RAND Research Brief: Improving the DoD's Defense Finance and Accounting Service
Abstract
As part of its ongoing improvement efforts, the Department of Defense (DoD) is exploring new ways to enhance the performance of its Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS). Created in 1991, DFAS provides a variety of finance and accounting services, including payroll, bill payment, and budget tabulation, for the military services and other DoD entities. The establishment of DFAS has streamlined DoD finance and accounting operations by consolidating a multitude of service-specific facilities. DFAS handles an enormous volume of transactions. Virtually all of the DoD's annual budget flows through this agency. Recently, DFAS asked RAND's National Defense Research Institute (NDRI) to identify opportunities for performance improvement. The results of this research are documented in two RAND reports, Defense Working Capital Fund Pricing Policies: Insights from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service and Improving the Defense Finance and Accounting Service's Interactions with Its Customers. These studies, led by RAND economist Edward Keating, found that DFAS's performance could be improved through changes in DFAS's pricing system and in the nature of many of its transactions with customers.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2001
- Accession Number
- ADA393116
Entities
Organizations
- RAND Corporation