Finance website revamped

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Michelle Porreca
  • 354th Comptroller Squadron
EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  Recently, the 'Money - Finance Central' page on the Air Force portal was given a major facelift.

When the renewed page debuted on the AF Portal on March 30, it was renamed 'Money - Welcome to virtual Finance!' under the Portal's 'Life and Career' tab.

The virtual finance page offers an online launching point for customers which brings together information and transaction resources. In many cases, the information provided or the available forms eliminate the need for you to make a traditional trip to finance office.

To enhance the online experience, virtual finance utilizes well known applications such as myPay and DTS, and introduces the newer eFinance Workspace application to a larger audience. In many cases, these applications combine to provide more electronic document processing; in other cases, they assist with creating documents that will be manually processed...either way, greater accessibility is afforded to you, for your convenience.

On the landing page, the 'Welcome' tab provides information about virtual finance, while the navigation tab provides a quick tutorial. Other tabs provide quick links to a variety of resources. If you know which system you need, the 'Take Me To...' tab links to 11 widely recognized applications. The rates and references tab provides links to look up information such as current per diem rates and pay tables. Another new feature, the tools tab links to a variety of financial tools, including calculators to estimate reimbursement for temporary lodging expense or temporary lodging allowance.

Additional tools include calculators to estimate your reimbursement for CONUS PCS travel, calculate deployment entitlements, help estimate leave dates in conjunction with separation, and determine reimbursement when selling leave upon reenlistment or separation.

The left navigation menu offers numerous event-oriented options to complete many routine, and some not so routine, transactions. For example, to submit a TDY travel voucher, process an allotment change, or even complete a military PCS voucher, there is a menu item with an option to accomplish the task.

Among the not-so-routine transactions, if you need to request advance military pay for PCS travel or request a change to your number of dependents for cost of living allowance, there is a menu allowance pointing to that subject. The left menu is also linked to the top 180 frequently asked questions with answers to many common financial questions. The wealth of information available will help to reduce the need to make the trip to Finance.

Enhancing online capabilities familiarizes you with how services will be delivered in the future when the Air Force Financial Services Center's Contact Center opens at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota. These online capabilities and enhancements are the initial part of the Air Force's 'Click, Call, Walk' vision for providing financial services. Click refers to providing the vast majority of services using online and web resources. The Call' and 'Walk' service channels will be used for higher level service or issues which cannot be resolved via the 'Click' channel.

There is more to virtual Finance than can be described here. Most customers, including civilian employees, will find valuable content or links on the page. Visit virtual Finance and get a feel for what it offers. Use the 'Email Us' link to tell the Content Managers what you like and don't like about the page. Customer feedback is the key to making this page successful; feedback on the initial draft helped shape the current design.

In the near term, virtual Finance enhancements will include the addition of nearly 800 FAQs, as well as more than 100 Instant Advice pages. Instant Advice pages provide instant summaries of information on selected topics as well as links to related FAQs and transaction systems. Virtual Finance continues to evolve to simplify and expedite service to the Air Force total force.