I started using Enhanced mid year, and need to enter year-to-date information for all my employees. How is this done?

Go to the Systems Utilities module, Data Entry tab and select Initialize Payroll Earnings and Deductions. Select an employee; enter the last date the employee was paid from the old system, and the check number used by the old system. Click on the “Deductions” tab and enter any deduction description (i.e. union dues, NYS retirement etc.). Now enter the type and total y-t-d amount of the respective deduction. Click on the “Taxes” tab and enter the Federal, State, FICA, and Medicare amounts. Be sure to specify the State as NY and FICA and Medicare as “1” (under Jurisdiction).

Washington Fund Accounting | Enhanced Business Systems

Unlike a private business, which is typically accounted for as a single economic entity, a government unit is composed of numerous distinct activities, many of which are funded by dedicated revenue streams with strict legal restrictions. Fund accounting is a system designed to segregate these financial resources into distinct “funds” based on their specific purposes. The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) defines a fund as an independent fiscal and accounting entity with a self-balancing set of accounts.

The Three Main Categories of Funds

To keep track of diverse operations, governmental entities generally divide their accounts into three major categories:

Governmental Funds: These focus on the flow of current financial resources and are used for primary governmental functions like health, safety, and infrastructure. They include the General Fund (for routine operations), Special Revenue Funds (for specific taxes or grants), Debt Service Funds, Capital Projects Funds, and Permanent Funds.
Proprietary Funds: These are used for a government’s business-like activities where the intent is to recover costs through user fees. Examples include Enterprise Funds (like municipal water or sanitation services) and Internal Service Funds (like a state’s centralized IT or motor pool department).
Fiduciary Funds: These account for assets held by the government in a trustee capacity or as an agent for individuals, private organizations, or other governments, such as employee pension trusts and investment pools.

Why is Fund Accounting Important and Useful?

Fund accounting is not just a routine bookkeeping exercise; it is the financial backbone of public administration and civic trust.

Legal Compliance: Governments are bound by state laws, constitutional provisions, and strict grant stipulations. Fund accounting guarantees that money designated for a specific purpose (like a lodging tax explicitly meant for tourism) is not illegally spent on unrelated general operations.
Asset Protection: It prevents the commingling of assets. If a local government faces a budget shortfall in its general operations, the rigid structure of fund accounting prevents officials from quietly raiding restricted employee pension funds or dedicated utility reserves to plug the gap.
Accountability and Transparency: It allows taxpayers, bondholders, and auditors to clearly see how resources are being raised and deployed. When taxpayers vote on a bond measure to build a new high school, a Capital Projects Fund transparently shows exactly how those bond proceeds are spent over time.
Performance Measurement: By isolating business-like activities into Proprietary Funds, governments can evaluate whether a specific service is operating self-sufficiently or if it quietly requires financial subsidies from the general taxpayer base.

How Fund Accounting Works in Washington State

For a state with the geographic and demographic diversity of Washington, Washington fund accounting is essential for managing a complex web of statewide agencies, municipalities, and special-purpose districts.

The BARS System In Washington, the Office of the Washington State Auditor (SAO) mandates a uniform framework known as the Budgeting, Accounting, and Reporting System (BARS). BARS provides a standardized chart of accounts and a structured coding system (e.g., 100-series codes for Special Revenue, 400-series for Enterprise Funds) that every local government and state agency must follow.

This statewide uniformity is highly useful for several reasons:

Apples-to-Apples Comparability: Because every entity—from massive state agencies down to small towns like Wilbur or Moses Lake—uses the exact same BARS coding for similar activities, lawmakers and citizens can easily compare financial health, administrative costs, and revenue generation across different jurisdictions.
Granular Tracking of State-Specific Operations: Washington uses highly specialized funds to track its unique infrastructure and programs. For instance, the state operates separate funds for the highway activities of the Washington State Patrol, the state ferry system, and non-interstate highway maintenance. There is also a dedicated Enterprise Fund for the State Lottery, which carefully tracks ticket revenues against the operating expenses of the Lottery Commission.
Strict Audit Controls: The SAO uses the BARS framework to conduct rigorous audits. The manual dictates exactly how cash balances should be classified—whether they are legally “Restricted” by external creditors or simply “Unassigned” in the general fund. If a county uses restricted state grant funds improperly, the self-balancing nature of the fund structure makes the discrepancy immediately apparent to auditors.

Ultimately, fund accounting ensures that every dollar moving through Washington State has a traceable origin and a legally sound destination, bridging the gap between public policy intentions and actual financial execution.