Finance transitions military and travel pay to AFFSC Published April 30, 2009 By Financial Services Office TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla., -- Under the first phase of the Air Force's financial transformation initiative, Tinker migrated its Financial Services Office back-shop (travel and military pay) processing to the Air Force Financial Services Center at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D. from April 24 to 27. The migration is part of the financial management community's implementation of the new Financial Services Delivery Model. "This FM transformation initiative is a paradigm shift in how financial services will be delivered to our customers," said Gregory Woodson, 72nd Comptroller Squadron Financial Services Flight chief. "Customers in the past relied heavily on the finance office to ensure quality controls were in place to validate financial documents for payment. Now, we're moving into an era where each transaction success is dependent on each customer's thoroughness." The Financial Services Office will continue to provide walk in customer service from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. to serve customers financial service needs. Customers can access the online services through the Air Force Portal under the Life and Career tab at the top of the page and then follow the link to Money-Finance Central. "Airmen are encouraged to make the AF Portal their first stop for financial services," Mr. Woodson said. "Customers will find answers to frequently asked questions on the portal site and they can conduct transactions utilizing CASH Forms Lite, the Defense Travel System, myPay and LeaveWeb." The workload migration is part of the Air Force Financial Management changes that include consolidating back-shop processing operations currently provided by 139 Active Duty and Reserve locations worldwide, into one operation. The workload currently performed at each base is being migrated over to the AFFSC by one major command at a time. The Financial Services Transformation cut-over team and AFFSC personnel assisted each base with the migration of workload to the new service center. To assist in making the transition as seamless as possible and prevent delays in payment, customers are asked to take the following steps: · Use existing automated systems such as CASH Forms Lite, Defense Travel System, myPay and LeaveWeb for transactions. · Remember to claim all of your reimbursable expenses, include receipts and annotate proper modes of transportation. · Remember to have a complete set of orders and amendments when you file. · Line out (one straight line) and initial any changes made to your financial documents. · Have the proper signatures on your travel voucher and use the latest version of the DD 1351-2 (March 2008) · Indicate the amount you would like disbursed to your government travel card. · The Unit Agency Program coordinator is the first place to go for GTC issues -- not the AFFSC or local finance office. · Conduct a quality check before you take the documents to your local finance office -- the AFFSC rejects 10 to 15 percent of documents because of incorrect or missing basic information and this can significantly delay the processing time. Mr. Woodson said that because of the massive consolidation, the travel timeliness standard has changed from five business days to 10. However, public law 105-264 requires agencies to promptly reimburse travelers for expenses no later than 30 days after submission of a claim. Phase two of the Financial Management transformation is expected to occur sometime in the August to December timeframe. "The next phase will be a standup of the AFFSC Call Center," Mr. Woodson said. "This USAA type model will offer 24/7 customer service." Any units desiring a visit to their commanders call/training forum can schedule their request through Mr. Woodson at 739-2493 or e-mail.