EMA refined and updated the Coast Guard's (USCG) $9B Expense Allocation Model (EAM), an Activity Based Cost (ABC) model that defines the standard rates used in reimbursable agreements with external organizations (both private and other government agencies) for the use of Coast Guard Assets such as boats, cutters, planes and related staff.As part of this support, EMA accomplished the following:

• EMA developed a detailed Project Plan describing all project activities, schedules and milestones.
• EMA identified and interviewed more than 100 management, financial, and operational points of contact within a highly mobile nationwide staff.
• EMA updated the USCG's existing Vovici Survey Solution used for information distribution and data collection.
• EMA updated the survey methodology, recommending changes to enhance useability and accuracy. EMA worked with survey recipients to correct problems, ensuring that all information received was current and accurate.
• EMA coordinated data calls across multiple disconnected financial and operational information systems from Headquarters, Aviation Logistics Center, Surface Forces Logistics Center, Coast Guard Yard, and Finance Center to collect the data necessary to capture all expenses associated with the operation of USCG assets.
• EMA integrated and prepared the data for population of the SAA Activity Based Management (ABM) database.
• EMA worked with operational management and staff to identify new assets, remove assets no longer in operation, and update asset properties, costs and expenses for entry into the EAM.
• EMA reviewed existing cost cataegories, cost allocation drivers, and assignments; identified additional drivers for new assets and cost centers; and made recommendations for changes that would improve the accuracy of the EAM.
• EMA used SAS Enterprise Guide (EG) to prepare the raw data for loading into the SAS Activity Based Management (ABM) module. All assignements were reviewed and corrections made where organization structures or assets had changed since the prior EAM. A new ABM model was created and exported to the Master Data Set (MDS) in MS Access.
• EMA reconciled the EAM output data to USCG financial statements, specifically the Statement of Net Cost. All changes to specific asset costs were identified and EMA created a detailed report describing and justifying the change.
• EMA updated all EAM user and technical documentation, including the EMA Methodology, the EAM Survey, the EAM User Guide.
• EMA performed classroom training of USCG personnel on the updated EAM process.

For more than 16 consecutive years across multiple contracts EMA provided a broad range of financial support to DOT Working Capital Fund (WCF) Information Technology (IT) programs under the Office of the DOT CIO (OCIO) and the Transportation Administrative Service Center (TASC). EMA was responsible for all financial activities of a $120M IT services organization. As part of this support, EMA accomplished the following:

• EMA developed sophisticated cost and pricing models as a basis for product and service pricing. For example, EMA developed an activity-based costing (ABC) cost model that served as a basis for key pricing realignment within the Telecom Division of OCIO. For the first time, telecom management were able to see the impact of real costs against revenues for several new programs. As a result, prices were adjusted to bring revenue in alignment with costs and prevent under-recovery (loss).
• EMA supported all budgetary activities for the OCIO's IT WCF programs. EMA maintained the budget formulation and execution schedules; prepared input documentation; prepared and distributed budget estimates and forecasts; helped program managers develop quarterly budget submissions; tracked budget ceilings; responded to audit requests; prepared revenue and expense forecasts; and performed other budgetary and financial support activities. EMA's primary responsibility were to ensure recovery of all costs within a 2% margin. Tools and procedures developed by EMA enabled us to successfully meet or exceed this target for 16 consecutive years
• EMA monitored vendor invoices and other expenses against obligations, by cost center and cost category, to prevent cost overruns and to ensure compliance with contract funding ceilings. EMA implemented process controls and systems that virtually eliminated cost overruns and late payment penalty fees.
• EMA tracked contract activities against financial targets by using EMA-developed information systems; financial reports; and other reconciliation tools.
• EMA developed cost estimates and financial reports for customer special projects. EMA analysts worked with customers and internal technical staff and managers to identify requirements and associated costs for small purchases to large telecom projects.
• EMA processed 100,000 billing transactions monthly, preparing worksheets for upload into DOT's departmental accounting system.
• EMA initiated and developed a web site where customers can access billing billing and budget data in a variety of formats, including Adobe PDF and MS Excel. A "Customer Estimating Workbook" uploaded monthly, enabled customers to monitor their expenses against the most recent quarterly budget, based on actual charges incurred year-to-date. Other reports provided detailed employee-level billing data or aggregated charges by office.
• EMA prepared the annual WCF Price List describing all products and services offered by the OCIO WCF with associated prices.
• EMA recovered more than $3M in additional revenue for the Transportation Administrative Service Center, streamlined operations, and increased accuracy in all areas of procurement and financial reporting. EMA’s responsibilities on this contract included the following:
• EMA replaced a manual telecom report distribution system with an automated e-mail based system that reduced the time to process telecom billing reports from 2 weeks to 1 hour and eliminated the need to photocopy, collate and manually distribute a 45,000 page report. With the new system, reports were available to TASC customers on the first day of each month and could be downloaded in either PDF or EXCEL formats.
• Using EMA-developed automated systems, EMA reduced the time to process procurements, vendor invoices, and customer billing statements while increasing the accuracy, detail, and timeliness of related financial reports.
• EMA prepared cost estimates for customers and developed detailed cost models for DOT products and services.
• EMA monitored vendor invoices and other expenses against obligations to prevent cost overruns and to ensure compliance with contract funding ceilings.
• EMA tracked all activities against performance targets anOracle-based Financial Management System database conceived, developed, and maintained by EMA financial and IT specialists.

