Philadelphia District Accounting Receives

Published Quarterly by the

Volume 2, Issue 2 USPS Finance Office, Philadelphia Performance Cluster Winter 2003

Fiscal Year 2003 IN THIS ISSUE:

Postal Quarter II:  Philadelphia Accounting Tops the Nation November 30, 2002 through  Changing of the Guard February 21, 2003  Shared Services  Monthly Reporting Replaces AP’s Accounting Periods:  Farewell Message AP 4: 11/30/02 -- 12/27/02 (Pay Periods 26 and 1) VOICE OF THE EMPLOYEE ranked #1, nationally, for AP 01, Improve Employee Workplace AP 5: 12/28/02 -- 1/24/03 with a score of 97.8%. The API Environment (Pay Periods 2 and 3) is an index that rates Accounting VOICE OF THE CUSTOMER AP 6: 1/25/03 -- 2/21/03 Operations offices each account- Improve Customer Satisfaction (Pay Periods 4 and 5) ing period in a number of finan- VOICE OF THE BUSINESS cial areas. Such factors include Improve Financial Performance money order reconciliation, sus- Philadelphia District pense items, Meter Accounting worked hard to bolster the repu- Accounting Receives Tracking System/Standard Field tation of excellence of the Finan- Accounting System reconciliation, cial Services office in Philadel- Highest API Score In bank reconciliation items and oth- phia. The Nation er records maintained and worked By Rich Weiss # upon by Accounting personnel. Eastern Area VP Accounting Operations Currently, there are Accounting Operations units serving 85 Dis- Retires in January 1 USPSNEWSONLINE, 11-19-02 tricts throughout the country.

