The Daily Bulletin

At the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the New York State Division of Budget and SUNY System Administration required spending controls to be enacted across all funds at state institutions, including SUNY campuses. At that time, in April 2020, Buffalo State established Procedures for Spending Controls: COVID-19 and Post-COVID-19 and has been operating under these procedures ever since.

With the full return to in-person operations, the procedures have been updated in consideration of conserving employee time and effort while ensuring continued compliance with existing regulations.

To reduce consumption of staff effort:

The Spending Constraints Attestation Form (SCAF) (DOCX, 72 KB) has been updated to reflect a new higher threshold. Previously required for all purchases, the updated SCAF must accompany purchase requests at or above $30,000. In turn, the threshold for proposed purchases to be reviewed by the Spending Constraints Oversight Committee for recommendation to the Budget Committee will also be $30,000. Starting May 27, 2022, requests for purchases below this threshold can be sent to Procurement Services in keeping with the general purchasing process.

To summarize existing compliance requirements:

Rather than repeatedly completing SCAFs for proposed purchases between $1 and $30,000, staff members are instead required to agree to follow all applicable regulations. These regulations have been compiled into one document, the Acknowledgment of Financial Resource Stewardship (DOCX, 51 KB), which must be completed annually and on file according to division requirements. The process for filing the completed acknowledgment may be updated to enhance efficiency. Any such updates will be shared in the Daily Bulletin and noted on the Finance and Management website. Once an employee has signed the acknowledgment, he or she may proceed with requesting purchases in keeping with the general guidelines.

To ensure continued compliance with existing regulations:

Randomized post-audits will be conducted quarterly, where requestors will be accountable for justification and reasonableness of expenditure.

More information is available at the Finance and Management website. Questions about these changes can be sent to vpfm@buffalostate.edu. We are hopeful that these updates will ameliorate the procurement process as we move toward standard operation procedures.