ESTABLISHMENT OF CENTRAL OFFICE FOR PROCESSING TRAVEL VOUCHERS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-05747A000600010001-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 19
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 22, 2001
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: October 22, 1962
• Content Type: MF

CONFIDENTIRL
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MEMORANDUM FOR: Comptroller
SUBJECT : Establishment of Central Office for Processing
Travel Vouchers
REFERENCE. : Memo dtd 9 Oct 62 to DD/S fr Compt, same subj.
1. T am in agreement with your proposal for the processing of travel
vouchers in one central location. I have examined space contiguous to the
Central Processing Branch in an attempt to provide facilities for implement-
ing your proposal immediately. I regret the unavailability of such space at
the present time. I have asked the Director of Logistics to incorporate in
his planning your requirement for space to accommodate 13 people near the
Central Processing Branch.
2. In establishing the proposed activity you may desire to consider the
following:
a. The Central Processing Branch now has three Finance Officers
who prepare requests for advances, compute pay, and perform related
financial tasks. It is possible that these activities should be merged
with the proposed activity in order to effect, even further savings.
b. If a handwritten voucher or worksheet, signed by the claimant
and processed immediately, would suffice, typing could be eliminated
and a second contact with the claimant would be unnecessary.
c. The Central Processing Branch now handles all invitee travel
'vouchers,-., and you may desire to consider the practicability of having
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the proposed organization process all travel vouchers rather than
unvouchered only. -
L. IG White
Deputy Director
(Support)
cc: Director of Logistics w/o att
Attachment:
Memo dtd 18 Sept 62 to Compt fr AC/TAS -
subj: "A Proposal for the Establishment of a
Central Office at Headquarters for Processing
Travel Vouchers Chargeable to Confidential Funds"
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October 1962
FOR: Colonel v
A.,.
.~ v
Deputy Director (Support)
SUB ECT Establis irnc:: of Cunt rai Office for . roce s--iny
Travel V ouches:
1. Annexed is a staff Study prc nr ~' e e
for ^ v ~.Jw .w< C~atuli::.lI:ac' i
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pP.'OCC" ,
C-,s ^~;el vouch _ : Of retu PCs
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~ c vC ~ travelers k.r-:.-'.a'.~~. to fi:.Y2:G. '.~.
o: c"L if adopted, would p3'G',s recUl' 'a , ..._
'S.O~~:;tlc;.:C- 'r, n CiiTTl:tiac3t20ii OY
J live peoi le and wvouli..1 ,^lso '' roti e. -.
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~-dcitio n to the C031t ols y1 M
' .~'s + `C -f'CUi _?.:Ld in %1,,-iO .~"t J! --turfy
e y ~. a s--~cci_ approval of any t ::.v 3 vouch a:,.
which _ .~:: a _~J or ~:: ~+^'~+++J~. 1~'''1~i'?, iii ...- reflects a.-
L,:' s z,cantly G!id{ ~ that ~?~,?+c~'..
>aration of their confidential funds-
travel vouchers ' and for the typing, auditing, and certifying of such vouchers
for payrient or for credit to the travelers' advance accounts.
III. SSU,1'IONTS
1. Current procedures for .processing PCS and TDY travel vouchers at
Headquarters for employees travelirig on confidential. funds result in excessive
utilization of manpower and time because of duplication of effort in the
travelers' components of assignment and in the Finance Division, Office of
the Cc- troller. Centralization of certain actions should result in a
savings of manpower, time, and pap: rc:.irk.
2. A central travel clai: s ice : or ;rocossing travel claims may
now be feasible because most of t: envy' c cc-. ap onents which sponsor overseas
travelers are located in the new h yuwr cars Building. A central travel
claims office should result in a s?. ri gs per canal and the centralization
of a service of common concern. One of te ,rcaises for the construction
of the Headquarters Building was to effect economies in personnel and effi-
ciency in oparations. -through the centralization of services of common concern.
As most P'S and overs~c. T:?',re: Lr_ec:s clear through the Central
Processing Branch, Office of Pc for duty with their
components of assignment, ace:_,i :_ rav cLa:i. a5 office, if established,
should be located contiguous to t.wc Branch.
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SUBJECT A Proposal' for the Fstablis..ment of a Central Office at
Headquarters for i'^ocessing Travel Vouchers Chargeable
to Confidential i`-wads
4-. Centralization of returni:: PCS and overseas TDY travel voucher
processing and related services would provide a single facility to which
employees could go for advice and assistance on questions regarding travel.
