Conference 7.286::digital

    Mine is taking an average of 4 weeks.  I do not have direct deposit,
    which would knock off perhaps one of the weeks, but I'm still
    financing my own business expense for at least 3 weeks, averaging
    a couple hunderd dollars per week.
    
    I don't understand why a "permanent advance" would not be reasonable
    since we no longer have TRAVELETTERS, for those of us who travel
    week in and week out.  I can't believe Bob P. believes it's fair for
    employees to have their own money tied up for 3-4 weeks... 

Well, I just received electronic notification last week (about 4 weeks) for my
1st voucher after the cut-off of Traveletter 1/16.  But my management is
remote, so there is mail delays that may not be typical for all.  I'm expecting
4 weeks to be the norm in my case, which is a problem given travel requirements
of the job.

    For the Record --
    
      my co-worker and I both have electronic deposit and are getting close
    to getting a bad credit rating due to DEC. I just got e-mail (A1mail,
    so what) stating that I got my trip refund (FINALLY!!!) after 4 weeks
    in *their* hands. 
       I'd like to have my suspicions allayed that they only cut "checks"
    every 2 weeks, so tuff noogies if you slip in just after the cut-off.
    
    Bruce (the-extremely-ired) Evans

	It's pretty disgusting that a $14B company is floated loans by
	its employees. I wonder when someone is going to start charging
	interest and late fees?

							mike

RE charging interest, etc...

I know of employees here in Germany that have a seperate account for travel
expenses, and who do, in fact, charge DEC for interest.  However, it's a bit
easier in Germany, since it is possible to have a disposition credit on your
accounts at the bank.  Essentially, the bank floats you a loan whenever you
have an overdraft, and you are "allowed" to over-draw your account up to a
certain maximum.  And even if you go over that maximum for short periods, they
usually give you a couple weeks to get it fixed before getting nasty.

Also, by having a seperate account, it's also possible to charge DEC for the
expenses incurred by that account, ie normal bank charges and administrative
fees.  I've never done it myself, although I see some advantages to doing it
that way.

Rob Marshall

RE: Previous

  4 1/2 weeks and counting!

  This is the first transaction being processed this way for me, as I've 
  always utilizied travelletter prior to this without any problems.

  Hope they have a "continous improvement program" factored into this
  new process, they have a long way go! 

    I must be the exception, but an expense report was submitted on 1/30/93
    and I got direct deposit reimpursement on 2/5/93. Is everyone sure that
    it's not sitting in a local office inbasket or outbasket??
    

    Re: .8
    
    Yes, indeed - SOME of the delay is likely to be from sitting in
    someone's in/out basket.  Nevertheless, it still should not be the
    employees burden to bear.  My manager never committed that he would 
    be at his desk every day to approve and forward expense vouchers, 
    nor would I expect him to.

    Why doesn't DEC just pay off everyone's American Express Corporate 
    balance directly, instead of AE billing the employee?

    Then all we would have to do is reimburse DEC for expenses that go
    beyond what DEC pays for.

    No waiting, no loan floating. But does this open things up for abuse?

    -=- Paul

    I have submitted on-time expense reports to my manager no later than
    Monday of the following week each week.  I know that her sec. is mailing
    them immediately, via U.S. Post Office, to the processing center.  My
    first expense report thus submitted was for w/e 1/23.  I have received
    NO reimbursements as of today (2/17)  My outstanding expense voucher
    balance with the company is over $1600.  I spoke yesterday to a real
    person in the disbursements office.  They are looking into my
    situation.  I, too, hope that the company is monitoring this situation
    closely because I certainly will have a problem financing my travel
    expenses.

    I mailed my last expense voucher to my manager for approval on
    01/25/93. I received expense transaction notification that it was being
    deposited into my account on 02/05/93. Pretty good turn around, IMO.
    
    FWIW, my manager happens to reside at the same location that our FMC is
    located. I've got to believe that helps the processing cycle.
    
    This is an improvement over last year's experiences:
    
    1. Mail expense voucher from Chicago to Colorado Springs for CC
    manager's approval.
    2. Expense voucher approved and mailed from Colorado Springs to
    Littleton, MA for higher level approval.
    3. Expense voucher approved and mailed to FMC in Colorado Springs for
    processing. (Processing in Maynard FMC actually took more time.)
    4. Electronic notification of deposit.
    
