OCFO OFS - Justification

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
Office of the

May 29, 2008

Chief Financial
Officer

Memorandum
Subject:

Request for Clearance of 2008 Voluntary Contractor Payment
Satisfaction Survey, ICR 1711.05, OMB Number 2090-0019

From:

Douglas L. Barrett, Director (D143-02)
EPA, Office of the Comptroller
Office of FiLancial Services
RTP- Finance Center

Through:

Patricia A. Bonner (1807T)
Customer Service Director
Office of the Administrator

To:

Spencer Clark (2822T)
Inforn1ation Collections Division
Office of Environmental Information

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The purpose of this letter is to request approval to cOl1tinue with OCFO's Office of
Financial Services initiative to receive customer satisfaction feedback from to its external
stakeholders. The intent ofthe survey questionnaire is to better understand the areas where
the RTP-Finance Center can improve its contract payment services.
Background
The RTP-Finance Center is responsible for processing all EPA commercial payn1ents. It
is one of four finance cente~s within the OCFO's Office of Financial Services. The Office of
Financial Service is involved in a major initiative to measure customer satisfaction, through
various survey instruments. Last year several internal customer satisfaction surveys were
conducted with excellent results. Tl1is fiscal year (FY2008) the RTP-Finance Center is
seeking to receive feedback from its external stakeholders, con1mercial contractors that do
business with the Agency.
The RTP-Finance Center has shown remarkable success in obtaining a "green" rating with
regard to the Government "/ide performance metrics governing Prompt Payment, EFT/ACH,
and Improper Payments. It has also implemented improved efficiencies, wl1ich directly
benetit Agency contractors. Accordingly, the Center expects to receive positive feedback on
tl1ese areas and to pinpoint specific problem areas which can be improved. The RTP-Finance
Center is the lead organization over this EPA external survey and is responsible for the
tabulation and subn1ission of the results.

Customer Survey
The proposed customer 3atisfaction survey is completely voluntary and will appear as
a link in an email memo fro~n the RTP Finance Center to Agency contractors. The
survey is expected to be completed this fiscal year. It will repeat as necessary, not to
exceed being initiated on an annual basis. Approximately 500 of our contractors will
receive notice of the survey"s availability on our website along with a request that they
access and complete it.
Respondents will have approximately three (3) weeks to complete the survey. The
attached survey is comprised of 13 questions and should take respondents approximately
15 minutes to complete. It is estimated around 200/0 (100 contractors) will respond to the
survey via a secure internet web address. The total burden on respondents will be
approximately 25 hours. The estin1ated total annual burden to EPA for tracking,
collection, analysis, and reporting is estimated to be 40 hours. The questions relate to
feedback on the Finance Center's performance and its initiatives. There is one question
related to the respondent's I)osition within the company. The last question is an open­
ended space for the contrac-:or to voice any concerns, or make recommendations to
improve EPA's contract payment process.
Survey Monitoring
The Center's staffwill routinely monitor responses. If the response rate is estimated
to fall below 150/0, the Center will reissue the questionnaire, again through email, as the
survey will not be repeated again this fiscal year. The Center's plan is to analyze the
results as they become available, maintaining detailed records of responses in a
spreadsheet format. All responses will be stored in a secure database. Since the Center
has had a close relationship with many of its contractors, we expect the return rate will be
sufficient to draw sound conclusions. The Center will follow up with all respondents
who state a contact's name and phone number to gain additional information if they point
out an area of concern or a recommendation for improvement.
Survey Results
The results of this survey will be the property of the OCFO' s Office of Financial
Services. Results will be used by the RTP-Finance Center to assess the contractor's
perception of the Center's ability to process paynlents both timely and accurately, and to
determine the satisfaction rate witl1 its Customer Assistance help lines. Also, the intent of
the Center is to receive: 1) inquiries regarding contractor's enrollment for emailing
invoices, as oppose to using standard, or overnight mail, and 2) additional information
contractors would like to see on the Agency's internet contract payment web page.

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Survey Contact

Questions regarding the RTP-Finance Center contractor survey questionnaire should
be directed to Guy Hickey at (919) 541-2300, email: [email protected].
cc: Milton Brown (2734R)
Raffael Stein (2734R)
Juanita Watkins (DI43-02)
Guy Hickey (DI43-02)

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