security Administrators (ASAs) must role map users to the new FBIC roles to access these pages. In addition to the new FBIC roles, agencies will need to role map users to existing GL roles to support journal error corrections.

New FBIC Roles:

• NYF_AGY_FBIC_VIEW – To view FBIC data online including; Standard Rates, Waivers, and Redirects.

• 2 Redirect Roles: To enter redirect chartfields and edit existing redirects for automated FBIC charges, so agencies can control changes to the inherited chartfield values from the PS cost.

  • NYF_AGY_FBIC_REDIR_CPY – There is a control with this role to only use the “copy” function when entering a new “set” of redirects for a new fiscal year when the same set exists in the current fiscal year.

  • NYF_AGY_FBIC_REDIR_PREP – To directly enter a new “set” of redirects for a new fiscal year, even if there is an existing set of redirects in the prior fiscal year. The “copy” function is disabled once a new set is saved for a fiscal year so agencies may want to restrict the assignment of this role and assign NYF_AGY_FBIC_REDIR_CPY to start a new fiscal year by copying the prior year set of redirects.

Existing Roles that will support the new FBIC process:

• NYF_AGY_GL_INQUIRY – To look up GL Journal information.
• NYF_AGY_GL_REPORTS – To run reports needed to monitor FBIC journals. This role includes GL Inquiry.

Federal Pre-Award Spending

See Chapter IX, Section 3.A – Establish & Maintain Federal Grants in SFS for Non-Onboarding Agencies – Pre-Award Spending Projects of this Guide for more information.

For additional instruction on this topic, visit job aid "FBIC Automation" published to SFS Coach. SFS Coach is accessible from the SFS home page after logging in with your SFS user ID and password.

Guide to Financial Operations

REV. 10/09/2019