EMA helped set up a program management office to oversee contract operations of the TSA screener training program. EMA helped TSA establish the following:

• EMA provided a spreadsheet-based tool that enabled the project managers to accurately track costs against obligations, by task order and project.
• EMA discovered that the vendor was paying taxes for [hotel-based] training facilities and rooms throughout the U.S. EMA identified costs to be recovered, identified states that accepted federal tax-exempt status, and provided forms to both vendor and hotels. As a result of our increased internal controls and processes, TSA was able to recover over $300K in facilities and boarding costs.
• EMA reconciled costs against training rosters to validate vendor charges.
• EMA developed a pilot Activity Based Cost model to provide per-class and per-course costs.
• EMA developed a complete set of office procedures and job descriptions for financial management, data management, procurement management, technical/performance management, change management, logistics management, and other. These were used by project managers to ensure that all activities were being properly performed.

EMA currently provides a variety of financial management and managerial accounting services to the OST's Office of the Associate Administrator's Office of Financial Management. EMA’s responsibilities and accomplishments include the following:

• EMA was asked in to bring order to the budget for a major DOT initiative, a highly visible project under intense public and congressional scrutiny. The project was difficult because funding crossed multiple years and was provided through Congressional appropriation, GSA funding, and DOT Working Capital Funds. Our senior staff were able to quickly identify the status of all obligations and expenses, restoring order and confidence to the financial operations of this significant project.
• EMA was tasked with recovering over $6.5M in unpaid revenue that was sitting in DOT WCF suspense accounts. Often, EMA was forced to re-build complete files detailing the charges, including original customer agreements, customer acceptance and sign-off documents, related procurement documents, and billing backup, with supporting accounting reports. In many cases, the level of detail was sufficient for the customer to recognize the validity of the charges. In other cases, our analysis formed the basis of legal action to successfully recover the charges. As a result of our efforts, the DOT was able to recover over 90% of the $6.5M and clear these suspense accounts.
• EMA provides a variety of other financial and business management functions to the Office of Acquisition, including budget formulation and execution; financial training; contract closeout support; account reconciliation; procurement preparation; billing preparation and tracking; and obligation tracking.

EMA established a new Business Office to track financial and procurement actions for the Office of Mission Critical Infrastructure within the DHS Office of the CIO.

• EMA identified, documented, and tracked procurements and funding relating to active support contracts.
• EMA participated in daily delecoms with various DHS managers and COTRs to discuss open procurement actions and their impact on financial status of operations.
• EMA provided program management mentoring support for OCIO critical infrastructure staff.
Prepared IRM Gap Analysis and Plan of Action Milestones (POAM) and related briefing slides for Policy & Governance management.
• EMA supported the full budget formulation/execution cycle, financial tracking and reporting, procurement preparation, invoice tracking and reporting, and other financial activities.
• EMA developed a Financial Management database to track and report on active procurements and financial status.