Defense Finance and Accounting Service
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| Defense Finance and Accounting Service | |
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| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1991 |
| Headquarters | Arlington, Virginia |
| Employees | 12,000 |
| Annual budget | $1.5 billion [1] |
| Agency executives | Teresa McKay, Director Richard Gustafson [2], Principal Deputy Director |
| Website | |
| www.dfas.mil | |
The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) is an agency of the United States Department of Defense that provides finance and accounting services for the military and other members of defense. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, it was activated on Jan. 18, 1991. DFAS is the world's largest finance and accounting operation.
DFAS pays all DoD military and civilian personnel, retirees and annuitants, as well as major DoD contractors and vendors. DFAS also supports customers outside the DoD in support of electronic government initiatives. These customers include the Executive Office of the President, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Broadcasting Board of Governors.
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.
- Processed 154.6 million pay transactions (5.9 million people)
- Made 6.9 million travel payments
- Paid 14 million commercial invoices
- Posted 54.5 million general ledger transactions
- Managed military retirement and health benefits funds ($328 billion)
- Made $446 billion in disbursements to pay recipients
- Managed $22 billion in foreign military sales (reimbursed by foreign governments)
- Accounted for 865 active DoD appropriations
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[edit] History
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 12,000 personnel.
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. In 2004, Nielsen Norman Group named the Defense Finance and Accounting Service's portal (ePortal) among the 10 best government intranets in the world. Experts at the Neilsen reviewed hundreds of intranets before naming the top ten which shared traits like good usability and organization, performance metrics and incremental improvements.[3]
The 2005 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.
[edit] Locations
Centers:
- Arlington, Virginia (Headquarters - remaining open)
- Cleveland, Ohio (remaining open)
- Columbus, Ohio (remaining open)
- Denver, Colorado (scheduled to close) Old Lowry Air Force Base
- Indianapolis, Indiana (remaining open)
- Kansas City, Missouri (scheduled to close)
Network Sites within the United States:
Charleston, South Carolina(closed)Dayton, Ohio(closed)Lawton-Fort Sill, Oklahoma(closed)Lexington, Kentucky(closed)Lexington Park, Maryland(scheduled to close)- Limestone, Maine (remaining open)
Norfolk, Virginia(closed)Omaha, Nebraska(closed)Oakland, California(closed)Orlando, Florida(closed)Pearl Harbor, Hawaii(closed)Pensacola, Florida(scheduled to close)Rock Island, Illinois(closed)- Rome, New York (remaining open)
St. Louis, Missouri(closed)San Antonio, Texas(closed)San Bernardino, California(closed)San Diego, California(closed)Seaside, California(closed)Texarkana, Texas(scheduled to close)
Network Sites outside the United States:
- Kaiserslautern, Germany (remaining open)
- Yokota Air Base, Japan (remaining open)
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.
[edit] See also
- Air Reserve Personnel Center, Denver, CO, former Lowry AFB