    Recent cost center changes helped eliminate the mail back east.
    
    Kevin

    
    It is wrong for DEC to require their employees to float the company 
    loans.
    
    This is an unethical business practice. Plain and simple.
              

    It does help if the forms are written clearly, that all necessary
    receipts are included, have the correct signatures (to cover 
    items that are now designated EXCEPTIONS), and the addition is correct.  
    I know that sounds a bit obvious, but you would be suprised how
    many vouchers are held up for these problems.

RE: .14

	FWIW, I use the VOUCHER program for my expense vouchers. I have
	a computer do the math (novel idea) ALL my vouchers are so clearly 
	written that it would take Mr. Magoo to screw them up. I double 
	and triple check all entries and so does my secretary. Even then it 
	took me a few weeks to get the $140 that DEC owed me back. 

	Oh, and if it wasn't for my (great) manager at the time, DEC was
	going to ask ME to float them over 2-3K in charges incurred during
	travel and "they would reimburse me".. Yea, maybe a month or
	two later after I've paid the interest.

	No thanks.. I and my (great) manager said NFW. I told them I
	didn't have the credit limit. There was no recourse but for them
	to give me an advance.

							mike

Could someone post a phone number or E-mail address to contact? I haven't
seen a single reimbursement since this program started.

    
    
    FMC HOTLINES:                               HOTLINE NUMBER (DTN)
    
    	 Tempe, AZ				    566-5780
    	 Merrimack, NH				    264-1970
    	 Maynard, MA				    223-1311
    	 Shrewsbury, MA				    237-3101
    	 Colorado Springs, CO			    522-3201
    
    PAYROLL HOTLINE				    223-2463
    
    CORPORATE TRAVEL  HOTLINE			    223-8297 or 226-7413
    

	So far I havent gotten any money deposited either.  I gave it a try
	and so far it is not working.	

	In my case this does not save digital money.  I am on temporary 
	assignment and have to live completly on expenses.

	I was living in a apt before Xmas  @$700 (when we had travelleter).

	Since Jan I have had to live in a places that takes AMEX.  This
	means 55-65 per day  1500-1900 per month.  I have expense backed
	up and more going into the pipe.  My AMEX card is now up to 3k or
	so.

	Nobody really cares as long as you are in the guidlines.  You can
	no longer do the right thing even if you wanted to.

	t.

    Just for the record...
    
      I got A1mail yesterday that said in 2 days I'd have funds in my
    account to pay Amex, and today when I called the electronic bank teller
    (what a *great* idea -- it sounds like a human, instead of FRANK!) the
    funds were there.
    
       I'm relieved, and I know Amex will be happier - I know how upset
    they get when they have to fill out the forms giving me (or anyone) a
    bad credit rating.....
    
      FWIW - I agree with the thought that DEC direct pay Amex and collect
    from me the difference. Crud, that's the way your manager stays on top
    of your situations (oops, that's the old DEC again... sorry!   :-)
    
    bwe

    
    Approximately one month wait for me.  I too have received notification
    that funds are on the way.  The delays are in part due to my location
    because my expenses must be forwarded by mail to our manager.  He and
    his secretary are doing their best to cut the delay by arranging for
    other (closer) managers to have signature authority.
    
    I went ahead and took a (personal) cash advance on my credit card to
    fund my last trip.  I already had a DINERS bill in hand for the two
    previous trips for which I have just been notified I will be paid.
    
    I have accepted the fact that this is another cost of the business
    that I will have to carry as an employee.  I don't think employees
    *should* have to carry the expense float, but that's the way it is
    for my situation right now.  As I mentioned, my manager is trying to
    improve the turnaround time.
    

    - I take on early plane ticket expense load to secure a lower fare and
    take Saturday overnight stay over to lower fare as well. The very least
    DEC could do is to promptly pay the bill.  I find it hard to imagine
    that the Traveletter cost the company soooo much - I find it easier to
    believe some unethical (or at least unconcerned) bean counter decided
    it was more profitable & politically cleansed to take out of my pocket
    for the sake of the interest.  Until folks start travelling again in
    the numbers that they did in the past, there may never develop enough
    groundswell to reverse or modify the inequity and unethical nature of
    this policy. Then again, groundswell and 'doing the right thing" may be
    passe' - it's hardly efficient business like behavior, now is it?

