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FIAR requires accountable BAH

  • Published
  • By Maj. Timothy Fast
  • 325th CPTS Commander
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla --  In an October 2011 memorandum, the Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta called for the department to achieve audit readiness of the Statement of Budgetary Resources by the end of 2014.

Recently, Air Force Secretary Deborah James set three priorities for her tenure. One of those priorities is for the Air Force to "deliver a clean audit," something the service is currently unable to do. In order to achieve a clean audit, leaders at all levels have placed the highest priority on improving financial information and processes. The drive for this improvement led to the development of the Financial Improvement Audit Readiness  Guidance. This guidance provides the criteria and road map to achieve Audit Readiness.
FIAR drills have been going on here at Tyndall for several months. Air Combat Command  is accessing how we process military and travel pay documents, civilian pay and all contracting actions to include reimbursements. They are evaluating our ability to comply with the established audit criteria. In some cases, the criteria mirrors our current processes, while others are, or will be, a total change from the way we are currently doing business. Tyndall as a whole has fared pretty well; however, there is room for improvement. These FIAR drills will continue to occur and evaluate our progress towards auditability at the end of 2014.

Many may be reading this and thinking this is a comptroller issue or a resource advisor problem, it doesn't affect me. The reality is FIAR will affect everyone at some point. In fact, starting this month, due to newly established audit criteria regarding Basic Allowance for Housing, all Air Force military personnel receiving dependent rate BAH will be required to revalidate this entitlement. This means each member is required to recomplete the AF Form 594 and produce supporting documentation (marriage license, birth certificates of dependents, etc.). These documents have to be validated and certified by the financial services office and failure to do so could result in loss of the entitlement until it is complete.

In an attempt to make this as easy as possible on the member, the financial services office will be developing a schedule to visit each unit to collect this information. Once the unit visit schedule is solidified, first sergeants will be notified. We want to ensure every member has ample lead time to compile the required documents. To test our process, we will be starting with the 325th Fighter Wing Staff Agencies.

The BAH FIAR drill is just one of the many military pay processes financial management is working to achieve audit compliance. In the future, there will be others requiring member action. Your assistance not only helps financial services and the Air Force, but it helps you. Everyone has a stake in FIAR.