Our Enterprise Duties

Statewide Accounting

Statewide Accounting’s highly experienced staff provides quality financial information for the State which includes the General Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP)-based financial statements and related note disclosures that are required by the bond raters and investors in State debt.  Statewide Accounting also ensures that Generally Accepted Accounting Principles are properly interpreted and implemented throughout State Government and accurately reports the state of fiscal affairs to the General Assembly, the Executive Branch, our citizens, and Wall Street through the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (Annual Report), and other financial reports.  

North Carolina is one of only nine States that have both an AAA bond rating and received the GFOA Certificate of Achievement.  Other awards and achievements as a result of OSC’s Statewide Accounting include:

  • The 2023 Annual Report marked the 28th consecutive year, OSC has received  the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting by the Government Finance Officers Association of the United States and Canada (GFOA) for the State’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for its transparency, clarity and accuracy.
  • The Annual Report has received an unqualified or “clean” audit opinion since 1994.
  • In the summer of 2023, OSC HR-Payroll and Communications Teams received an award at the North Carolina Digital Summit. The award was a “Best of North Carolina” award for Outstanding Leadership and Innovation.

Statewide Accounting provides accounting and financial reporting to over 120 state agencies, universities and community colleges as well as manages and implements all the business processes and functions of the North Carolina Accounting System (NCAS) and provides NCFS accounting system support to approximately 5,500 users across 30 state agencies. This area also administers the State’s cash disbursing system, the statewide Cash Management Plan and the statewide Accounts Receivable Program.

Statewide Accounting leads the expansion of the statewide enterprise electronic commerce program. The eCommerce initiative helps agencies cut costs and promotes an environmentally friendly business atmosphere by shifting away from a paper-based environment for both outbound and inbound payments.  This program primarily involves two methods to disburse and receive payments: 1) Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT); and 2) Merchant Cards (credit and debit cards).  

Human Resources/Payroll

The HR Payroll team is responsible for the support and maintenance, operations and training of payroll, benefits and HR transactions for more than 30 North Carolina agencies and boards, serving approximately 80,000 employees.

The Technical team is responsible for maintaining and enhancing the system, including configuration, development and support of the base Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, report development and support, security access, and employee and manager portal support.

The Operations team provides transaction processing, analysis, and error correction support in all HR/Payroll functional areas to the client agencies and their employees.  The areas within the Operations team include HR, Benefits, Time Evaluation, Garnishments, Payroll, and Accounting. 

  • The HR Operations team supports agency HR staff in processing HR transactions by troubleshooting and correcting processing errors and workflow related issues.  This team also maintains the organizational structure data elements within the Human Resource Information System (HRIS).  This team works closely with all other Operations teams to ensure that HR data produces the expected payroll results.
     
  • The Benefits Operations team troubleshoots benefit eligibility, enrollment, and payroll deduction processes for all statewide benefit plans for medical insurance, state retirement plans, supplemental retirement plans, as well as the insurance products available through the NCFlex program.  The team processes the outbound eligibility files to the benefit vendors.
     
  • The Time Evaluation team reviews time evaluation results, assists with cross-agency time/leave transactions, and resolves agency and employee issues related to changes in employee quota balances and time/quota error corrections. This team closes approximately 950 support requests monthly for agencies and employees.
     
  • The Garnishment Operations team enters all payroll garnishments and releases into the payroll system.  The team processes approximately 1,200 garnishment transactions monthly.  This team also provides address, withholding tax changes, and bank account maintenance for employees and former employees who do not have access to their agency HR/Payroll office.
     
  • The Payroll Operations team generates and reviews the final payroll results for both biweekly and monthly payroll cycles.  The team also manages off-cycle payrolls, administers overpayment claims, responds to salary verification requests, and answers questions on payroll calculations and processing.
     
  • The Accounting Operations team posts the payroll results to the financial system, makes third party vendor payments, manages escheats, completes federal and state tax reporting, and reconciles state health plan insurance premiums and retirement system reporting for all employees.    This team reconciles the cash and liability account balances for proper financial reporting of the payroll disbursing account.

The Training team trains almost 2,000 students per year in over 200 instructor led and virtual classes.

 

Risk Mitigation/Internal Controls

The Audit, Risk, and Compliance Services Division’s mission is to:

  • Serve as an advocate for fiscal accountability and transparency in government
  • Ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations
  • Recover funds which would otherwise not be available for the benefit of the State’s citizens; and,
  • Provide for the continuity of the State’s fiscal operations.

Our enterprise responsibilities include:

EAGLE

The Statewide Internal Control Program, Enhancing Accountability in Government through Leadership and Education (EAGLE), helps state entities in their efforts to achieve compliance with NCGS Chapter 143D, State Governmental Accountability and Internal Control Act. We accomplish this through statewide internal control policies and procedures, statewide education awareness and training programs, and consultation assistance related to internal control and the assessment of risk.

Statewide Tax Compliance Program

We are responsible for researching and monitoring current and proposed laws/regulations pertaining to Federal, State and Social Security taxation, establishing statewide policies and procedures related to taxation compliance requirements, providing consultative assistance and educational awareness/training programs on taxation compliance matters and serving as the liaison between the State and the US Social Security Administration and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agencies.

We are also responsible for providing state entities with the resources/tools necessary to comply with applicable IRS regulations pertaining to payments made by a state entity to a foreign national (non-resident alien) and assisting state entities in their efforts to complete the required year-end tax reporting related to payments made to non-resident aliens.

Statewide Indirect Cost Allocation Plan

A state can recoup costs from the federal government for money it spends on federally mandated programs by either direct billing the federal programs through internal service funds or indirectly allocating the costs through a statewide indirect cost allocation plan.  To charge indirect overhead costs to a federal program, a state must prepare a statewide indirect cost allocation plan and submit it to the United States’ Department of Human Services – Cost Allocation Services Division (US/DHHS/CAS) for review and approval.

We oversee the preparation of an indirect cost allocation plan for the State and are responsible for overseeing the preparation of the plan by a third party contractor, providing cost and allocation data to the contractor so that a cost plan distributing indirect cost can be developed.  We respond to inquiries and resolve disputes with US/DHHS/CAS.

Overpayments Audit and Recovery Program

We oversee the performance of a third-party vendor under contract to perform an audit and collection process of inadvertent overpayments by state agencies to vendors resulting from pricing errors, neglected rebates and discounts, miscalculated freight charges, unclaimed refunds, erroneously paid excise taxes, and related errors (as authorized by NCGS §147-86-22).