    Another horror story for the record ... I am also on temporary living
    and have to file expenses every week.  So far it has taken five weeks
    for every disbursement and I have never received notification of any
    kind.  I have been performing work for a cost center "serviced" by the
    Shrewsbury hotline, with that cost center providing expense relief to
    another cost center "serviced" by Merrimack.  When I call the hotlines,
    at various times they have blamed each other, managers in the approval
    chain, and even the local e-mail router (There are two Jim Flanagan's
    on this router).
    
    The time I've spent on the phone trying to determine the source of the
    problems more than offsets the savings of axing Traveletter.
    
       Jim F.

Does anyone know (or has anyone succeeded) in getting DEC to pay for airfare
IN ADVANCE rather than having to put it on your 'company' AMEX or DC card?

Lee

RE: .23


Yea, it's easy.


Don't have a corporate credit card, then it's not put there (since they can't)
and DEC pays for it.


This is precisely why I don't have  corporate AMEX or Diners Club.


-bill

    My secretary mailed two expense accounts up north on Feb 12 and I
    received electronic notification this morning, Feb 18, that the funds
    would be deposited within two business days.  

    Bill's answer in .24 to the question of whether or not you can get
    Digital to directly pay airfare is right on.  I used to have air
    tickets paid directly before I had an AMEX card and always liked it. 
    After I got a credit card, I had our secretery try to continue to do
    this.  She tried several times and was unsuccessful.  The answer always
    came back, "If you've got a credit card, it must be charged to you not
    the company".  For the life of me, I never figured that out.
    
    The same thing is true for rental cars.  You can't get one of those
    one-time vouchers if you have a credit card.  It seems to me that there
    should be some way to short cut all the paper handling.
    
    Larry
    

    I thought we were a computer company.  Here we are arguing over a
    process that could be easily automated to everyone's advantage.  If a
    manager has signature authority to approve your expense report, why
    can't that same manager submit your balance electronically to our
    disbursements office who would then electronically pay you????  The
    cotton pickin paperwork could catch up to the electronic system later. 
    If there are discrepencies they could be handled on the back end.
    
    Or, maybe that's too simple.
    
    CW

Turnaround for me is averaging 4 weeks.   The only real problem is with
advance purchase airline tickets... I get the bill much earlier than
the reinbursement.   As long as AMEX understands that I'm not paying 
them until Digital pays me, I don't have a problem with the system.

Of course, I do have a problem with the message that said they were 
doing this to save costs.   They are doing this to regain control.
Its much easier now to reject an expense.   They simply don't reimburse 
you, and now its up to you to justify the expense.   It was a lot harder
when you wrote the check yourself.

Watch for this in the near future... You'll find some beancounter rejecting
your $1 surcharge for an intermediate sized rental car, without ever 
considering the comfort of the customers who had to ride with you.  

FWIW, intermediate is the norm for HP, (unless there are customer's
present, in which case they use full sized cars)  and they get better 
rates than we do, including Hertz #1 Gold status.   They also use a cash 
advance system, rather than Traveletter.

Bob_who's_brother_works_for_HP

    I have a similar situation.  Yesterday, I had an opportunity to save
    Digital $365 by having the travel agency issue several tickets several
    weeks in advance to take advantage of a special fare.  In the past, I
    would not have hesitated to do this, but with the additional delay
    in reimbursement caused by the new system, I was concerned that I would
    receive my AMEX bill before I received payment.
    
    I approached my manager, and his response was "You're doing the right
    thing by saving the company money.  Turn in the tickets in advance of
    your travel and I will approve the expense account so that you have the
    money in time to pay the bill."
    
    This will work, of course, but I don't know what will happen if I have
    to cancel one of the trips, say, due to illness.
    
    I wonder how many of your managers would approve an expense account for
    airline tickets in advance of the actual travel date?  If my manager
    had not suggested this, I would have likely said the hell with it and
    spent the extra $365Z
    

    re: .29
    
    I've done this before.  If the tickets are paid for in advance,
    it's perfectly reasonable to expense them.  If you have to
    cancel the trip, you'll have to refund the money less any cancellation
    fee.
    
