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CHAPTER 7
FINANCIAL RETURNS
Throughout the previous chapters, you learned that
every disbursing officer (DO) is required to submit
financial returns. You also learned that a DO is required
to include certain documents in these returns. These
requirements exist because a DO’s financial returns and
supporting documents make up the formal accounting
to the United States for all public funds received and
spent by that DO. Financial returns are also the basis
for the official audit and settlement of accounts by the
General Accounting Office (GAO). Additionally,
financial returns provide the data from which the
Department of Defense (DOD) maintains its
administrative accounting controls.
In this chapter, you will read about some procedures
and documents required of every Navy DO to
accomplish the submission of financial returns. After
studying the information in this chapter, you should be
able to identify and describe the proper procedures for
assembling and submitting financial returns according
to the requirements set forth in the Department of
Defense Financial Management Regulation
(DODFMR), Volume 5. You should also be able to
describe the correct procedures according to the official
guidelines in the DODFMR for maintaining and
disposing of the retained returns.
REGIONAL CENTRALIZATION OF
REPORTS AND RETURNS
For Navy DOs, the submission of financial returns
is regionally centralized. The purpose of regional
centralization is to consolidate all transactions of
individual Navy DOs located within a specific
geographic area into the financial accounts of the
designated regional central disbursing officer (CDO) of
the financial information processing center (FIPC)
serving that area. This procedure reduces the number of
disbursing returns, permits the prompt reporting of
financial transactions, and maximizes the use of the
automated accounting machines available at the FIPCs.
The DOs of the following FIPCs have been
designated as CDOs:
Defense Accounting Office, Norfolk, VA
Defense Accounting Office, San Diego, CA
Defense Accounting Office, Oakland, CA
Navy Supply Center, Pearl Harbor, HI
Defense Accounting Office, Great Lakes, IL
Defense Accounting Office, Arlington, VA
Defense Accounting Office, Port Hueneme, CA
Defense Accounting Office, Pensacola, FL
Defense Accounting Office, New Orleans, LA
Non-tactical disbursing offices in the continental
United States and in Hawaii are required to submit
financial reports daily to the designated CDO of the
FIPC serving the area in which the disbursing office is
located. A non-tactical disbursing office is defined as
a disbursing office permanently assigned to a location
and not subject to mobilization or deployment. To
spread the monthly workload of the FIPCs over the
entire month and to expedite final reporting of financial
transactions, certain overseas non-tactical disbursing
offices are also required to submit daily returns;
however, these offices will submit their returns to either
DAO, Norfolk, or DAO, San Diego.
RECIPROCAL RESPONSIBILITIES AND
REQUIREMENTS
All Navy DOs are required to submit their financial
reports to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service
- Cleveland Center (DFAS-CL) through their
designated CDOs at the regional FIPCs. As stated
previously, each FIPC has a designated CDO. The
financial accounts of all reporting DOs in that region
are consolidated into the accounts of the designated CDO.
Each designated CDO is responsible for
transmitting the monthly Statement of Accountability.
This, however, does not remove personal and pecuniary
responsibility from the individual DOs reporting to that
CDO. Whenever a DO makes payments by cash or
check, he or she remains personally responsible for any
associated improper payment or loss of funds. This
responsibility continues even after the DO has
submitted the financial records to his or her designated
CDO. Although each DO is authorized to disburse
funds in his or her own name under one or more symbol
numbers, the accounts of all DOs are ultimately
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