fiscal officers training manual - New York State Conference of Local ...

Business Process: (what is it?)FISCAL OFFICER TRAINING MANUALAID TO LOCALITIES FISCAL SYSTEM (ALFS) ACCESSThe Aid to Localities Fiscal System (ALFS) allows the Office of Mental Health (OMH), Bureau of Community Budget andFinancial Management (CBFM) to develop a budget, allocate funds, disburse payments and ensure that funds areexpended in compliance with existing laws, regulations and guidelines. From LGU perspective, the ALFS is an importantsource for County related fiscal information.Brief Description of Process: (how does it work?)The ALFS system is the mechanism for the LGU’s oversight, monitoring and management of the OMH State Aid fundingcycle. The LGU receives funding information from the OMH on the State Aid Letter Authorization, which is generated outof ALFS and then prepares and submits OMH fiscal reporting documents via the Consolidated Fiscal Reporting (CFR)Software, which then subsequently flows into ALFS overnight. The ALFS system is built on the Spending Plans, which areused to track individual funding sources within a funding type and to specify allocations to counties, direct contracts ormiscellaneous recipients (ex. software consultants) and also incorporates the Consolidated Fiscal Manual rules of theNYS OMH.Note: In 2011, OMH began the transition of the ALFS system (aka “ALFS Classic”) to ALFS-Web, a web-basedapplication.The ALFS systems are accessed through a user name which is assigned by the OMH, a password chosen by theindividual, a 4-digit “pin” number chosen by the individual and a token which is provided by the OMH. An ALFS user cancontact the OMH Help Desk (1-800-HELP-NYS or 1-800-435-7697) with ALFS related problems. A user with County-levelaccess can view the names, user IDs and status of other ALFS users in the county in the “User Administration” screen inALFS web.Frequency:Request for access is made once for each individual. For users requiring access to multiple counties, a request needs tobe made for each county. For any change to the access rights, the request needs to be submitted again.Instructions:1. Complete ‘Request for Access’ form and sign it.2. Have Director of Community Services approve and submit the form with a cover letter on the County letter head,to NYS OMH.3. Receive user name, pin and token from the Office of Mental Health through mail in approximately 2 – 4 weeks.4. Tokens have an expiration date listed on the back; NYS OMH will send new tokens prior to expiration date and toreturn expired tokens.5. Annually, NYS OMH validates county user access to ALFS.6. Return the ALFS token to the OMH for users who no longer require access.