    The trick is what to put as your receipt for the ticket.  What I
    do is a photocopy of the ticket stub and I send the original after
    I've flown.  You can also use an invoice from your travel agent
    if you get anything like that.

    I have consistently received my voucher reimbursements 3 weeks after
    the week-ending date (I mail them to my manager on the following
    Monday or Tuesday).
    
    Non-refundable tickets must be purchased (and paid for) 1-3 weeks in
    advance, in order to get the 50% - 70% savings.

    I don't submit expense vouchers that often but when I do it
    usually only takes a week to get reimbursed. I believe if
    your office submitted the vouchers to payroll on time
    then the most it should take is a week and a half.
    
    mm
    

    
    Re:
    
>    I wonder how many of your managers would approve an expense account for
>    airline tickets in advance of the actual travel date?  If my manager
>    had not suggested this, I would have likely said the hell with it and
>    spent the extra $365Z
 
    As a cost center manager I insist that people avail themselves of cheap
    tickets ie non refundable, 2 weeks in advance etc if at all possible. I
    also enforce the
    hotel room rate schedules for cities. I require explanations if
    something is above recommended limits or someone avails themselves of
    one of those exhoritant airfares. If the explanation wasn't good enough
    I'd have no hesitation in refusing to sign the expense claim. Luckily
    so far I've never had to do that. The flip side of that is that I'll
    help people save the company money. Eg if they've had to spend the
    money then as far as I'm concerned they can put in an expense claim or
    have an advance to cover it. 
    I believe this sort of thing is nothing more than good management and I
    wish more managers would actually look at what they're signing or be
    held responsible for signing something they shouldn't have.
                               

   My first foray into electro-reimbursment netted me a response 3 days
   after submitting 3 vouchers and my money in my checking account 2
   days after that.  Worked ok for me the first time 'round.  I'll see
   how it does this Monday.

	Let's see now... I turned in my expenses Feb. 2 and the secretary
	mailed them out Feb. 3.  On Feb. 20 I get a mail message that
	my expenses were processed Feb. 12, but I will have the money in
	two business days.  From when ???   Were they actually deposited by
	Feb. 16, and they just didn't bother to tell me ? Or were they
	processed on the 12th, but just now got to Petty Cash ?  In either
	case, I'm not impressed with the response time.

I deal with the NNEFMC and normally see a 4 business day turn-around, including
inter-office mail from New Jersey to MKO.

    Today I received a check for the first three weeks expenses since the
    Travelletter went south (wks 1/23-2/06).  My only problem now is that
    they were supposed to make a direct deposit, not send me a check.
    
    CW

    I haven't read all the answers.  I am not a frequenter of this notes
    file, but I do like to get caught up now and again....
    
    Someone had our Expense Voucher put on line.  It's great and can get
    your expense voucher done in very short time.  It does all the
    calculations for you.
    
    Your secretary will probably end up checking it anyway.  That's how
    it's done here.  A manager doesn't sign it until the secretary has her
    initials on it.  Then it goes to FMC.  Us secretaries are well aware
    how important it is for Individual Contributors to get their
    reimbursements quickly.  We don't let them sit on our desks for more
    than a couple of hours....
    
    By the same token there are several I.C. who will come back from a trip
    and it will be a week or even two before the exp. voucher is done. 
    Then complain when the $$$ are not in the bank when the bills come in.
    
    It's tougher for those who are in the field.  Maybe if you figure out a 
    way to improve the process you can submit it.
    
    me

    I disposed of my Travelletter privileges a couple of years ago. It's
    easier for me to just request refunds and have them direct deposited to
    my DCU account. No running to the bank to cash Travelletter checks.

    Everything was going fine until the recent changes. I received a live 
    check instead of direct deposit for my December expenses. I called 
    about it and found out that for some reason, I was no longer enrolled 
    in direct deposit for expenses. So I had to re-enroll using PAYEE. 

    If you call PAYEE, you can find out what your direct deposit status is,
    and make changes if needed.

    -=- Paul

    My most recent expense voucher was paid the week after I turned it in.
    
