Defense Finance and Accounting Service - History

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 10 sites, and reduced the work force from about 27,000 to about 13,000 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 Nielsen reviewed hundreds of intranets before naming the top ten which shared traits like good usability and organization, performance metrics and incremental improvements.

The 2005 round of Base Realignment and Closure cuts had DFAS being completely restructured. Many sites were integrated into major centers. The organization has continued to shift its focus to be a joint service provider, to smoothly meet the needs of all the armed services. These changes allow the entity to do more with less and continue its exceptional performance. This transformation ensures DFAS a long and valued life in the years to come.

One of the most visible responsibilities of DFAS is handling military pay.

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