Defense Finance and Accounting Service

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The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), an agency of the United States Department of Defense, provides finance and accounting services for the military and other members of defense.

In FY 2004, DFAS:

Processed 104M pay transactions to 5.9M military, civilians, retirees and annuitants
Made 6.9M travel payments
Paid 12.6M commercial invoices
Processed 127.3M general ledger postings
Managed military and health benefits funds ($234B)
Made an average of $455B in disbursements to pay recipients
Managed $13.5B in foreign military sales (reimbursed by foreign governments)
Accounted for 282 active DoD appropriations

In 1991, Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney created the Defense Finance and Accounting Service to reduce the cost of Defense Department finance and accounting operations and to strengthen financial management through consolidation of finance and accounting activities across the department. Since its inception, DFAS has consolidated more than 300 installation-level finance and accounting offices into 26, and reduced the work force from about 27,000 to approximately 16,000 personnel.

DFAS is a working capital fund agency financed by reimbursement of operating costs from its governmental customers (mostly the military service departments) rather than through direct appropriations. This service-provider relationship with its customers has resulted in a continuous innovation and improvement in the quality of services DFAS provides. DFAS has steadily reduced its operating costs and has returned these savings to customers in the form of decreased costs.

In 2003, DFAS was selected by the Office of Personnel Management to be one of four governmental entities to provide payroll services for the U.S. government.

The current round of Base Realignment and Closure cuts has DFAS being completely restructured. Many sites will be integrated into major centers. The organization will continue to shift its focus to be a joint service provider, to smoothly meet the needs of all the armed services. These changes will allow the entity to do more with less and continue its exceptional performance. This transformation will ensure DFAS a long and valued life in the years to come.

One of the most visible responsibilities of DFAS is handling military pay, much of which is accounted for via the Leave and Earnings Statement.

Centers:

Network Sites within the United States:

Network Sites outside the United States:

The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission reduced the number of sites in the United States to Cleveland, Ohio, Columbus, Ohio, Indianapolis, Indiana, Limestone, Maine, and Rome, New York with a liaison office at Fort Belvoir, Virginia to support Congress and the Secretary of Defense.