    That is probably as fast as the system can possibly work.

    There are several of us in my group who still have 3 weeks outstanding
    balances due (back to us) and we are not smiling

In an earlier reply, I mentioned that my disbursements had taken a
minimum of five weeks.  In fairness to all, it should now be noted that
my last three direct deposits have taken place within 11-14 business days
after submittal of the voucher.  Most of this time is attributable to the
managerial sign-off period and not to the folks that do the expense
disbursements.

The expense disbursement process has been improved to the point that I am
satisfied that the disbursements themselves are being made as fast as possible.
Note: There is still room for improvement in the sign-off process, and I can work
that with my own management.  Also the improvement does not offset the fact that
Digital is still profiting at my expense from the interest it gains by taking
away Traveletter.

The current reimbursement system works, however it is error and 
delay prone. For those of us folks in the field, who cannot "walk"
the paperwork through the system, it has been my experience that 
from the time I snail mail the voucher till the money is in the bank 
the average is 35 days. It has been as short as 21 days, however it 
also has been much longer.   

An alternative:  Company charge cards, billed directly to DEC,  a system
(i.e. computer...we have the technology) which can process the card vendor's 
billing data and cross reference online expense vouchers by transaction 
number, etc.   Everything else, that cannot be charged, is covered by a 
per diem rate/city.  

Another Alternative:  A system "like" traveletter, where the CC manager
authorizes an individual for an amount, say $1000.00.   A person fills out
a expense voucher, and sends it to the paper mill as usual.   The person then
can call a system, like the Payee Phone, to request a deposit from the
authorized pool of $1000.00.   This call is a "one-shot" which must be "reset"
from the CC manager receiving and OK'ing the voucher.   The CC manager can
then call the system, and re-validate the $1000.00 authorization, only on 
a weekly basis.

Another Alternative:  Keep the same system, but eliminate all paper.  The 
individual keeps receipts, everything else is online.

Last Alternative: It wasn't broke...so go back to Traveletter.

    My reimbursement has worked great. I completed the expense form on
    2-22-93 and mailed interoffice that afternoon to my manager. I received 
    notification on 3-2-93 that money would be direct deposited. 6 working
    days is not bad.
    
    Of course having a manager that does not let them lay in the inbox
    helps also.

    I have submitted the following basic idea thru the IDEAS CENTRAL
    process.  What do you think?  
    
    The approving manager, at whatever level that occurs, should send an
    e-mail to the disbursements office authorizing payment of the amount of
    the approved expense voucher to the employee.  Simple?? 
    Quick?(assuming you have a decent boss)?  Any adjustments can be
    handled later, just as was the case with Travelletters.  If you wish to
    see the text of my IDEA, see the IDEAS conference, note 391.3 (they
    buried it with some petty cash automation idea that I don't understand
    since we don't have petty cash in many field locations.

    Don't know if it helps, but here in VBO (France) we use an (almost)
    completely electronic system called Travel Management System (TMS)
    Roughly it works as follows:
    
    System has a database with employee data, travel data, conversion
    rates, CC and signature authorization, signature passwords....etc.
    
    1- Employee fills in electronic travel request at any time
       Eventually submits the request.
    
    2- Request goes to CC manager, his/her delegatee, others depending
       on hierachy of signatures required...
    2a)Request goes to AMEX office for early ticket reservation
    
    3- When request is properly approved (electronic signatures)
       AMEX issues the ticket, advance (ca 100$/day max) is paid
       by either electronic transfer to bank, or by AMEX if foreign
       currency required.
    4- emloyee returns and fills in expense claim which has to match
       the travel request (except for "local expenses"....)
    5- Expense claim goes the electronic signature route
       at the same time the receipts checked off by the CC manager
       go via papermail to accounting
    6- When accounting has received the electronic expense claim,
       matched it with the receipts, electronic money transfer to
       employees bank is initiated..
    
    We have it in operation now for ca 2 years and it works pretty well
    and fast. (In House speced and written)
    /fred
    

	This may be just a rumor, but I have heard that Travel Management 
System (TMS) is planned to replace the current process in this calendar
year.  Personally, I'm dealing/coping with 4 week turn arounds.  This 
includes the US Postal Service overhead.  

