Base prepares for Financial management transformation Published Jan. 13, 2009 81st Comptroller Squadron and Keesler News staff KEESLER AFB, MISS -- The 81st Comptroller Squadron's back office processing begins its move to the Air Force Financial Services Center Jan. 23 as part of the largest financial management transformation in Air Force history. The transition is designed to be nearly seamless to customers. Bases that have already migrated their processing to the AFFSC haven't seen a significant impact to operations, according to finance representatives. Officials say the changes will help to provide more effective and efficient finance operations by consolidating routine pay and travel transactions at 93 separate active-duty and reserve base finance offices around the world at one location. The AFFSC "is a significant investment for the Air Force," said John Vonglis, principal deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for financial management. "It will save the Air Force $210 million and return approximately 600 positions back to the warfighter." In the transformation's first phase, the AFFSC at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., opened its modern 72,600-square foot facility 16 months ago to ultimately serve as a one-stop shop for Airmen's financial matters and concerns at its central processing center. The initial Phase I effort to consolidate the workload is designed to be nearly seamless to the customer, primarily changing the way finance does business internally. "Customers may initially experience delays of a few days to a week longer in processing travel and military pay documents," according to Maj. Bob Paleo, 81st Comptroller Squadron commander. "Customers can improve processing timeliness by submitting typed documents, since legibility of handwritten documents has been one of the main reasons for documents to be rejected at the AFFSC. "As Air Force financial management continues to make modifications to improve systems and processes, expect financial services operations to continue to evolve into a more responsive, customer-focused environment," Major Paleo continued. An Air Force team visited Keesler in September 2007 to brief the 81st CPTS and 81st Training Wing leadership on the transformation initiatives, and to discuss processes and groundbreaking information management systems with the base finance team. In Phase II, which kicks off as Phase I nears completion later this year, the AFFSC activates a 24/7 contact center and a more robust MyPay Web-based self-service function. The walk-in customer service in the base finance office in Sablich Center remains available for some services, but customers will be encouraged to use the new service options. For more information, visit the AFFSC Web site on the Air Force Portal by highlighting the "life and career" tab, then clicking on "money -- finance central," the selected the AFFSC link.