MAXWELL AFB-GUNTER ANNEX, Ala. -- The Standard Material Accounting System (SMAS) is a Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) owned system that maintains accounting records and produces trial balance reports for the management of the Working Capital Fund and Supply Management activity group.
SMAS processes approximately 2.5 million transactions monthly, totaling $40 billion annually. This system is used across the Air Force, Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve, and various DFAS field sites around the world.
In late June 2024, one of the DFAS field sites discovered a bad file format in the Centralized Disbursing System (CDS) disbursement file, which caused the file to reject. Since the file had already processed through SMAS, the team could not regenerate the file or any database corrections. The troublesome issue prevented CDS from processing payment files until they received the required data file, causing a domino effect that held up other critical payments presently in process and those scheduled to process in the following days.
Working collaboratively, the DFAS accounting requirement team, DFAS technical personnel, and the SMAS development team worked diligently to resolve the problem and correct a year-long issue.
Through days of research and troubleshooting, the SMAS team found an embedded algorithm that prevented any direct editing or quick solutions. Once the problem was identified, a Procedural Language extension to the Structured Query Language utility file was written that recalculated the values and prevented future rejections. This correction allowed the processing of the rejected file and ensures the seamless processing of all SMAS by Other Transactions (OTs) in the future. It also guarantees the timely payment of SMAS billings, accurate collection of Air Force funds, and sustainment of proper fund balances.
This collaborative display of field and technical expertise showcased cross-governmental enterprise work at its finest. The crucial role the SMAS development team played in resolving a year-long problem for our operational comrades proved to be superior customer satisfaction.
History has charted the continued success of team collaboration with fiscal year-end closeout and the SMAS team is proud to have contributed to yet another successful fiscal year-end closeout of Air Force accounting transactions.