I'm under the NNEFMS (Northern New England) and while I'm in New Jersey, my
my turn around, including inter-office mail, has always been 5 business days.

As each FMC is different in how they do business, you might want to check on
this.

There are just too many variables for some of us. The example below is
typical.  When everybody is around, and things go quickly, turnaround is
about 3 weeks, but that's not good enough. For example:

Week 1:  Ticket Purchase is charged to credit card.

Week 3:  Travel

Week 4:  Do Expense voucher.  Send by mail to remote manager.

         Credit card bill arrives.  Due in two weeks.

Week 5:  Manager was away a few days, then gets around to inbox.  Signs
         it late in the week.  Secretary sends to FMC a day later.

Week 6:  Arrives at FMC.  Enters processing late in the week.
         Credit card bill is overdue.

Week 7:  Electronic mail notice goes out early in week.  I can't sign on
         to read it because I am traveling again.

Week 8:  I get back and find the notice, and send my credit card bill in
         two weeks late.

bill

    Because I was in temporary living I had lots of expenses happening and
    because our management wasn't turning them fast enough I was 4-5 weeks
    behind.  I finally asked for an advance thinking this would be the
    smart thing to do only I asked for a small amount.  The day after I
    received my advance, they processed two of my expense reports and wiped
    out the advance. The policy is to use advance money immediately even
    though the advance was dated 2/15 and the expense voucher processed was
    dated 1/16 and 1/23.  
    
    I didn't get enough to cover my outstanding Diners bill.  I went back to 
    management and requested a $5K advance showing that I still had 
    outstanding $2.5K in expenses to be processed, with the remaining 
    projections of what I would spend over the next 4 weeks.  It was 
    approved.  Now I'm finally even.  Management can still approve
    advances with justification.
    
    Another trick I learned, for short term housing for a month or longer,
    use apartments that offer executive packages.  Digital will directly
    lease the apartment for you so you don't have to expense it yourself
    weekly.  They have already negotiated several of these in major cities
    and have a list of approved apartment complexes or used to.  It's been
    a year since I did it last and things could have changed but it saves
    you the trouble of signing a temporary lease.  Most major apartment
    complexes will furnish it nicely with all the extras including, dishes; 
    linens; kitchens item, etc; and provide daily or weekly maid service 
    as well for a lot less than the cost of a residence inn or hotel.  Much
    nicer environment as well.
    
    Kathy 
                    

    
********************************************************************

     This Communication is From the Financial Management Centers

********************************************************************    

    The Financial Management Center's would like to respond to some of 
    the issues that have been discussed in the notes file. Prior to 
    addressing these issues, we would like to advise Employees that all 
    FMCs are processing vouchers within 48 hours, with the majority of 
    vouchers being processed as they arrive. Once these vouchers are 
    keyed, they are electronically deposited into you account within 
    24-48 hours, again in most cases this occurs in 24 hours. The only 
    exceptions are when the documents cannot be processed, in which case 
    they are diligently worked to avoid being sent back to the employee, 
    or when the employee has an outstanding advance issue that is being 
    worked.
    
    ISSUES AS HIGHLIGHTED ON VTX
      1. System Down - With the exception of February 22, 1993, in the 
      Colorado Springs FMC (Disk Crash), all Employee Expense Systems have 
      been up and operating as normal.  There is an hour or two near the 
      end of each day that processing and inquiry against the system is 
      suspended while daily jobs are run.  We believe that this normal 
      computer processing time is what the author is referring to as system 
      downtime. Normally, we get back to our clients that have questions 
      either later the same day or early the next day for inquiries that 
      are made during this computer processing time.  Although our 
      employees are instructed to clearly articulate this situation when a 
      client happens to make an inquiry during this period, we will 
      reinforce this with our staffs. Essentially we believe that the issue 
      is not system downtime, but rather we are not ensuring that our 
      clients understand the correct message. 
   
      If we push back the computer processing until after hours, we would 
      miss the EDI transmission cycle for EFT, which in turn means that 
      the Employee reimbursement would be delayed.
   
