Thank you for your interest in the Office of Operations 2026 Virtual Fall Conference. By attending any of the courses below, you will be added to the Office of Operations email distribution list to receive future communications related to its annual Fall Conference. You may opt out at any time by clicking the “unsubscribe from this list” link included in every email.

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WHEN

November 2 - 6

REGISTRATION

No registration is required. 

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

This conference is intended for State agency staff who have responsibility for adding vendors, procurement, payments, accounting, finance, 1099 reporting or contract management.

Please contact the Office of Operations' Bureau of Analysis, Support, and Knowledge Transfer at [email protected] if you have questions or need assistance.

COURSE SCHEDULE

WebEx links and links to presentations coming soon.

Monday, November 2

9:30 – 10:30: Introduction to the Office of Operations (OOO)

This session will introduce each of the operational Bureaus that make up the New York State Comptroller's Office of Operations (OOO). OOO leadership will take attendees on a "tour" of OOO, explaining the main functions and responsibilities of each OOO operational Bureau – the Bureau of State Accounting Operations, the Bureau of State Expenditures, the Bureau of Contracts, the Bureau of Financial Reporting and Oil Spill Remediation, the Bureau of State Payroll Services, and the Office of Unclaimed Funds. Subject Matter Experts will field questions sent in the Chat. This presentation will provide a comprehensive review of how money flows and is accounted for and reported on, from the point at which the State budget is enacted and an appropriation is established to when payments are made (and the many steps in between) and the role OOO plays in the process.

Presenters: OOO Executives, Bureau Directors, Assistant Directors and Subject Matter Experts (Office of Operations)

Target Audience: Anyone wishing to learn more about the organization and function of the Office of Operations

Course Length: 1 hour

 

11:00 – 12:00: Lease Q & A: Best Practices for Lease Contract Submissions

This session will provide tips, requirements and best practices to State and public authority contracting entities for submissions of lease transactions.

Presenters: Nicole Maguire, Shelby Foster, Matthew Bennett, Jamie Hockey-Barrett, Lindsay Carswell and Peter Vander Veer (Bureau of Contracts)

Target Audience: Procurement professionals who prepare or submit lease agreements from State agencies and/or authorities

Course Length: 1 hour

 

1:00 – 3:00: Advertisement to Approval: Reviewing Frequently Asked Questions with the Bureau of Contract's Goods and Services Team

This session will review questions frequently asked to our office related to New York State procurement and contracting for goods and services.

Presenters: John Fretto, Bridget Jones, Cara House, Nicholas VanDenburg, Jamie Hockey-Barrett and Madison Rodriguez (Bureau of Contracts)

Target Audience: Procurement professionals wanting a better understanding of the laws, procedures and best practices governing New York State procurement of goods and services

Course Length: 2 hours

Wednesday, November 4

9:00 – 9:30: The Guide to Financial Operations – A Walk Through

This course will provide general information about the Office of Operations’ Guide to Financial Operations (GFO), an overview of each of the sections and will cover the ways in which updates are made, incorporated and communicated to agency staff.

Presenters: Sarah Stocklas (Bureau of Analysis, Support and Knowledge Transfer)

Target Audience: Agency Fiscal and Program staff

Course Length: .5 hours

 

10:00 – 11:45: Contract Payment Review

Presenters will discuss internal controls, fraud, various types of red flags and the monitoring process. Includes a Q&A panel.

Presenters: Janel Carey, Sam Blumenthal, Theresa Cassiack and Danielle Friend (Bureau of State Expenditures)

Target Audience: Agency Fiscal and Program staff

Course Length: 1.75 hours

 

1:00 – 1:30: SFS Coach Training and Support

This course will provide an overview of the Statewide Financial System's (SFS) training repository, SFS Coach Training, and the SFS Support Tile, two resources that help you perform your work in SFS. The course will include demonstrations of both SFS Coach Training and the SFS Support Tile.

Presenters: Zach Lisewski and Kelsey Mitchell (Statewide Financial System)

Target Audience: Any Statewide Financial System (SFS) user

Course Length: .5 hours

 

2:00 – 3:30: Tips, Tricks, and Techniques of the New York State Vendor File and 1099 Processing

This course will provide an overview of Vendor File functionality, the Vendor Portal and 1099 reporting. New this year – disregarded entity vendor registration. This session includes a Q&A panel. 

Presenters: Rebecca Dunn, Steven Rossini, Brittany Crump, Ashley Cummins, Katie Germain, Anne Hall, Aidan Klein, Belkis Martinez, Binafshah Sehat, and Meisha Welcome (Bureau of State Expenditures); and Jeremy Kaufman (Statewide Financial Systems)

Target Audience: Agency staff adding vendors or assigning payment location or withholding on vouchers

Course Length: 1.5 hours

Thursday, November 5

9:00 – 10:30: Voucher Review & Certification

Presenters will discuss voucher certification, certification of internal controls over the payment process, agency review of invoices, State Expenditures' Pre-Audit and supporting documentation. Includes a Q&A panel.

Presenters: Tina Carstensen, Janel Carey, Meg Reaume, Jenna Pothier (Bureau of State Expenditures)

Target Audience: Agency Fiscal and Program staff

Course Length: 1.5 hours

 

11:30 – 12:00: Creating and Managing Funds in SFS

Any changes or additions to SFS fund codes are reviewed and ultimately requested by the BSAO Revenue and/or BSAO Federal teams. Each of these fund determinations requires specific criteria to be met before BSAO will request the change. This course will be an overview of the requirements and process to change an existing or request a new SFS fund code.

Presenters: Krista Leslie, Kristen Ryan, Agata Roberts, Pricilla Amrock and David Wong (Bureau of State Accounting Operations) 

Target Audience: Agency staff who request fund set ups or transact with any fund in SFS and anyone interested in understanding BSAO Revenue's role and the requirements for a fund change or new fund set-up

Course Length: .5 hours

 

1:00 – 2:00: Travel and Expense Entry in SFS

This course will include a brief overview of the travel guidelines and best practices followed by a demonstration of expense report entry in SFS.

Presenters: William Cohen (Bureau of State Expenditures); Kelsey Mitchell and Gina Bovair (Statewide Financial System)

Intended Audience: Agency Fiscal staff and Travelers

Course Length: 1 hour

 

2:30 – 3:00: Risks to the State’s Finances

This course will provide an overview of the various risks that the State Budget is facing. These include changes and uncertainty in federal funding, revenues that are disproportionately dependent on Wall Street, and spending levels that are above projected revenues.

Presenters: Matthew Golden (Office of the State Comptroller, Budget and Policy Analysis)

Target Audience: Anyone whose work is impacted by State funding

Course Length: .5 hours

Friday, November 6

9:30 – 10:30: The Ins and Outs of Reporting for Intangible Assets

What are the differences between a Subscription-Based IT Arrangement and an Intangible Asset? If you don't know, you are not alone! Join us for some explanation and examples of what to look for. We will also have a brief refresher on reporting for impairments.

Presenters: Christine Wemette, Kelly Nadeau and Daevia Williams (Bureau of Financial Reporting and Oil Spill Remediation)

Target Audience: Agency staff who are responsible for reporting Subscription-Based IT Arrangements and Intangible Assets

Course Length: 1 hour

 

11:00 – 12:00: Post-Approval Payment Processing

This presentation will walk through the different paths a voucher or expense report can take after it's been approved for payment by OSC, and how to determine what has happened to a particular payment.

Presenters: Jess McClune (Department of Taxation and Finance)

Target Audience: Agency employees who handle outgoing payments for vouchers and/or expense reports

Course Length: 1 hour