“At the end of the year, we try to tackle a lot of these last-minute projects and get the money allocated as quickly as possible,” said James Andrews, installation contracting officer.
But it’s not always as simple as it sounds. Organizational requirements that are routed late in the month during closeout may actually lose valuable funding, cost more to acquire or may not be awarded at all due to time constraints.
“Usually by the time we get the requirement, it’s already behind schedule because organizations don’t realize how long it can take for something to be put on contract, so then we are always in a rush mode trying to get everything on contract,” said Andrews.
Budgeters, accountants and contract officers alike agree the end of the year is a critical time for all organizations and comptrollers to make sure all that can be done for an organization’s requirements, is done … and done properly.
“Get us involved at the beginning of the process,” said Rory O’Brien, installation contracting officer. “A lot of times organizations will wait until the last minute to get us involved, and there may be things that go wrong.”
Contracting officers are the only ones who can obligate government funds, ensuring ratifications to the requirement won’t be needed at the end of the year. Rectifying any portion of a requirement may take longer than expected, and may not be accomplished before midnight on Sept 30, when the system shuts down.
“We’re the certifiers, and organizations have to deliver funding documents to us as soon as possible, so we can certify them, since the system shuts down at midnight,” said Shannon Noles, 88th Comptroller Squadron supervisory accountant.
Furthermore, when an organizations funding goes unused, it’s then redistributed back to the base or Air Force at large for other organizations mission requirements.
Wilburn Slack, 88th Comptroller Squadron Civil Engineering budget analyst, emphasizes the importance of communication between organizations and the Comptroller Office. According to Slack, clear communication of requirements in funding documents and to contracting officers ensures a smooth flow of operational necessities to warfighters and base support offices, allowing the accomplishment of the 88th Air Base Wing mission.
“The key to a successful award is getting those requirement documents over to us,” said Andrews. “Planning ahead of time and not waiting until the last minute to develop good requirements packages allows for a smooth flow of documents and eventual completion of a project.”
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