Author: Kristin Walker

 June 10, 2024      Kristin Walker

  Cash flow optimization is critically important, especially during periods of Continuing Resolution (CR) authority. The objective is to manage the limited funding authority available within the constraints imposed by the CR. Effective cash flow optimization involves several strategies and practices:  Managing disbursement timingCoordinate with Suppliers and Service Providers: Partial funding and precisely timing payments…

 May 3, 2024      Kristin Walker

For the US Air Force, AFI 11-253  – Managing Purchases of Aviation Fuel and Ground Services was published to document procedures and controls governing the “accountability requirements for purchase of aviation fuel and off-station ground services; and establishes the US Air Force Aviation Into-plane Reimbursement (AIR) Card® program, and provides procedures for its management and…

 April 16, 2024      Kristin Walker

Financial Improvement and Audit Remediation—or “FIAR”—was envisioned in the early 2000s with the goal of improving the financial and business management operations within the Department of Defense (DoD), with the objective of successfully producing “auditable” financial statements.  Several decades later, the DoD has made strides in the auditability of financial statements but has yet to…

 September 11, 2023      Kristin Walker

S is for Solution: A Dictionary for Delivering Success There are a lot of ingredients that go into building a technical solution. From a systems development perspective, the solution starts with an idea, proceeds to requirements and design, includes testing, and eventually is followed by a deployment. From an engineering perspective, you will need hardware,…

 July 7, 2023      Kristin Walker

The Flying Hours Suite of tools offers units and commands a range of time and cost-saving features. It also enables the DoD to improve readiness for audits and streamline management of the program which is a significant budgetary cost. The Flying Hour Program suite features multiple products, including: Flying Hour Program Management (FHPM) for Forecasting…

 July 7, 2023      Kristin Walker

PPBE stands for Planning, Programming, Budgeting, and Execution, a framework used by organizations such as the Department of Defense. It includes how the organization allocates resources and makes decisions and is a cyclical model that enables the organization to determine the course of programs and projects and set budgets. CAFDEx® Requirements tools enable Planning efforts…

 March 3, 2023      Kristin Walker

Execution:  The Importance of Transparency in Military Spending The Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Execution (PPBE) effort is a multi-year budgeting process used by the DoD to ensure resources are allocated efficiently to meet their readiness requirements. This process plans for upcoming needs and tracks how funds are being spent in the current fiscal year.   …

 February 14, 2023      Kristin Walker

I have spent most of my career in the software shops of several Fortune 500 companies. One thing that I have found is that software people like to build software. Many of the ‘geeks’ (aka software engineers) that I have worked with see the world as a string of problems that can be solved via…

 January 30, 2023      Kristin Walker

SaaS or “Software as a Service” contracts are becoming increasingly popular in the commercial workplace and are growing in government sectors as organizations recognize the benefits provided from SaaS offerings.  SaaS offerings simplify scalability, integration, and capacity planning for any business.  SaaS offerings can provide organizations with access to more technology solutions and services than…