LAVONDA BENITEZ

As Branch Chief of the Reimbursable Program within the Office of Chief Financial Officer, my duties consisted of providing GSA, Public Building Services (PBS) customers (internal and external) with an institutionalized reimbursable management process from receipt to close out for annual, multi-year and no year funding appropriations. My accomplishments include:

• Managed the day-to-day operations for 8 federal budget analysts and 2 contract employees
• Management and acceptance of over 500 Intra Agency Agreements known as Reimbursable Work Authorizations (RWAs) worth $192M
• Managed team with a goal of increasing consistency and acceptance of RWAs by following standard criteria, procedures and accurate financial management through fund certifications on all procurement requests to obligate awards relative to federal and leased buildings projects and services in the Pegasys Financial System
• Provided authoritative advice when briefing PBS Director’s monthly with other senior management staff on the reimbursable program area status of funds, new policies, procedures and ongoing efforts that may affect the business line and/or operation of projects
• Kept senior management abreast of any problematic area affecting the budget and/or operations
• Offered alternative methods or recommendations for improvement
• Maintained program area by the implementation of tracking and reconciliation of income/expense reports to capture accurate commitments, obligations, payments, and available balances by using pivot tables in Excel
• Supported and contributed to the development of detailed strategies and background documentation on a wide variety of subjects to support RWA related national measurements, procedures for regional tracking systems, national policy and guidelines, key initiatives for small projects and project delivery issues
• Developed and implemented standard operating procedures
• Provided training using PowerPoint to budget analysts, building and project managers, and contract specialists/officers on the internal controls processes to ensure spending limits are observed and to guard against mismanagement and misappropriation of funding
• Prepared action plans which evaluated physical and administrative delivery of reimbursable projects more efficiently
• Led team efforts in the development of current funding levels as well as near-term funding year requirements during budget call for federal and leased buildings which receive reimbursable income
• Presented and defended budget request to the Budget Division under the Chief Financial Office’s (CFO’s) staff members as appropriate
• Completed and responded to KPMG on multiple semiannual audits throughout the fiscal year to determine the validity of the unfilled customer order (UFCO) and unliquidated obligations (ULO) balances as it related to RWA funding
• Conversed with various customer agencies to ensure timeliness of projects, financial obligations and account receivables are current and up to date for reimbursable projects
• Collaborated with GSA’s Finance Division to effectively decrease the number of outstanding account receivables over 180 days old
• Communicated effectively to internal and external customers on policy changes to ensure appropriate needs of the customer and financial agreements were met
• Developed performance standards and evaluated work performance of budget analysts
• Advised, counseled and instructed employees on both work and administrative matters
• Interviewed candidates for positions in the Financial Management and Budget Branch
• Recommended employees for appointment, promotion, or reassignment to positions
• Resolved complaints from employees
• Emphasized teamwork and a clear expectation of goals
• Ensured appropriate recognition of employee’s contribution through certificates, personal “thank you” via email or face to face during team meetings

As Lead Budget Analyst with the Office of Chief Financial Officer (OCFO), I was responsible for displaying a wide variety of administrative and analytical knowledge and experience as it relates to the presentation, execution and review of the Reimbursable Budget in support of the PBS Service Centers in the procurement of projects and services to other federal agencies within the National Capital Region. My accomplishments include:

• Developed proposed budgetary procedures and guidance for review by the Finance and Budget Branch Chief and PBS Service Center Deputy Director
• Reviewed and monitored the implementation of new and/or revised legislation, policies and procedures to PBS to determine its significance and impact to the reimbursable program area
• Assisted in the formulation of new or revised guidelines governing the acceptance and processing of reimbursable funds received from customer agencies via Intra Agency Agreements known as Reimbursable Work Authorizations (RWAs)
• Processed 100 RWAs submitted and estimated for project execution
• Trained budget analysts on how to use the Reimbursable Entry Tracking Application (RETA) and Pegasys
• Provided fund certifications for RWA related project and service procurement request
• Entered commitments and obligations into the Pegasys financial system for various Supplemental Lease Agreements
• Collaborated with building managers in keeping their Customer Agencies apprise of modifications to GSA’s pricing/fee policies
• Assisted the building and project managers in requesting additional funding as appropriate to procure their projects
• Provided income/expense financial reports using pivot tables in Excel detailing unfilled liquidated obligations (UFCO), unliquidated order (ULO) and collections status of funds on RWAs to PBS Management on a monthly and bi-weekly basis
• Provided leadership, guidance and oversight to others on the various RWA audits requiring justification of the UFCO and ULO balances to KPMG
• Assisted Branch Chief in resolving complex issues related to appropriate funding on RWAs and mission critical concerns for external customers
• Led the implementation of developing internal procedures regarding RWAs to provide favorable customer service
• Collaborated with building managers, project managers, realty specialists and other PBS associates to determine areas of concern related to project funding issues and provided corrective action plans when necessary
• Assisted entry level analysts to better familiarize them with policies and processes and providing hands-on training
• Provided expert knowledge to assist Building Managers with extracting financial data from NEARS to complete monthly building analysis