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Financial Management Track

Started by i_am_a_politician, October 29, 2018, 01:16:32 AM

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i_am_a_politician

Hi all,

I am currently a 20 y/o Cadet who is interested in becoming a Finance Officer Track as a senior member but I would like to hear some advice from anyone here regarding that track.

From my understanding, I cannot start on any of the tasks until I become a senior member (please correct me if I am wrong).  However, I feel that this could be a great opportunity for me to gain experience during my last two years of University since I am a Business Admin Major with a concentration in Finance.

My question to you guys is, how similar is the Finance Officer track to something that say, a CPA would do or someone in the finance field would do?  Do you recommend that I pursue this specialty track or choose something different?  Does 3 levels of college accounting classes help?

Thank you all for your input.
1st Lt Politician

Eclipse

Quote from: i_am_a_politician on October 29, 2018, 01:16:32 AM
From my understanding, I cannot start on any of the tasks until I become a senior member (please correct me if I am wrong). 

There's no "Cadet Finance Officer", but nothing says you can't ask and learn.

Quote from: i_am_a_politician on October 29, 2018, 01:16:32 AM
My question to you guys is, how similar is the Finance Officer track to something that say, a CPA would do or someone in the finance field would do? 

Very little.

Yes, there are annual budgets to deal with, but really it's just balancing a
checkbook, and even then you're just reconciling what the Wing says you have, not
dealing dircectly with the actual books.

Even as an FASC for missions, the scale might be different, but it's not really CPA level "anything".

Once you turn Senior, getting involved on the Finance side with encampments or flight academies would
probably give you more to do then the average squadron - there are a lot of moving pieces and
multiple funding sources, etc.

"That Others May Zoom"

GroundHawg

Graduating with an Accounting degree, with your CPA, CFA, CIA, EA, etc.. gets you two of the three E's, volunteering as the squadron Finance Officer may get you the third. That might be enough on your resume to get your foot in the door somewhere, or put you above someone else for a job.

Luis R. Ramos

You may consider also there is an Emergency Services financial need as well. The Finance/Admin Sector Chief. Again it is on reconciling funds.

So if you want to pursue this as well, you can work on the prerequisites. Some of these tasks can be made on your own.

GES - General Emergency Services. CAPT 116, on your own.
MSA - Mission Staff Assistant
Age Eligibility: 21 years
Finance/Admin Section Chief - Familiarization and Preparatory Training
IS100 - IS-100. FEMA online class. On your own.
IS200 - IS-200. Ditto.
IS700 - IS-700. Ditto.
IS800 - IS-800. Ditto.
Finance/Admin Section Chief - Advanced Training
ICS300 - ICS-300. Usually taught by your state Office of Emergency Mgmt in a classroom, some wings have made arrangements to have the state SOEM teach it to their members. Instructors from this class expects you to have at least IS100.
CAPT 117. On your own.



Squadron Safety Officer
Squadron Communication Officer
Squadron Emergency Services Officer

i_am_a_politician

Quote from: Luis R. Ramos on October 29, 2018, 04:47:15 PM
You may consider also there is an Emergency Services financial need as well. The Finance/Admin Sector Chief. Again it is on reconciling funds.

To my understanding, this position is completely different from the FM track and is only needed for missions correct?
1st Lt Politician

arajca

Correct. And it's not something a cadet can do. They can help as an MSA, but that's it.

SarDragon

Here are the prerequisites for the ES Finance folks:

Finance/Admin Section Chief - Prerequisites
GES - General Emergency Services
MSA - Mission Staff Assistant
Age Eligibility: 21 years
Commander Approval for Prerequisites
FASC - Commander Approval for Prerequisites
Finance/Admin Section Chief - Familiarization and Preparatory Training
IS100 - IS-100
IS200 - IS-200
IS700 - IS-700
IS800 - IS-800
Commander Approval for Familiarization and Preparatory Training
FASC - Commander Approval for Familiarization and Preparatory Training
Finance/Admin Section Chief - Advanced Training
ICS300 - ICS-300

The red text is a non-starter for cadets. The blue text is a task not easily completed by cadets. There are additional individual tasks that are also beyond the scope of most cadets.
Dave Bowles
Maj, CAP
AT1, USN Retired
50 Year Member
Mitchell Award (unnumbered)
C/WO, CAP, Ret

Eclipse

Quote from: SarDragon on December 06, 2018, 02:21:39 AM
The red text is a non-starter for cadets. The blue text is a task not easily completed by cadets. There are additional individual tasks that are also beyond the scope of most cadets.

To be the FASC of record, yes.  To be an MSA assisting on the FASC staff only requires the interest and ability.

"That Others May Zoom"

JeffDG

Quote from: Eclipse on December 06, 2018, 03:59:06 AM
Quote from: SarDragon on December 06, 2018, 02:21:39 AM
The red text is a non-starter for cadets. The blue text is a task not easily completed by cadets. There are additional individual tasks that are also beyond the scope of most cadets.

To be the FASC of record, yes.  To be an MSA assisting on the FASC staff only requires the interest and ability.
And being the de facto FASC on a mission where there is no qualified FASC operating on delegation from the IC.

TheSkyHornet

Quote from: Eclipse on October 29, 2018, 01:27:08 AM
There's no "Cadet Finance Officer", but nothing says you can't ask and learn.

Not entirely accurate, per se.

We have, on numerous occasions, instituted the role of cadets in financial affairs, especially for large-scale activities that require significant budgeting (e.g., field training exercises, Dining In). Like other cadet duties, they aren't ultimately responsible/liable for financial affairs, but they are the point of contact for budgeting and expense tracking for that activity; usually, it's rolled into the Cadet Logistics role.

Units are flexible enough to employ a Cadet S8-type role. But I think the issue is that it's a role that can be difficult to use on an active level since cadets are limited to touching money, and it becomes fairly boring very quickly.

If you want to understand financing, from a practical standpoint, get involved in Logistics, Personnel, or Activities. It shows you a lot of the behind-the-scenes for where the money goes, which I think sometimes people who work in Finance miss out on since they're seeing the paper trail but not the active implementation of the money's actual use.