ELLSWORTH AIR FORCE BASE, S.D –
Last fall, financial management implemented its largest change in its 60-plus year history with the establishment of Air Force Financial Services Center at Ellsworth AFB, S.D.
Back shop military pay and travel processes for installations migrated to the AFFSC with the goal of saving manpower while streamlining processes. The growing pains resulting from the combination of new information technology systems, new processes, and a new center have been felt by some FM customers.
Leadership is keenly aware of the impact that long processing time has on Airmen and how disruptive it can be for Airmen and their chain of command.
The FM community remains committed to providing timely, accurate and reliable service and are working hard to resolve the issues that have impacted customers.
The time it took to process transactions has been significantly reduced, and is continuing to be reduced with further adjustments to reduce processing time and lost or misplaced vouchers. AFFSC will continue to provide information on why customers may have noticed changes to service, an update on current processing times, steps that Airmen can take to ensure transactions are processed quickly, and the resolution process for issues that arise.
When the AFFSC opened its doors in October 2007 the expectation was that the transition of back-office financial transactions would have no noticeable effect on customers. Although the men and women at all levels of FM worked to achieve this goal, the combination of information technology system challenges and the difficulty in standardizing processes which had been done somewhat differently across all major commands led to several challenges the FM career field has had to overcome. Airmen at the AFFSC remain committed to providing world class service and will continue to work hard to conquer these challenges.
The current processing time for a temporary duty assignments or permanent change of station vouchers is 10 to 15 days. This count begins when the customer submits the voucher to the local finance office and ends when the money is deposited in their account. Currently, processing time for military pay documents is less than 5 days from the time the document is submitted until it is processed. These processing times are not what most Airmen are accustomed to, but several technology and process fixes are being implemented that are designed to reduce these times further, especially the voucher processing time.
In addition to longer processing times, there have been occasions when documents have been lost. Improvements to the new document management information technology system and its accompanying processes that will be implemented in the near term should virtually eliminate cases of lost documents. However, if in the event that an Airmen's document has been lost, or if an Airmen's unique circumstances require special attention they should use the following process for resolving these issues.
If a claim has not been paid within 15 days for a military pay document or travel voucher, the first stop should be the local finance office. The local finance office can place the document in a priority folder which will get it to the front of the queue. If this does not promptly resolve the issue, the Airman should work within their local chain of command to ensure payment is received. If the transaction has not been processed within 15 days, do not wait to contact the local services office. Early notification of a delay is the best measure to ensure the claim is being processed.
Airmen can also take actions to prevent delays in payments, by following the basic rules.
- Utilize existing automated systems such as Defense Travel System, myPay, and LeaveWeb for transactions.
- Remember to claim all reimbursable expenses and annotate proper modes of transportation.
- Remember to have a complete set of orders when filing.
- Have the proper signatures on travel voucher.
- Indicate the amount to be disbursed to the Government Travel Card.
- Your Unit Agency Program Coordinator is the first place to go for GTC issues--not the AFFSC or local finance office.
- Write clearly and legibly so documents can be easily read.
At present, the AFFSC rejects 10 to 15 percent of documents because of incorrect or missing basic information. This can add days and sometimes weeks to the processing time; doing a quality check before taking the documents to the local finance office will help expedite the payment.
Even though there have been significant improvements in the last few months, there is still changes to be made. The AFFSC remains committed to excellence in all it does and it will continue to reduce transaction processing times, and deliver the service thatvcustomers expect and deserve. The AAFSC understands the effects on customers and ask for patience and assistance as the FM transforms operations.