Financial management services to transform soon Published Oct. 30, 2007 By 1st Lt. Whiticar Darvill 95th Comptroller Squadron EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The 95th Comptroller Squadron started revamping its processes recently as it began incorporation initiatives from the Air Force Financial Management Transformation plan. According to the squadron's leadership the transition may be the single greatest change in the organizations 60-year history. "We, and all of Air Force financial management, are transforming the way we conduct business to better provide expert decision support and analysis to commanders, while continuing to provide high quality financial services to all Airmen," said Maj. Michael Rooney, 95th Comptroller Squadron commander. According to John Vonglis, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force for Financial Management and Comptroller principal deputy assistant, the result of this effort will save the Air Force more than $200 million over the next 10 years. "The money we save will be available for other programs supporting the warfighter," he said. One of the cornerstones of the financial transformation effort is the opening of the Air Force Financial Services Center at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., in October. The AFFSC will centralize and streamline most financial processes now being handled by individual bases. They will also centralize and transform the majority of financial services currently provided by 93 separate financial service offices at base level. "The AFFSC will be established through two phases, which will ultimately result in Airmen having the total force expertise of financial management matters available at one location," said Roger Bick, Air Force Financial Management Strategic Planning and Transformation Program Management Office director. Phase I started with the opening of the Central Processing Center in October. The CPC focused on consolidating base-level backshop operations. "Such operations include processing travel and military pay documents," Mr. Bick said. "These transactions are termed 'backshop' as they are not generally seen by the customer." Phase II operations will begin in October 2008, when a "24/7" full-service contact center is established. Contact center staff will provide pay and travel services to customers via telephone, Web and fax. "From this point onward, Airmen will only need one telephone number to find solutions to their financial issues," Major Rooney said. "Having a single contact center will eliminate the inconveniences customers experience in having to correct financial issues during the regular duty day." The new Air Force Financial Service Center has launched a "cut-over" initiative to prepare Edwards for its scheduled April 2008 transformation date. Cut-over includes both the preparation for migration of the workload and the actual migration of the workload to the Financial Service Center. A team of experts on the transition will be here Nov. 27 to brief wing and base leaders on the process. They will also brief and provide preparation guidance to the 95th Comptroller Squadron personnel on the processes. More information is expected to be released as Edwards moves closer to its transformation.