23d CPTS wins FM Innovation of the Quarter Award

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jasmine M. Barnes
  • 23d Wing Public Affairs

The Air Force is constantly looking for ways to improve processes and procedures that help Airmen accomplish the mission more efficiently.

The 23d Comptroller Squadron won the Air Combat Command Financial Management Innovation of the Quarter Award Feb. 3, 2020, for switching up their permanent change of station procedures for in-processing Airmen.

“We [won] the award because we are doing our in-processing a little bit differently than we have in the last two years,” said 2nd Lt. Josiah Fallot, 23d CPTS financial management flight commander. “It used to be that members would come to this office, fill out all of their paperwork by hand, pen and paper, and [we would] have [Airmen] walk them through the entire thing. Now, we bring members over to the education center, and we use a digital process called eFinance.”

The finance Airmen implemented eFinance in October 2019 so they could see how it would affect Moody Airmen. The award’s package was submitted in Jan. 2020, to reflect what the finance Airmen have accomplished prior to nominating the 23d CPTS office.

The eFinance system is a digital system that allows Airmen to submit financial information regarding travel vouchers. Through this process, the 23d CPTS has seen a reduction in errors, travel voucher rejection rates and the amount of time it takes in-processing Airmen to receive their payouts.

“We had the lowest rejection rate for travel vouchers in all of ACC about a month and a half after we started using [the digital process] because there are no errors for illegible handwriting or missing signatures,” said Fallot. “[eFinance] walks [in-processing members] through every block of the form and requires them to fill [each block] out. We went from an average of 25 to 35 days for travel vouchers to pay out, [but] we’re in the vicinity of seven to 12 business days now.”

In addition to having lower rejection rates and quicker pay outs, the 23d CPTS has been issuing fewer debts to Airmen. Additionally, they are saving approximately 80 pounds of paper per quarter.

“[eFinance] saves a lot of time and work on the back end,” said Senior Airman Noah Gonzalez, 23d CPTS customer service technician. “For example, squadron government travel card representatives don’t have to place [members] in mission-critical [status], and members are getting paid out in a timely manner, so they can pay off [travel expenses].

Competing for the innovation award allows Airmen to continuously come up with ideas to improve productivity and the way the Air Force operates in the future.

“I think it shows people actually want to make a change around here,” said Gonzalez. ”People get stuck in a routine, but when you have those people who want to switch things up, it’s going to help better things in the future.”

The 23d CPTS works to ensure Moody Airmen are financially taken care of once they PCS, and the award is recognition of the effort they put in every single day.

“It’s great to be able to see what [the finance Airmen here] do on a regular basis be recognized more formally,” said Fallot. “I can tell our flight, ’You guys are killing it. Thank you for everything that you’re doing for the members here at Moody,’ but it takes on a different weight when MAJCOM headquarters is recognizing them for what they’re doing.”

Events

Today 
FebruaryMarch 2024April
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
25
26
27
28
29
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
1
2
3
4
5
6