News

Finance team adds new resources to improve travel pay process

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Madelyn McCullough
  • 446th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
MCCHORD FIELD, Wash. --  One of the most difficult parts of going on orders as Reservists can be trying to understand the travel pay system. Miscommunications and errors can lead to delays that can be frustrating for everyone involved. However, there is good news.

The 446th Comptroller Office recognizes this and has been making many efforts to improve the process for everyone.

For starters, Caron Hardy, the Financial Management team lead, worked with Lt. Col. John Scacciotti, 446th Operations Group, to create a system that allowed finance personnel to identify the issues.

"They created a visible database for finance so that they can see who specifically needs help and where they are at in the process," said Lt. Col. Kathy Mercer, 446th comptroller. "With the new process, we can pinpoint what the problem is and who can help."

Hardy was recognized as the 2014 civilian supervisor of the year for her efforts.

After this first step was taken, the team focused on ways to improve the availability of support for eFinance.

Since the eFinance system is handled on the active duty side, the 62nd Comptroller Squadron began working in the 446th Reserve Pay Office on Saturdays of the primary UTA from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. These Airmen are able to provide direct guidance as Reservists work through their travel voucher issues and they are able to check where the voucher is in the review process.

In order to help Reservists avoid a trip to the finance office, the team has also provided an eFinance checklist available to all Reservists on the FM SharePoint page.

"The checklist was created to help travelers avoid common errors because common errors cause most delays," said David Alcon, 446th financial management technician "Resolving these issues will help people get paid faster."

To top it off, the office has had three new computers installed dedicated for customer use. With these computers, Reservists can sign in to their own accounts, use the available scanners to upload required documents, and complete or fix their travel vouchers under the supervision of an expert.

"We have had support come in for Defense Travel System and eFinance, our civilians come in on weekends, and we have had Airmen from other bases come in on orders," Mercer said.

In addition to these improvements in customer service, the staff has to keep up with standard Air Force and career training, continuous audit paperwork, and a newly required certification requirement. They also added a Sunday afternoon customer window from noon to 3 p.m.

"It's been a tremendous workload for financial Airman," said Mercer. "It's emotional for people when they want to get paid, but our number one goal is to get people their due money in a timely manner and I hope that we can do that in the future."

This busy team was recently spotlighted on the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for FM & Comptroller Facebook page's Top Notch Tuesday for their efforts. The article on the page recognizes them for winning the Superior Team Award for their efforts in the wing's 2014 Unit Effectiveness Inspection, gaining two new airmen out of technical school, graduating one student from silver flag, completing a six-month tour at Air Combat Command, providing manning assistance to reserve pay and DTS sections, and supporting the Patriot Warrior Exercise.