Courtesy Photo | Lt. Gen. Omar Jones, IMCOM Commanding General, honors Monique Simpson, IMCOM...... read more read more
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas – Col. Sam Glover, U.S. Army Installation Management Command director of resource management, uses football terminology to describe fiscal year closeouts.
“Going throughout the year, you have the first quarter, second quarter – which is midyear – then third quarter but it’s all about finishing the fourth quarter strong! said Glover, who took over as IMCOM’s G8 director in June. “The analogy of closing a game and ending it strong is very important. It gets a little challenging when you’re under a continuing resolution (CR), but the great thing is that the business policies and procedures we have in place allow us to finish the quarters strong and always having a plan that just like armor and infantry Soldiers who shoot, move and communicate, we’re constantly adapting and making sure that we have the most updated numbers and we will always be postured for any Army fallout. We’re ahead of the game, definitely.”
IMCOM executed approximately a record $13 billion in support of its five directorates and 80 garrisons around the world during FY23 and met its benchmarks by executing 50% by March, 80% by July, and 100% by Sept. 30, the last day of the fiscal year. The $13 billion that was executed funded IMCOM’s core competencies of providing Soldier and Family services, managing the regular Army’s infrastructure, supporting warfighter readiness and deployability, and providing and integrating base operations services.
Faced with Ukraine operations, the worst 100-year storms that damaged facilities at West Point and Fort Sill and dealing with inflation through good stewardship, cost management, and the guidance of IMCOM Commanding General Lt. Gen. Omar Jones, the team invested over $271 million in storm damage, infrastructure investments, police and firefighter equipment and contract risk reduction to help pave the way for FY24, said John Velarde, deputy G8 director.
“Having set dates throughout the year to execute the budget gives us all goals we could work toward,” Glover said. “I think the most challenging period that we all face is operating under a continuing resolution; our cash allocations are limited to ~95% of the prior year period’s rate. Much like if you were having brain surgery and you’re at the hospital, you’d want the best expert to guide your through the medical process. The folks in the mighty IMCOM G8 team, who are financial management professionals, are the very best and they help the command navigate through the resourcing process.”
One key difference during the FY23 closeout from past closeouts was leveraging data analytics and other new technologies to streamline the year-end close process with accounting, budget, and acquisition teams from across IMCOM. Microsoft Teams served more than just a calendar tool; it was key collaborative enabler providing a platform to share critical information, conduct enterprise training, and provide a common operating picture at echelon on the status of close-out by garrison, Glover said.
“We’re seeing that unlike when I was a young comptroller, you may not leave the building until 2, 3 or 4 in the morning closing out on a manual system,” Glover said. “As we bring in more technology, we’re becoming more efficient – in this case, closing out at 11 p.m. as we work with our counterparts at Headquarters, Department of the Army, AMC and our different IDs – along with contracting to ensure we maximize the effectiveness of our dollars.”
One of those professionals who navigated the closeout process for the garrisons, directorates and IMCOM headquarters was Monique Simpson, IMCOM accounting operations branch chief. Before FY23, IMCOM ran 174 Fund Center reports as soon as the 72 garrisons and 12 reserve units were ready to close, Simpson said. During FY23, IMCOM established a new process where the Garrison Fund Centers were responsible to run standardized reports and submit packages for review and approval through their ID and onto HQ IMCOM.
“It took a lot of work and dedication to ensure the process succeeded,” Simpson said. “IMCOM authored a detailed standard operating procedure on the new process and created a standardized year-end close package, which included 51 standard reports used for submission. HQ provided eight training sessions where over 300 budget analysts across the enterprise learned the new way forward. The impacts of this effort not only improved internal business processes and gained efficiencies; it also is helping to better posture the command to meet audit compliance requirements.
“All the collaborative efforts at echelon resulted in better communication, understanding of expectations, empowerment for the garrison to be responsible for their reports, and resulted in one of the smoothest close-outs in years.”
FY23 was a very exciting year but the keys to success were through a “triple play” of teamwork, communication, and execution supported by engaged IMCOM leadership, Glover said.
“Knowing that the collaboration of our personnel through teamwork built upon solid communication and execution across staff directorates, IDs and the garrisons led to our success of another 4th quarter victory at Year-end Close,” he said. “Through the triple play and engaged leadership, the Mighty IMCOM G8 finished FY23 strong, which allowed the team to be even better and ready for the funding challenges in FY24 and beyond.”
| Date Taken: | 12.07.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 12.07.2023 16:36 |
| Story ID: | 459438 |
| Location: | FORT SAM HOUSTON, TEXAS, US |
| Hometown: | FORT SAM HOUSTON, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 57 |
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