Payroll Accounting

Summary

This shared service provides payroll accounting services on behalf of all State System universities and the Office of the Chancellor.

Scope of Services

The scope of services includes the processing and payment of the State System’s payments to third parties for taxes, pension, health benefits, garnishments, union dues, SECA contributions, foundation contributions, and other payments; reissuance of paychecks and direct deposits; correction of payroll overpayments; and monitoring of the pay check escheat process.

Roles and Responsibilities

  • Reconciliation, reporting, and payment of federal, state, and local payroll taxes
  • Reconciliation, reporting, and payment of retirement contributions and wages to SERS, PSERS, and ARP (Alternative Retirement Plan) vendors, and TSA and Deferred Compensation vendors.
  • Reconciliation, reporting, and payment of benefits, such as health insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, etc.
  • Reconciliation, reporting, and payment of all other amounts withheld from employees’ paychecks, including union dues, U. S. Government bonds, wage garnishments, etc.
  • Initiates transfers from/to State System Universities to fund third-party vendor payments not processed via regular biweekly processing.
  • Auditing of biweekly payroll processing to determine overall accuracy, works with Payroll Services and technical staff to resolve any discrepancies and ensure interface schedules are met, provides functional specifications to technical staff for reporting needs.
  • User acceptance testing of system upgrades and configuration changes to ensure continued accuracy of tax payments and associated reporting.
  • Reviews and analyzes federal and state tax legislation; collective bargaining agreements, side letters and arbitration awards; Commonwealth Management Directives, Administrative Circulars, and other publications; Board of Governors’ policies; tax laws; court rulings; third-party correspondence; and research software. Identifies and determines the potential effect of these issues on State System payroll accounting operations.