CFO-ADMIN NEWS YOU CAN USE

A Monthly Newsletter from the

Office of the Chief Financial Officer and

 Director of Administration

 

March 9, 2011

 

In this issue of CFO-Admin News You Can Use, we focus on the following: 

• Help ITA Save Money - Use Your Desk Phone to Place Conference Calls

• Everyone Likes Saving Money

• CFO Added to ITA Tasker System

• Do You Need to Attend Escape Hood Training?

• Federal Register

• The Illumination Series: We Shed Light on Our Processes

• FY 2011 Mid-Term Performance Management Progress Review Guidance

• Health and Wellness Program

• The CDP and DOC Library – working together to reduce costs and expand access

• ITA Comings and Goings

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Help ITA Save Money – Use Your Desk Phone to Place Conference Calls

 

Did you know that ITA spends more than $200,000 per year in audio conferencing expenses and over $450,000 per year in webinar expenses?  With budgets tight, Headquarters users (both HCHB and RRB) can help ITA reduce its audio conferencing bill by using their desk phones to place conference calls with up to five other participants, rather than reserving lines through ITA’s conferencing vendor, VerizonBusiness.  When you use your desk phone, ITA is not charged any extra fee for your conferencing usage.  It only takes a few simple steps, and all that you need are your participants’ phone numbers:

To place a Conference Call (you can conference up to five other participants, not including yourself):

1)  Dial the number of the first participant.

2)  To add the next participant, press the More button, then press Confrn [These buttons will be identified by text that will appear at the bottom of your telephone screen.]  Dial the number of the next participant then press Confrn again to connect them to the call.

3)  Once the second participant is connected to the conference call, repeat Step 2 to add each additional participant. You can add up to five participants. 

4)  When all participants have been connected, you can review the list of participants by pressing More then press ConfList. To remove a participant from the call, highlight the number and press Remove. Press Update to review the remaining participants. 

5) At the conclusion of your conference call, press End Call to quit and end the conference.

The Department has prepared a Telephone System Desktop Guide that provides step-by-step instructions for using your desk phone:  http://home.commerce.gov/cio/NewOCIO/ITCSC_Helpdesk/HCHB_Phones/HCHBhp.html

 

For calls with more than six participants (including yourself), as well as webinars, you can continue to reserve calls through ITA’s conferencing vendor, VerizonBusiness, at 877-855-4797. If you have scheduled a call through VerizonBusiness, please be sure to cancel any lines that you will not need in advance of your call to prevent ITA from being charged for the unused reserved lines.  Also, if you are hosting a webinar at Headquarters, please consider inviting Headquarters participants to attend in person in order to reduce ITA’s costs.  Distributing materials in advance and beginning your meeting promptly can also limit the time participants spend waiting for the presentation to begin and help keep costs in control.

 

Thank you for helping ITA reduce its conferencing costs and save money for other programs.  If you have questions or need a VerizonBusiness authorization code, please contact Jeff Scherr at 202-482-3266 or Jeffrey.Scherr@trade.gov.

 

Everyone Likes Saving Money

 

Participate in the Office of Financial Management’s Undelivered Order (UDO) Review.

An Undelivered Order (UDO) is the amount of an order placed or contract awarded for which goods and services have not been received.  It also applies to travel funds that have been obligated but not used.

 

Picture this, you are managing a contract, let’s say it is for a large meeting using five rooms at a hotel.  You only use four rooms and the hotel doesn’t bill you for the unused room.  For the sake of this example you have a contract obligated at $10,000 but the bill is only $8,000.  You approve the payment of the bill and go on to the next exciting event you are managing.  The difference between the $10,000 obligation and the $8,000 actually spent is what we call an UDO and these funds, $2,000 in this case, can be reclaimed from the contract and reused if done before the funds expire.

