SUSTAINMENT: Finance & Personnel

Soldiers like to get paid. Contractors expect it. Vendors demand it. Who does it and how? The Army Finance Corps, of course. Today we tackle the Sustainment element of Financial Management and Personnel Services.

We’ll get deeper into the finance side than the personnel side, because Soldiers tend to know more about personnel services. We’ll soon devote a full week to just that topic, any way. It’s incredibly broad and touches so much of a Soldier’s life.

As always, italics added for our emphasis, and […] indicates we cut out stuff we thought was fluff. And, as always: you’re smarter reading the pub yourself to be exactly sure

The Big Ideas:

Financial Management consists of:

Finance operations

Resource Management

Personnel Services consists of:

Human resources support.

Legal support.

Religious support.

Army band operations.

The major takeaways:

Core competencies of financial management are:

fund the force

banking and disbursing

pay support

accounting support and cost management, and audit readiness.

Resource management is analyzing resource requirements and ensure commanders are aware of existing resource implications.

Personnel Services consists of:

• Human resources support.

• Legal support.

• Religious support.

• Army band operations.

Diving deep in the doctrinal details:

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

1-41. Financial management is guided by the following principles: stewardship, synchronization, anticipation, improvisation, simplicity, and consistency. These principles are described in appendix A of FM 4-0. Financial management consists of finance operations and resource management.

FINANCE OPERATIONS

1-42. The finance operations mission is to support the sustainment of Army, joint, and multinational operations through the execution of key finance operations tasks. These key finance operations tasks are to provide timely commercial vendor services and contractual payments, various pay and disbursing services, and oversight and management of the Army’s Banking Program. Finance operations also implement financial management policies and guidance prescribed by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) and national providers (such as the U.S. Treasury, Defense Finance and Accounting Service, and Federal Reserve Bank).

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

1-43. The resource management mission, accomplished by a battalion or brigade finance officer (S8)/assistant chief of staff, finance/finance directorate of joint staff personnel, is to analyze resource requirements and ensure commanders are aware of existing resource implications. This allows commanders to make resource informed decisions, and obtain the necessary funding that allows them to accomplish their mission. Resource management is the critical capability within the financial management competency that matches legal and appropriate sources of funds with thoroughly vetted and validated requirements. Key resource management tasks are providing advice and recommendations to the commander, identifying sources of funds, forecasting, capturing, analyzing and managing costs; acquiring funds, distributing and controlling funds; tracking costs and obligations; establishing and managing reimbursement processes; and establishing and managing the Army’s Managers’ Internal Control Program.

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT CORE COMPETENCIES

1-44. The core competencies of financial management are fund the force, banking and disbursing, pay support, accounting support and cost management, and audit readiness.

Fund the Force

1-45. Fund the force is a critical capability, which matches legal and appropriate sources of funds with thoroughly vetted and valid unit requirements. Fund the force provides flexibility through monetary integration to augment, and in some cases, leads the effort in obtaining the effects the commander is trying to achieve on the battlefield. Key tasks include identifying, acquiring, distributing and certifying funds and obligating funds to units, providing payments in cash or via electronic funds transfers in support to contracting operations, and commercial vendor services.

Banking and Disbursing

1-46. Banking support encompasses financial management activities ranging from currency support (local or U.S.) of U.S. military operations to liaising with HN banking officials and strengthening local financial institutions. Other activities within banking support include establishing e-commerce and limited depository capabilities, as well as coordination with U.S. embassie

s, U.S. Army Financial Management Command, Defense Finance and Accounting Service, and Department of the Treasury entities to support theater banking initiatives.

1-47. Disbursing is the arm within financial management that ensures all payments are made in accordance with DOD regulations. It is strongly recommended that all elements of the fiscal triad, financial management, contracting and legal counsel, be co-located to facilitate fiscal communication, accuracy of documentation, and timely payment of goods and services. Disbursing is the paying of public funds to entities to which the U.S. government is indebted; the collection and deposit of monies; the safeguarding of public funds; and the documenting, recording, and reporting of such transactions (FM 1-06).

Pay Support

1-48. This support function provides for full U.S. pay (including civilian pay where not supported by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service); travel support; local and partial payments; check-cashing and currency exchange to Soldiers, civilians and U.S. contractors; and non-U.S. pay support (such as detainee(s), HN employees, day laborers). Pay support also includes support to noncombatant evacuation operations in the form of travel advances. Finance offices ensure all Soldi

ers, regardless of component, receive timely and accurate pay in accordance with existing statutes and regulations.

Accounting Support and Cost Readiness

1-49. Accounting support entails the accurate and complete recording of financial transactions within the Army financial management support information systems. Additional accounting support involves review and reconciliation of these financial transactions to ensure the proper expenditure of entrusted funds.

1-50. Cost management transforms accounting data into valuable and accurate cost information that enables the commander’s decision-making process. It collects and links financial (cost) data with non-financial (output and performance) data and presents information in a

way directly related to the major mission objectives of the unit or organization. The process is the accurate measurement and thorough understanding of the full cost of a unit/organization’s processes, products and services to support leader’s decision-making and fiscal stewardship, thereby maximizing the effectiveness and efficiency of the organization’s operations.

Audit Readiness

1-51. Audit readiness ensures that organizations produce timely, accurate, and relevant information that is consistently auditable. With the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990, Congress mandated that all federal agencies produce auditable financial statements. The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense Comptroller outlines the DOD priorities for improving financial information and achieving financial statement audit readiness and directs DOD components to improve budgetary information, as this is the information most useful to the Department's decision makers. Specifically, DOD components focus on improving budgetary processes and information to obtain an unqualified audit opinion on the Statement of Budgetary Resources. Transition to enterprise resource planning systems will help in this area.

PERSONNEL SERVICES

1-52. Personnel services are sustainment functions that man the force, maintain Soldier and Family readiness, promote the moral and ethical values of the nation, and enable the fighting qualities of the Army. Personnel Services provide support to the force utilizing the following principles: synchronization, timeliness, accuracy, and consistency. These principles are described in appendix A of FM 4-0. Personnel services involve planning and coordinating efforts that sustain personnel. Personnel services relate to personnel welfare (for example readiness, quality of life). Personnel services include the following—

Human resources support (FM 1-0).

Legal support (FM 1-04).

Religious support (FM 1-05).

Army band operations (ATP 1-19).

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