Payroll Service Bureau - Frequently Asked Questions
Interested in participating in the Bureau? Here are a few questions often posed by an agency when investigating potential
use of bureau services.
Q: Does agency management lose control over their Payroll, Leave Accounting and Benefits Processing Functions?
A: No, the bureau acts as a processing agent and holds no management authority over these administrative
functions. The bureau staff performs these functions at the direction and approval of the participating agency’s Human Resource
and Fiscal management. Certification of Payroll expenditures remains within the agency, as does final approval of all required
reconciliations and information returns.
Q: How can I be sure the bureau will perform these administrative functions as I have instructed?
A: When an agency joins the bureau, an Agency Operating Profile is developed between the bureau and
the agency. This Agency Operating Profile acts as the agreement between the two parties and documents the roles and responsibilities between agency
staff and bureau staff. Detailed processing information regarding approval processes and required authorizations is documented
so both the bureau and the agency will know precisely what to expect from bureau services.
Q: Does the bureau charge the participating agency for their services?
A: Processing fees are charged on a fiscal year basis based on actual bureau operating costs. Fees are allocated
to customer agencies based on the number of W-2’s processed in the preceding calendar year. Fees are waived for agencies whose
MEL is supported by the general fund and whose budgets were adjusted when the agency joined the Bureau.
Q: Will the agency’s MEL be adjusted by using the bureau?
A: The bureau does not initiate any communications to the Department of Planning and Budget when an agency
begins using the bureau services.
Q: What is the most minimal responsibility an agency can have for coordinating activities with the bureau?
A: The bureau is designed to require as little or as much intervention from an agency as that agency desires.
Payroll, leave, and benefits related materials should be kept in a secured place, awaiting pick up by a bureau courier, on a
semi-monthly basis. Alternatively, for remote agencies, these materials may be faxed to the bureau. Responsibility for the
certification of payroll expenditures and the approval of required reconciliations remains within the agency.
Q: What if agency management doesn’t want their employees to know they have transferred these processing responsibilities to
the bureau? Are they obligated to inform their employees of this change in processing responsibilities?
A: No, there is no obligation on behalf of the agency to inform their employees of the transfer of these
processing responsibilities. The bureau can be as transparent or as obvious to an agency’s employees as that agency’s management
desires.
Many participating agencies choose to continue their involvement in these administrative functions by acting as the point
of first contact for employees’ questions regarding pay, benefits or leave. Other agencies choose to let the bureau act as
the point of first contact for their employees’ questions. The level of agency involvement in these administrative functions
is established at the discretion of the participating agency’s management.
Q: Does an agency have to change any of its internal forms, such as timesheets, leave slips, deduction authorizations, etc., in order to participate in the bureau?
A: No, the bureau will adapt to whatever forms are currently in use in the agency. The Agency Operating Profile will document and
include all internal forms and the actions expected of the bureau for each form.
Q: May an agency use the bureau for temporary relief due to staff attrition or loss of human resources?
A: No, the bureau will not accept responsibility for processing an agency’s payroll or leave information for
strictly a temporary timeframe.
Q: May an agency use the bureau solely for the purpose of performing the Leave Accounting function and retain responsibility for
the payroll function within the agency?
A: No, the minimum service provided to participating agencies includes the payroll function. When an agency
elects to use the Bureau for the payroll function, and the agency uses the CIPPS Leave Accounting System, the Leave function transfers with the payroll function to the Bureau.
Q: What steps should I take to learn more about the bureau services or to initiate participation in the bureau?
A: Please contact:
Jean Turlington @ 804-225-2270
or by email,
Jean.Turlington@doa.virginia.gov