IV. "..CTS BFJRING ON THE FROBL:',i
1. At the present time, corgi:'-d nti~~ funds travel vouchers for
employees returning to Headquarters from PC5 and overseas MY trips are
prepared in the travelers' components of assigrs.:ent. This.means that the
travel vouchers are typed, examined, and approved by personnel within such
components. They are then forwarded to the Finance Division where they are
exai ned,. verified and audited prior to being; certified for payment or for
credit to the travelers' advance accounts. There is, therefore, a duplication
of examination and verification of the vouchers.
2. Present practices are the result of the need to net two
requirements:
a. That a knowledgeable au roving officer, appointed under
the provisions of pprove the travel voucher
for propriety of the travel performed and the claim
shown on the voucher.
b. That the Finance Division certifying officer certify
the voucher as being legally proper for payment or
for credit.
many travelers cannot, or will not, prepare their own travel
vouchers. They, therefore, require the services of a person capable in
the preparation of travel vouchers.
4+. Some 'travel advance accounts become delinquent as a result of the
time required to process travel vouchers under the present decentralized
system of processing, rather than because of the travelers' delinquency
in submitting such vouchers.
V. DISCUSSIONS
1. Travel vouchers involvin overseas travel are normally the most
difficult and complex to prepare, : rhereas vouchers involving domestic travel
ordinarily are much simpler and less -troublesome. -
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SUBJECT A Proposal for the Establishment of a Central Office at
Headquarters for Processing Travel Vouchers Chargeable
to Confidential 2 -ands
2. :?Sost travelers return--:.n_;; from overseas are processed through
the Central Processing Branch before they report to their components for
duty. At this time the facts regarding their return travel are fresh
in their minds and they are amenable to "in processing" procedures.
Thus, it would be the ideal and practical time to have the travelers
.prepare their travel vouchers.
3. To eliminate the, duplication of effort stated in paragraph IV, 1,
above, it is proposed that the traveler, with the assistance, of a skilled
travel clerk, would complete a travel voucher worksheet and provide the
supporting receipts for his claim. On the basis of a preliminary review
of the worksheet with the traveler, the traveler would be advised of the
approximate amount of his travel voucher for application to his travel
advance, and the approximate amount which will be paid to him or he will
have to refund to liquidate his advance account. The travel clerk, also,
would arrange with the traveler the date and time for him to return to
sign the finished travel claim. The clerk would then have a travel voucher
typed from the information shown on the worksheet. Upon signature of the
finished voucher by the traveler, the voucher would be audited and certified
by the chief of the central travel claims office who would be a Finance
Division certifying officer. If a refund is due from the traveler, the
central travel claims office would obtain cash or the traveler's check
for the amount due. If a payment is due the traveler, the payment would
be made in cash at the central travel claims office. A copy of the
voucher would be transmitted to the employee's component of assignment.
This direct method of processing and settling travel vouchers would cut
days off the processing time required under the present system.
I. It would not be necessa_?-,- t~ s nd _ voucher to the employee's
component of assignment for prior appzora-!, p=roviding the concept is
accepted that the authorizing officer's signature on the travel order is
also an approval of the travel pperfor :ed providing the travel performed
does not deviate significantly from the travel authorized. If this concept
is accepted, the travel voucher could be certified and paid without further
administrative approval. Should the travel as reported on the voucher
contain expenses not previously a thorize operational items of expense,
or expenses significantly in exie: ; c? authorized by the travel order
it would., of course, be necessa j ,o _:ave tie voucher approved by the
employee's component, or to have .,_.o ra el order amended.
;Z
.I/. Accurate data are not readily available on the precise number of
overseas returnee PCS and TDY travel vouchers, the number of employees involved
in all phases of travel duties, and the time spent on such duties. A review
of the Finance Division records for calendar year 1961 indicated however,
that approximately 4.4+ man-years were required in processing PCS and 25X9
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SUBS CT A Proposal for t..~ Establishment of a Central Office at
Headquarters for Processing Travel Vouchers Chargeable
to Confidential u,,:.rds
25X9 _.LDY travel vouchers (see TAB 1). Information provided by the
geo frai' hic DD/P Divisions-and the Office of Com,unications indicated, as
detailed on TAB 2, that 14-man-years were required by Budget and Fiscal
Section personnel to perform duties related to the. travel of approximately
c0,61 calm ar year this function required the service-of approximately
25X9 18.1- ran-years of the above type employees.
