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USPS Fiscal Year End Checklist

USPS Fiscal Year End Checklist

Payrolls with July or later pay dates that are in the new fiscal year cannot be processed unless the STRS Advance has been completed. The following error will be produced if trying to initialize the first pay in July before creating the STRS Advance Submission File.
***Error - STRS Advance must be processed before running a payroll with pay date in July***

Pre-Closing Procedures

The following pre-closing procedures can be completed any time prior to closing the fiscal year.

1. Cost of Life Insurance Over $50,000.  For any employee that will be retiring/resigning at the end of the fiscal year, calculate the cost of life insurance over $50,000. Using the Payroll>Payroll Payments - Future or Payroll Payments - Current, enter the calculated life insurance cost as part of their final pay using a Pay Type of Life Insurance Premium. Click here for more information from the IRS regarding Group-Term Life Insurance and related costs.  Click here for the checklist regarding reporting taxable amounts of life insurance premiums. 

2.  Run the STRS Advance Reports to begin checking and balancing the reports.  You can also clear up errors that appear at this time.

Month-End Closing for June

3.  Process any Monthly/Quarterly Outstanding Payables, since June is also the end of the quarter.  

4.  Verify all Outstanding Payables.

5.  Run and balance STRS Monthly Optional.

6.  Run and balance SERS Monthly Optional.

7.  Run the CENSUS Report and create submission file for Annuity reporting Optional

8.  Run the AFFORD Report (Affordable Care Act Report) and create the submission file Optional

9.  Process Benefit Accruals   

 10. Balance the Payroll Account.

Quarter-End Closing

11.  Process ODJFS Report and create submission file.

In order to upload the file you must have an account.  To register for an account if you do not already have one, click here.

 

12.  Balance the Quarter Report.

13.  Balance the W2 Report and Submission.

If Errors:

  • Check employees that had exceptions processed during the quarter.  Such as:

    • Voids

    • Error Adjustments

    • Changes added through Core/Adjustments

The Reports>Audit Report can be helpful to identifying these issues.

14.  Verify all Outstanding Payables.
15.  The total of all Employer Distribution amounts (if tracked on the system) should equal the total of all USAS disbursements.        
16.  Complete and file all required quarter-end submission forms.  (For example - City reconciliations, 941)
17.  For city withholdings, take the Applicable Gross times the percentage to be sure the tax withheld and submitted are correct.  Courtesy withholding and employees that work in multiple municipalities can cause discrepancies.

18. Create the SERS Liability Report for the Auditors.

19.  Run SERS Surcharge Report.  This report should be run now, saved, and used along with the SERS Surcharge Report sent by SERS.

STRS Advance Processing

Employees flagged as full-time must have at least 120 service days to be granted a full year of service credit toward retirement. Employees flagged as part-time will be given credit according to STRS rules outlined in the STRS Employer's Website. If you are in doubt about an employee's part-time or full-time status, please contact STRS and obtain a ruling.  The part-time or full-time status is located in the employee's 450 payroll item.

The STRS Advance must be completed in the posting period month of June and before your first July payroll is processed.

20.  Verify and balance all STRS Advance reports.  

21.  Generate the STRS Submission File.

When the STRS Submission file is created, the system flags all eligible jobs in advance mode, sets the Advance Amount and Advance Mode checkbox.  These fields can be viewed in Core>Organization under STRS Advance Configuration.

Each time Outstanding Payables are processed for STRS, the Amount Paid Back field in Core>Organization is increased by the advance amount paid until the two amounts equal, taking the district out of advance mode. 

22.  If applicable Merge your STRSADXX06.TXT with your third party file.  The third party file will need to be in the proper STRS Annual Record Layout.  

23.  Upload the file to STRS.

Once the STRS Advance submission file is uploaded to STRS, the Submitted to STRS Timestamp field is updated and can be used for verification purposes.  This is found in Core>Organization under the STRS Advance Configuration.

 

24. Close the June XXXX posting period and create the July XXXX posting period.

Restrictions during the advance:

  • Modifications cannot be made to certain fields on Position/Compensation records in the advance mode.

  • Certain Pay Types cannot be processed on advance jobs REG or IRR.

You are now closed for the fiscal year, proceed with July's payroll processing.

Post Fiscal Year-End Closing

After the last advance pay:

25.  After all the advance payrolls have been completed, verify the STRS advance balanced.     

SSDT District Audit Job is scheduled to run on the evening of August 1st. When the Audit Job runs, it will generate preconfigured reports for the prior fiscal year, which is determined by the current period, and send them to Document Storage under the Audit Files tab. The reports are also zipped and securely sent to the Auditor of State via SFTP.

The District Audit Job runs the following reports:

  • AoS Employee Report 

  • AoS Payment History Report 

  • AoS Payment Distribution Report