 

The Office of Financial Management provides each program area with reports of UDO balances that must be regularly reviewed and reported to ensure financial management decisions are based on accurate data that complies with federal laws and Treasury Departmental guidance. 

 

As our appropriated funding is restricted and expires in two years, it is imperative that we utilize our resources wisely. Obligated funds must be promptly de-obligated when those funds are no longer needed. ITA’s review of UDOs ensures that unnecessary UDOs are identified in a timely manner and de-obligated, freeing funds up for ITA programs.

 

In February, ITA’s Accounting staff provided the FY 2010 UDO files to the program offices for review and requested any obligations that are no longer needed be de-obligated.  This month ITA/OFM Accounting will request that the program offices conduct another UOD review for FY 2011.  All de-obligation requests will be reviewed, monitored, and approved by the ITA/OFM Budget office.

 

For additional information contact Doug Allis at 202-482-9151.

 

Federal Register

 

Notices are published in the Federal Register (FR) to provide general information of public interest.  They may announce meetings, grant application due dates or other information requiring public notice.  If you have any questions on how to prepare a FR notice please contact Jacqueline Harris at 202-482-4011 or via email Jacqueline.Harris@trade.gov.  You may also click on the following link: http://itacentral/ita/administration/omo/Pages/FedRegNotices.aspx

to learn more about the FR notice process.

The Illumination Series: We Shed Light on Our Processes

ITA’s Chief Financial Officer and Director of Administration is pleased to offer a series of training sessions that will inform and enlighten you on ITA’s administrative and financial practices. 

The sessions will be conducted by CFO/Admin staff in short sessions of about an hour.  Session content will vary depending on the topic.  Some sessions will be designed to give you an overview of processes that you may not ever directly participate in – like the Congressional Appropriations process. Others will be more directly practical – like how to deal with a FOIA request or on employee performance.

Sessions will be held monthly.  The first session will be on the Congressional Appropriations Process and include a discussion of earmarks and appropriations bills and report.

To register for this session and see a complete listing of future courses go to http://itacentral/ita/administration/osr/Documents/OSR%20Training%20PDFs/Illuminations%

20Series/Illumination%20Series%20Course%20Catalog.pdf

For employees located in the field, we are open to doing Chat sessions at times that meet the needs of our global ITA network.  Just email Chat@trade.gov to let us know.

For additional information contact Ruben Pedroza at 202-482-3072. 

FY 2011 Mid-Term Performance Management Progress Review Guidance

For General Schedule Employees (including Schedule C political appointees)

The formal mid-term performance progress review for employees is just around the corner. Supervisors and employees should prepare to have meaningful conversations about employee performance progress to date. Formal progress reviews need to be conducted by

April 29, 2011.

Some of the questions you might be asking are:

"Why is it important to have a progress review?"
"What do I need to do to ensure my supervisor knows how much I have accomplished so far?"
“My work is very different now than from when my plan was implemented, does my     

   Performance plan need to change?”or
“As a supervisor, what are my responsibilities during this progress review?"

To assist ITA employees to prepare for the upcoming Mid-Term formal progress review for FY 2011, the CFO/Admin, Office of Strategic Resources has some guidance for you on how to prepare and what to expect. Located on ITA Central, simply go to http://itacentral/ita/administration/osr/Documents/Performance/Mid-Term%20Progress%20Review%20Guidance.doc to view the Mid-Term Guidance and Frequently Asked Questions.

For more information, you may contact Ruben Pedroza at Ruben.Pedroza@trade.gov or by calling him on 202-482-3072.

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"Other News"

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ITA Comings and Goings

 

Arrivals - WELCOME!

MAC: Andres Alberto Diaz; Ji Hoon Sohn; FCS: Tathiana Mitchell; Sheree Monroe; Sandra Ward; Carlos Ortiz;

IA: Christian Marsh  

 

Departures

OUS: Ryan Douglas; Billy Blake; OCIO: Natasha Ayers; FCS: Christine Johnson

 

 

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