Paws for Thought: Dayton Chapter Cost Challenge

During the Financial Management Cost (FMC) Division’s annual program review at Buckley Space Force Base in May 2025, FMC took the opportunity to do something new and issued an ICEAA-inspired cost challenge to its analysts: Paws for Thought, A Pet Ownership Cost Challenge. Three teams (3-4 analysts per team) were announced and given the task of developing a comprehensive lifecycle cost estimate for owning either a pet dog or cat within just 24 hours. Each team was responsible for delivering a 15-minute presentation on their analysis and findings to senior FM leadership that included the following:

• Basic profile of the chosen pet (location, breed, lifestyle, quality of products/services, etc.)
• Initial investment costs (purchase/adoption costs, vaccines, supplies, etc.)
• Recurring, non-recurring costs (food, grooming, emergency vet visit, etc.)
• Risk and uncertainty analysis (health of the pet, emergency pet visits, etc.)
• Scenario analysis (worst case, moderate case, and optimistic case)
• Sensitivity analysis (food, boarding costs, etc.)

All three teams chose to estimate the cost of a pet dog (sorry cat lovers) and were given carte blanche to be a creative as possible with their cost factors and presentation. Join us Thursday, August 28 to hear from the winning team!