   2. Mail Time - Mail time can be an issue, particularly when the employee 
      must mail their voucher for approval to a site that is not close by 
      and the approver must then forward it to an FMC.  We have the 
      following suggestions, some of which have been articulated prior to 
      cutting off the Traveletter System
       
       * If possible, Managers should arrange to have someone locally 
       approved on the SA2 file to approve their expenses.  Normally there 
       is someone local that a cost center manager can delegate approval 
       signature to.  This can eliminate the need to send the voucher to a 
       distant site for approval.
       * Employees or approvers should send the vouchers to the closest FMC 
       for processing.  The only exception is that if an employee has an 
       advance on one FMC, they must process the expenses on the FMC to 
       clear the advance.  We would also ask that employees are consistent 
       and utilize the same FMC when possible, otherwise, if they try to 
       inquire as to status and forget which FMC they sent it to, it will 
       be a problem for both the employee and the FMCs.  (This has 
       previously been communicated.)

                                       
    
    3.	MTS Router - There have been some issues with the MTS router which 
        has impeded our ability, in some cases, to confirm to clients that 
        their voucher has been received and reimbursement is being made.  
        An important point to be made however, is that this has not 
        affected the actual reimbursement, but only the message to the 
        employee.  The more generic issue with the router appears to be 
        that, for different reasons, mail messages do not get delivered.  A 
        couple of points to mention here are that each FMC works these 
        rejected messages and makes every attempt to re-address and deliver 
        the message. Further, the Expertise Center has been working 
        directly with the owners of the router to resolve these issues.  In 
        addition, Shrewsbury had a specific problem with their router, in 
        which four days of messages during the week of February 14, 1993 
        were not delivered, nor did the router create an error message to 
        the FMC indicating that something was wrong.  This was corrected by 
        the middle of the next week. Routers have been a problem that the 
        FMCs are trying to work with the application owners. The MTS 
        routers are moving to a standard platform and this will eliminate 
        many issues.
    
    	Clients can call the FMCs for the status of a transaction if they 
        have doubts about their reimbursement and we will be glad to help 
        them.
    
    OTHER SUGGESTIONS:
    
    1.	Current Completion of Vouchers - It is advisable for employees to 
        make sure that they complete their vouchers on a timely basis to 
        ensure that they allow adequate time for the entire processing 
        cycle.  This is particularly true for the employee that is 
        constantly traveling to ensure that a fairly consistent flow of 
        reimbursement is occurring.
    
    2.	Approver Cycle Time - Approvers need to understand that they have a 
        responsibility to their employees to review and approve vouchers on 
        a timely basis.  Past experience has shown us that this is the area 
        that extends time beyond a reasonable time.
    
    3.	EFT - Employees that are enrolled in Electronic Funds Transfer 
        shorten up the processing cycle by the two to five days it takes 
        for a check to get to them via interoffice mail, plus whatever time 
        it takes for them to deposit the check.
    
    4.	Signature File Updated - One of the biggest holdups for quick 
        processing once the documents are received in the FMC is improper 
        approval.  If employees and approvers ensure that the SA2 file is 
        up to date and the correct approvers sign the document, this is one 
        less impediment to timely processing.

    
    5.	Corporate Credit Card - Corporate credit cards are not only 
        advisable, but, if two or more business related expenses are 
        incurred or expected within one year, it is expected that an 
        employee will have and utilize, wherever possible, a corporate 
        credit card.  Also, this reduces substantially the amount of 
        personal funds that an employee might have outstanding.  And, if 
        employees and approvers utilize the process correctly, 
        reimbursement will occur before the credit card bill arrives.
    
    6.	Call the FMC - Employees can call Disbursements at any time and we 
        will provide whatever assistance we can.  We have found that there 
        are very few instances in which our employees cannot help an 
        employee.  To that end, please find attached a list of contacts for 
        employees to contact.