Philadelphia District Accounting Operations has not always received top scores. Over the past couple of years, however, the Dis- trict's Accounting Technicians and Accounting Management have worked together to enhance com- Philadelphia District's Accounting munications and interactions be- Operations has attained an Ac- tween Accounting Operations, Gary McCurdy counting Performance Indicator and its entire cluster of city sta- Vice President (API) score of 98.2% for AP 04, tions and associate offices. Per- Area Operations – Eastern Area FY 2003, the highest score in the sonnel in the Ac- Gary McCurdy, Eastern Area country for the Accounting Peri- counting Opera- vice president, announced on No- od. Accounting Operations also tions office have Financial Focus welcomes your comments and input. Send your questions and suggestions to USPS Accounting Operations, Financial Focus, 2970 Market Street, Room 309-A, Philadelphia, PA 19104-9513. (215) 895-9031, Fax: (215) 895-9044 Elec- tronic submissions and correspondence: CC/Email: Weiss, Richard P ([email protected]) Newsletters are available on the corporate Intranet (Word format) at http://eastern.usps.gov/philadelphia/fi_focus.htm. FINANCIAL FOCUS Page 2 vember 18, 2002 that he will re- tire from the Postal Service Jan. 4. "His equally strong focus on em- The implementation ployee and communication issues date of Shared Ser- McCurdy assumed leadership of have supported his achievements vices/Accounting is the Eastern Area in September throughout a distinguished February 22, 2003, 2001. In that position, he is re- career," Potter said. "I wish him the first day of AP sponsible for postal operations in every success in the future." 07. Shared Services incorporates Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Vir- the program, SAFR (Standard ginia, Delaware, Kentucky, North McCurdy began his Postal Service Accounting for Retail), which Carolina, most of South Carolina, career in 1973. He received the will replace the Standard Field southern New Jersey and parts of Postmaster General Award in Accounting System (SFAS) and Virginia and Indiana. 1999 and a Vice President's the Postmaster’s Account Award in 1997. (PMA). After February 22, the The Eastern Area District Accounting Office will Changing of the Guard no longer be in operation; sta- USPSNEWSONLINE, 12-20-02 tions should direct their inquiries to the Shared Service Help Desk Effective immediately, Philadel- at 1-866-9SHARED (1-866-974- phia District Manager Alexander 2733). Please do not call this Lazaroff will begin working with number prior to February 22. Eastern Area Vice President Gary Information, including an avail- McCurdy, who is retiring from the able download of the SS/A Post- Postal Service in January. masters/Field Guide, Version 2.0, and the SAFR Retail User Guide, McCurdy will be taking a position can be downloaded from the as Executive Vice President with Shared Services Intranet website. MBNA in Wilmington, DE. MBNA is the world's largest inde- Farewell Message pendent issuer of credit cards and provides other financial services through banks chartered in the United States, the United King- Philadelphia District Manager/Lead dom and Canada. Executive, Alexander Lazaroff Lazaroff will assume the duties of "The Postal Service is an incredi- Eastern Area vice president, in an ble organization," said McCurdy. acting capacity, beginning Jan. 4. "Its people do amazing things ev- From Rich Weiss ery day. They should be proud of Accounting Technician and what they do and we should make Editor, Financial Focus sure America knows their story." You are reading the final issue of PMG Jack Potter saluted McCur- the Financial Focus Newsletter, dy's commitment to the Postal as the initiation of Shared Ser- Service. "In every position he has Shared Services Scheduled vices on February 22 will replace held, Gary has been dedicated to Accounting Operations. Unfor- for February providing the best service possible tunately, this means that many of By Rich Weiss to our customers." Accounting Operations my coworkers need to find other FINANCIAL FOCUS Page 3 positions. I consider these co- years, I look forward to the chal- system, but the primary one is that workers friends as well as col- lenges that lie just ahead. we are not compatible with the rest leagues and wish them the very of the government and the private best of luck in their career paths. Postal Service to Discontinue sector. While a few companies use I will deeply miss them, as they the Accounting Period specially defined accounting periods, the vast majority uses monthly have been like family to me for Format reporting. Economic data and fore- the past six years. They are all casts are almost always based on exceptionally hard-working, Monthly Reporting calendar month or calendar quarter. bright and dedicated employees; Virtually nobody outside the Postal any office that were to employ October 1, 2003 Service understands accounting pe- them would quickly discover that riods and many Postal employees do they made a good choice in plac- Beginning October 1, 2003, the not understand them well. Fortu- ing one of these individuals on Postal Service will convert all USPS nately, everybody is familiar with their team. reporting from the existing account- the monthly calendar and everybody ing period format to a calendar knows (unfortunately) about month- month format. I am grateful to have secured a ly billing and monthly payments. It just makes sense. Monthly report- position at the Fox Chase Station The Postal Service has been using the ing will begin on October 1, 2003, as a Sales and Services Associate. four-week accounting period to re- the first day of fiscal year 2004. I would like to thank the man- port financial and other results. The agers involved with allowing me 13 Accounting periods form the Source: to remain in Accounting Opera- Postal Fiscal Year. The Postal Ser- http://blue.usps.gov/finance/monthrpt/m tions to assist with the transition vice uses both a Postal Fiscal Year onthrpt.htm to Shared Services. I especially (PFY) and a Government Fiscal Year (GFY). Largely, the Postal Fiscal wish to extend my appreciation to “Darkness cannot drive out the personnel and management at Year is used for internal reporting darkness; only light can do and the Government Fiscal Year is Fox Chase Station for their under- that. used for external reporting (like our standing and patience in allowing annual report). Hate cannot drive out hate; me to finish needed work in the only love can do that.” Accounting unit before beginning Each accounting pe- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. my assignment at their station. riod consists of two bi-weekly Finally, I wish to express my grat- payroll cycles. We itude to John Picciano, Dennis Pa- assume that the con- The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. landro, and Carmen Campagna struction of the 13 ac- Program and Museum for giving me the opportunity and counting period fiscal year was man- leeway to create and edit this dated by the need for accurate report- Come and join your fellow postal ing of salaries and benefits that con- newsletter. Gathering informa- employees in a celebration of stitute approximately 75% of our to- tion, designing the layout, and one of the world’s greatest civil tal costs. This could only be accom- rights leaders, Dr. Martin Luther writing articles that are useful for plished by including complete pay- King, Jr. your stations and offices has been roll cycles. Up until the implementa- quite challenging, and I will miss tion of the new Time and Attendance Wednesday, January 15, 2003 the chance to continue this publi- Control System (TACS) no daily in- cation. formation was available as part of PEDC, Room 555 CC our timekeeping systems. 2970 Market Street, Phila., PA Although I am sorry to leave a po- 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. sition I have held for a number of There are a number of disadvantages with Guest Speaker: the accounting period FINANCIAL FOCUS Page 4

Rev. Dr. William J. Shaw be on display from 6:00 a.m. to White Rock Baptist Church 9:00p.m. in Room 555 E.