6. In nearly all components the Budget and Fiscal. Section employees
who process travel vouchers also perform related activities such as opera-
tional accountings, storage claims, reviewing and following up on travel
advance accounts, travel briefings, temporary lodging allowance claims,
transfer allowance claims, etc. During peak travel periods additional
personnel may be added to the Budget and Fiscal Section; for example,
Fa: East Division normally has three budget and fiscal employees on
travel duties but during peak periods up to six persons may be actually
employed on this function.
7. On the basis of the information outlined in paragraph 5, above,
a savings could be achieved in the manpower and in the processing time by
relocating in a central travel claims of-'ice the functions of assisting
PCS _--d TDY overseas travelers in the nra :coon of their vouchers, and
of 'cyjing, pre-auditing, certi fyi such travel vouchers.
The soec_ ~.c amount of such savin, ::s r.e ; C,:;:;e--.:_inable; however, without
the benefit of actual experience c.at or c' c of all- the requirements
that ,ould be imposed on the central lra:.Tcl c .a?irs office, it is estimated
that at the outset an office force of thirteen employees (one certifyi
officer, ten auditors, and two clerk .tpi.sts) should be able to perform
the dudes in a timely and effective manner.. The approval of a central
travel clams office to be mayn:ae. with thirteen employees should, therefore,
permdt a savings of 5.4 man-yea:; s 1D a red on t_ e ,tires given in papa ra{h
5, above, assuming that the vo_u~ o_.' trs~rol vouchers for the foreseeable
future ,rill not change signific a. ._.y, < .> i)1is'hment of such. an office
should hermit a more effective ut is a :icy: of Budget and Fiscal Section
personnel in the components.
8. In view of the fact that the special skills in travel voucher
preparation and processing have been developed by personnel assigned in
the Budget and Fiscal Sections, it is considered appropriate that the
'components provide ten of the T/0 positions and ten individuals to occupy
that number of positions for the central travel claims office. T.33 3
lists sixteen positions which have been identified by Budget and Fiscal
Officers of the affected components from which ten may. be selected for
assignment to a central travel claims office. The T/0 positions and the
individuals for the remaining three positions could. be provided by the Finance
Division, Office of the Comptroller.
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SUB ECT . A Proposal for the 's ,bbl -ent of a Central Office at
Headquerters for :? ocessi '-ravel Vouchers Chargeable
to Confidential Funds
As stated in paragraph the central travel clams
office should be located as close . ,, .ss_ le to the Central. Process..ng
BI-anch. the basic premise of es~ablishin the of ice is accepted,
it would be desirable to approach the Medical Ste , which' is located
adjacent to the Central ProcessinZ 3---inch, to determine whether the
necessary space can be made - available.
Vi. CONCLUSIOIIFS
1. From the above it appears that the establishment of a central
travel claims office would:
Eliminate duplication in processing vouchers.
b. E;cpedite the handling of vouchers and. reduce the number
of delinquent advance accounts.
c. More effectively utilize manpower.
d. Provide a service in a central location to returning
overseas travelers.
VII. REC01.11E1 ATIONS
It is recommended that:
1. A central travel claims office be estcsblished as a..new Section of
ptroll'
the Q_2erations and Liaison Branch, Finance Division, Cr ice of the Co v
erseer,
bo-I ocess confidential fun s travel Cl'~ S _TO"r re -urnlnc
travelers.
2. An initial staf f of thirteen be provided for the central travel
claims Section composed of a chief (certifying officer), ten travel claims
auditors, and two clerk typists.
~. The staff of the central travel claims Section be adjusted after
experience. has demonstrated the normal workload requirements, and as necessary
thereafter to handle peak period activity and/or new functions assigned.
1;.. The staff for the travel claims Section be recruited from persornel
currently processing vouchers in the area Divisions, Office of Communications,
and the Finance Division.
;. Space sufficient .to house the central travel claims office be
provided as close as possible to the CentraProcassing Branch.
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SUEJF:CT A Proposal for the Establishment of a Central Office at
Headquarters for Processing Travel Vouchers Chargeable
to Confidential Funds
6. The concept be accepted :ha travel vouchers covering tra.vew
authorized, expenses not previously authorized, or operational expenses.
reflects an itinerary and/or expenses significantly different from that
perf or aed under properly authorize travel orc.ers may be certified for
ua r icnt or credit without further a:pprova? unless the travel voucher
Coiptroller
uty Director Support
Dep
(See attached memorandum.)
eputy Director Plans) Date
D
eputy Director Intelligence . . Date
D
Deputy Director Research Date
V ,'
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