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FY2013-18: Prompt Payment Discount Statistics Summary for FY2013 – Second Quarter FY2013
CTR Memo FY2013-18 has been posted to the CTR Web Portal. This memo updates CFOs and MMARS Liaisons on departments’ utilization of the Commonwealth’s Prompt Payment Discount (PPD) program during the first half of FY2013.  For the second quarter of FY2013, an additional $1,798,109 of PPD were taken by over 110 departments.  Prompt payment discounts have and will continue to help maximize your department’s line item spending power.

Checks Issued from DYNACash Account
The Commonwealth DYNACash process uses positive pay to protect your account from fraud.  Positive pay requires that Sovereign Bank (the DYNACash banking vendor) be notified of every check issued by your department through its IRIS system before the check is presented at a bank for payment.  Failure to notify the bank will result in the check being rejected by the bank to which it was deposited.

Departments are reminded that no Sovereign DYNACASH check should be issued to an employee or anyone else without it first being entered into IRIS. 

PRF28DesignatedOSC Debt Collection Statewide Contract - Expired Contract and Contractors
The current Statewide Contract PRF28DesignatedOSC for debt collection services  expired on January 31, 2013 and, as of that date, the following debt collection firms are no longer authorized to accept any “NEW” accounts from the Commonwealth. 

  • NCO Financial Systems, Inc.
  • Performant Recovery, Inc. (Diversified Collection Services Inc.)
  • Windham Professionals, Inc.           
  • Pioneer Credit Recovery, Inc.
  • Glenn Associates, Inc.

As part of the closeout process for the PRF28 Statewide Contract, these contractors are required to complete the collection on all active debts no later than April 1, 2013.  As of April 1, 2013, all debts will be deemed by the Commonwealth to be automatically uncollectible and must be returned to the Eligible Entity (Department).

New Statewide Contract Debt Collection Services as of February 1, 2013 – PRF55DesignatedOSC 
All State Departments and other Eligible Entities are required to refer all debts as of February 1, 2013 to one of the six firms authorized to accept debts under the new Statewide Contract for Debt Collection Services PRF55DesignatedOSC.

  • Allen Daniel Associates, Inc.                        
  • Collecto, Inc. (EOS Collection Company of America)
  • Delta Management Associates, Inc.            
  • Financial Asset Management Systems
  • Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson, LLP  
  • Premiere Credit of North America, LLC

The process to submit debt referrals and fees payments has changed!  To obtain in-depth contract information please go to the Comm-PASS website, (www.comm-pass.com)

  • Click on the “Contracts” tab
  • Click on “Search for a Contract” link
  • Under the Search by Specific Criteria section, enter “PRF55” in the Document Number field then click on the “Search” button
  • Click on the results link which appears at the top of the page indicating that “There is 1 contract found that match your search criteria”
  • Click on the View icon (eyeglasses) next to the document listed
  • Click on  the "Forms &Terms" tab to access the Contract Users Guide or the “Vendor” tab for vendor specific information

Eligible Entities are required to follow the posted Contract User Guide for referring any debt after February 1, 2013.  For fastest response, transition and close out questions send an email  to the Office of the Comptroller mailbox for the Debt Collection Contract:  debtcollectioncontract@massmail.state.ma.us.

Fringe Benefit, Payroll Tax, Indirect Cost Charges for Accounting Period 7
The fringe benefit, payroll tax and indirect cost chargebacks for Accounting Period 7 (January), FY2013 will be run this Saturday, February 9. All eligible expenditures processed during Accounting Period 7 will be subject to these assessments.

Departments should ensure that the budget structure tables for appropriated (payroll tax only), federal grants and other non-budgetary accounts are properly established so these charges post without rejecting under object codes D09 (fringe benefits and payroll taxes) and E16 (indirect costs).

MMARS Unavailable Saturday
Due to scheduled system processing, MMARS and LCM will be unavailable on Saturday, February 9.

Purge of Rejected Documents over 75 Days Old
Rejected documents in the system accumulate in the document catalog and are removed in a regularly scheduled monthly purge of documents over 75 days old. The next purge will be on February 15 and will delete rejected documents entered before December 1. If you have documents entered before November 1 that you would like to save, please place them on "hold".

To place a document on "hold":

  • Locate the document in the Document Catalog.
  • Check the checkbox to the left of the document (in the Document Catalog).
  • Click "Action Menu", select "Scheduling Actions", select "Mark Document" and choose "Hold".

Weekly Fraud Awareness and Prevention Fact – Fraudulent Statements
Fraudulent Statements is one of the three main categories of fraud, along with Asset Misappropriation and Corruption, and can take several forms including:

  • Misapplication of accounting rules.
  • Mischaracterization as "one-time" expenses.
  • Misrepresentation or omission of information.
  • Vendor/Sub-Recipient False Reporting.

Definitions and potential red flags for many of these examples can be found in our Toolkit for Departments to Combat Fraud, Waste and Abuse.

Please visit the Fraud Prevention section of our Internal Controls Page for a link to the Toolkit for Departments to Combat Fraud, Waste and Abuse and the Brochure. 

If you have any questions regarding this or previous Fraud Awareness and Prevention Facts, please contact the Comptroller Help Desk at 617-973-2468 or via email Comptroller.Info@State.MA.US. To report Fraud, Waste, or Abuse, contact one of the Commonwealth’s Whistleblower Hotlines.

Upcoming Training Sessions and Meetings

  • Webcast How to Run a Warehouse Starter Query – Friday, February 8, 10:00 A.M. – 11:00 A.M., online training
  • Encumbrance Management – Tuesday, February 12, 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. One Ashburton Place Boston, 9th Floor Training Lab
  • Payment Management – Tuesday, February 12, 1:00 P.M. – 4:00 P.M. One Ashburton Place Boston, 9th Floor Training Lab
  • Intro to MMARS Warehouse – Thursday, February 14, 9:00 A.M. – 4:00 P.M. One Ashburton Place Boston, 9th Floor Training Lab
  • LCM Management – Tuesday, February 19, 9:00 A.M. – 3:00 P.M. One Ashburton Place Boston, 9th Floor Training Lab
  • Fraud Awareness and Prevention – Wednesday, February 20, 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. One Ashburton Place Boston, 9th Floor Executive Conference Room
  • Intermediate MMARS Warehouse – Thursday, February 21, 9:00 A.M. – 1:00 P.M. One Ashburton Place Boston, 9th Floor Training Lab
  • Intro to HR/CMS Payroll Warehouse – Tuesday, February 26, 9:00 A.M. – 3:00 P.M. One Ashburton Place Boston, 9th Floor Training Lab
  • Intro to LCM Warehouse – Wednesday, February 27, 9:00 A.M. – 1:00 P.M. One Ashburton Place Boston, 9th Floor Training Lab
  • CIW Report Building with MS Access – Thursday, February 28, 9:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. One Ashburton Place Boston, 9th Floor Training Lab


Register for these sessions via the Comptroller's Training and Meeting Schedule which lists classes scheduled for the next three months and Payroll User Groups through December 2013.

MMARS Hint of the Week – Payments on the DISRQ Table
Departments should not have payments on the Disbursement Request Table (DISRQ) scheduled beyond 43 days. To see if you have any payment scheduled beyond 43 days, run a DISRQ Query including the three-digit department code along with today's date plus 42 days (>xx/xx/xxxx in the Scheduled Payment Date field). Any payments the query returns will be on the table too long, may be late, and should be rescheduled. The above DISRQ query should be run daily.