A museum exhibiting Photos, posters, books, video of his life will greatly, in aiding the smooth transition from Standard Field Accounting to Shared Services. Farewell from Accounting Operations All of the affected employees in Accounting Operations wish to thank everyone in the field. Your stations and offices have worked tremendously to ease the tasks in- The March on Washington,volved August in 28,1963 properly tracking revenue for the Philadelphia District. Thank you, everyone, for your support in making our district stand out as a leader in effective postal operations.

Facts Worth Knowing About the District Accounting Operations Staff Postal Service From the Mailer’s Companion, December 2002 Top Row (left to right): Monique Russell (Finance Secre- tary), Accounting Technicians JuJuan Bonner, Belinda People get mail every day and go to the post office Clark, Jeanette Mazeika, Dianne Johnson, Dionne Samuel, frequently, so it’s natural for them to think their knowl- Carmen Campagna (Supervisor), and Dennis Palandro edge of the Postal Service is up to date. But that isn’t (Manager) Bottom Row: Acccounting Technicians Remell always the case. Here are a few little-known facts about Douglas, Rich Weiss, and Kathy Fiorentino the organization that delivers your mail. The Postal Service: Thank you  Delivers mail to almost 138 million homes, busi- nesses, and post office boxes. About 1.7 million From District Accounting Operations new addresses are added each year.  Carries more mail to more people over a larger According to information found on the Shared Services geographic area than any other country. website found on the USPS Intranet, “…as a result of au-  Serves 7 million customers daily at one of tomation through Standardized Accounting for Retail 38,000 postal retail units, and 10 million cus- (SAFR) and Shared Services/Accounting (SS/A), ac- tomers a month online. counting work currently performed by Accounting Tech-  Collects mail from more than 326,000 street nicians in the District Accounting Offices (DAOs) will be mail collection boxes.  Employs 750,000 career employees, including going away.” 235,985FINANCIAL veterans FOCUS and 47,937 STAFF employees with disabilities. DAO Accounting Technicians will be abolished, national-  Handles more than 200 billion pieces of mail a Writer/Editor: Rich Weiss ly. Accounting Technicians who have not acquired new year, or five pieces per address per day. positions, working in the Philadelphia District Account-  OperatesCCMail: aWeiss, transport Richard and P delivery fleet of ing office, have received notices indicating their positions 215,530Email: vehicles [email protected] driving approximately 1.15 bil- will end effective March 21, 2003. lionAssociate miles a year. Editor: There are many Monique misconceptions Russell about the nation’s mail delivery system, but the facts speak for them- John Picciano, Manager of Finance, Dennis Palandro, CCMail: Russell, Monique Manager of Accounting Operations, and Carmen Cam- selves. Mail delivery is a huge business, and the Postal Service isEmail: working [email protected] to meet the constantly changing pagna, Supervisor of Financial Services, wish to thank the and growingFinancial ways Focus that ispeople published communicate. quarterly by the stations and offices that have permitted Accounting Tech- Philadelphia District Finance Office. nicians who have successfully bid into their offices to re- The Mailer’s Companion is available online at main, temporarily, in Accounting. They have helped, http://www.usps.com/mailerscompanionFinancial Focus USPS Finance Office 2970 Market Street, Room 309-A Philadelphia, PA 19104-9513 (215) 895-9031 Fax: (215) 895-9044

Available on the corporate Intranet at: http://eastern.usps.gov/philadelphia/ fi_focus.htm