Dedicated team closes out FY 2011

  • Published
  • By Debbie Aragon
  • AFCEE Public Affairs
LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  There weren't any party hats, loud music or excited countdowns Sept. 30 -- just several dozen dedicated Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment employees working to successfully close out one fiscal year as they entered another.

Each year since 1976, the U.S. government's fiscal, or financial, year ends Sept. 30 with new financial books opening Oct. 1. Prior to 1976, and the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974, the U.S. government's fiscal year ended June 30 with a new year beginning July 1.

"It may surprise some but for a lot of us (end-of-year closeout) is the beginning of our favorite time of year," said Debbie Durnell, branch chief of AFCEE's chief financial office's operations branch. "The challenge of successfully closing out a year of effort is very rewarding; it represents the culmination of the efforts of the entire AFCEE organization with everyone working together toward a final end goal. It's a time when we see teamwork at its very finest."

"If you've kept on top of things throughout the year, closeout should be just another day, albeit a long day," added Suzanne Meyer, chief of CFO's non-Air Force customer funds branch.

"In an ideal closeout, everything you anticipate comes in just as you expected and if not, you have enough time to execute your backup plan," Durnell explained.

After accomplishing about 30 closeouts, Durnell said, every year something comes up and every year it's something different.

"It's always a mixture of ups and downs," she said, and that's when the importance of camaraderie and teamwork come in.

"Although unplanned events occur, one of the things that makes it easier is that AFCEE is extremely lucky to have such a broad range of financial managers, budget analysts and accountants with diverse backgrounds and many years of experience so between us all, we have a wealth of knowledge to draw upon that has served us well as we continue to execute successful closeouts," she said.

For Meyer, the most challenging aspect of end-of-year closeout is not being able to control what happens.

"So many times, last-minute corrections from prior years get posted in the last week," Meyer said. "If you aren't expecting them, you can spend a lot of time chasing your tail trying to figure out what the transactions were, were they proper and how do they affect being able to balance and close out your accounts."

Durnell said another challenge is the unknown.

"You try to plan for every contingency but there is always something unexpected that comes up," she said. "In the end, when pennies count, it's like a balancing act trying to keep everything going ... since so many personnel across the government are simultaneously closing out, and there are inevitable bottlenecks, particularly with system overload."

An added challenge this year was having the final civilian payroll occur Sept. 30, Durnell said.

"I don't recall ever experiencing that before and it presented several unknown elements," she said. "Fortunately, we were able to work through the issues, find ways to resolve potential problems, reconcile our accounts -- especially our reimbursement accounts which were most affected -- and effectively close out our records."

"We had a very successful Fiscal 2011 execution year and associated closeout," said John LaHue, CFO division chief, "given the numerous continuing resolutions and late FY 11 Appropriations Act (April 15) coupled with the fact that payroll posted Sept. 30, it has been a challenging year."

"Zeros are a beautiful sight," Meyer said, meaning the books have balanced.

Although the year's financial business officially closes Sept. 30, there is still some work to be accomplished in the few days following.

"Closeout is not actually complete until Oct. 3 when final reports are reconciled and balanced," Durnell said.

More than just finalizing spending at midnight on Sept. 30, end-of-year closeout includes balance reconciliations to ensure funding balances match budget authorizations, that balances in reimbursements match on various levels, and, most importantly Durnell said, that all known obligations have been recorded in the financial database.

Given the long hours involved in end-of-year closeout - with people missing lunch and dinner throughout the week and still working past the stroke of midnight Oct. 1 - the CFO staff try to make it enjoyable and less stressful by planning meals and having giveaways.

"Everyone likes to cook their favorite recipes and bring them in. (In the days leading up to Sept. 30) we bring in lunch and dinner to break the day up and let folks take a break during the day," Meyer said.

"Several of the personnel prepared snack baskets that were given away hourly during the last half of the day," Durnell added. "It helped get everyone out of their cubicles for a little break and also gave them a little something to look forward to."

Additionally, LaHue, with a little help from his team leads, provided the funding for a lasagna dinner Sept. 30 for all CFO employees, as well as people from other divisions who were working that evening to assist. Even though end of year is a financial closeout, AFCEE's CFO staff was joined after normal duty hours by a handful of people from the operations support and environmental restoration divisions.

Durnell likened the CFO to a family "working together to ensure AFCEE is successful and that we not only instill integrity and fidelity in the data we maintain, but that we understand and articulate AFCEE's goals and needs to ensure adequate funding to accomplish the mission.

"None of the success experienced by the CFO team would have been possible without ongoing communication and all of the AFCEE divisions working together," she added.

"That is one of the key elements I think made this such a successful closeout as every AFCEE division, as well as our counterparts at Air Staff, worked together with the CFO in such a positive way to achieve a common goal," she said. "So thanks to everyone who contributed to AFCEE's successful closeout!"