    Financial Management Center
    
    Employee Expense Inquiries
    
    If you have an Employee expense question or would like the status of a 
    specific voucher, please contact the following Hotline:
    
    FINANCIAL
    MANAGEMENT                             HOTLINE #       HOTLINE #
    CENTER         LOCATION                DTN             OUTSIDE LINE
    
    EMFMC	   MAYNARD, MA		   223-1311	   (508) 493-1311
    MWFMC	   COLORADO SPRINGS, CO	   522-3447	   (719) 548-3447
    NNEFMC	   MERRIMACK, NH	   264-1970	   (603) 884-1970
    SEAFMC	   SHREWSBURY, MA	   237-3101	   (508) 841-3101
    SWFMC	   TEMPE, AZ		   566-5814	   (602) 894-5814
      
    
    Employee Disbursements Contacts List
    
    FMC                         PRIMARY			ELEVATION
    
    Northern New England	Cathie Dumas 		Marc Raposo 
    				264-4460		264-5647
    
    Eastern Mass		Paulette Fortin		Cathy Boucher 
    				223-7584		223-7551
    
    Southeast Area		Pat Girard		Joseph Anandraj
    				237-2068		237-3765
    
    Southwest                   Helen Lorden            Della Hare 
                                566-5865                566-5686
    
    Midwest                     Ruth Spinney            Mary Perdue
                                522-3447                522-2615
    
    
      

    If the FMC's are processing the vouchers in 48 hours or "as they
    arrive" it must be taking 3 to 4 weeks for interoffice mail to get my
    forms from DCO to Shrewsbury!  I get my vouchers signed and personally 
    copy and mail them out the first day back from travel.  I'm still
    waiting for re-imbursement for week ending 2/27...4 weeks ago.
    
    American express wants their money!

   I just had my second experience with the new electro-deposit
   expenses.  My first report said the response was pretty good.  My
   second experience was better.
   
   Submitted 5 vouchers on Thu.  Secretary mailed them Fri.  I got mail
   confirmation before COB Tue.  Money was in my account Wed. AM. 
   
   Our secretary says this is normal turnaround for all vouchers going
   through her.  We are located in Dayton, OH and send ours to New
   England.  Since we get consistently good response on our vouchers, we
   can think of only a few reasons everyone else reports poorer service.
   
   1) The New England expense clearing house is leaps and bounds better
      than the others.
   
   2) The US Postal service between Dayton, OH and New England is leaps
      and bounds better than the rest of the country.
   
   3) The time is takes from handing a voucher to someone until actually
      making it into a mailbox is leaps and bounds better for my unit
      than other units.
   
   
   Now, without having any emperical data--purely a hunch--I would put
   my money on #3.

    I was just pleasantly surprised yesterday with 4 deposits that caught
    me up thru the week of 3/20!  The turnaround has improved, these
    reports were mailed just 2 weeks ago.
    
    Steve  (who can now pay American Express)

    RE: .-2
    
   >through her.  We are located in Dayton, OH and send ours to New
   >England.....
   
    	Can someone explain why Dayton Ohio uses New England and Pittsburgh
    Pa. several hundred miles East uses Colorado when both cities are in
    the same region?
    
    Phil
    

I think the system is working, as long as your local people handling all
the paperwork move it along expeditiously.  I recently turned in an expense
report for a business trip where I already had gotten the cc bill for the
airfare (booked it early).  I received the email msg saying my deposit was
in 2 days in 8 calendar days from when I handed it to my sec'y.  And I work
in the field (Detroit). I had the $ before the cc bill was even overdue.

The quality of the system is very dependant on your local folks sending it
out right away.  Complain if they don't!

	Al

   Re: Note 2374.55 by PFSVAX::MCELWEE 
   

�    	Can someone explain why Dayton Ohio uses New England and Pittsburgh
�    Pa. several hundred miles East uses Colorado when both cities are in
�    the same region?
   
   Our unit (as is most of our office) is part of GSG (govt.) which uses
   virtual geographies.  Our district office is near Hanscom AFB, hence
   why our unit uses the NE FMC.

    RE: -.1:
    
    	That explains it. Why should distance have anything to do with
    expediency of moving paper? The speed of computer networking has
    apparently blurred the laws of physics that date back to the Pony 
    Express. 
    
    	Another point- I consider the confirmation message that the expense
    funds were deposited as "virtual" also. There is no way to 
    verify the deposit unless you query your account or wait for the
    monthly statement.
    
    	I support the savings the direct deposit system can provide.
    However, I despise the tracking and potential failure details. 
    
    	IMHO, the best ways to ensure no problems are to keep copies of all
    vouchers and receipts, don't use interoffice mail between facilities,
    and don't write checks on "virtual dollars".
    
    Phil