Challenges in Defense Working Capital Fund Pricing: Analysis of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service

RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND ® is a registered trademark. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of its research sponsors. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from RAND. Challenges in defense working capital fund pricing : analysis of the Defense Finance and Accounting Service / Edward G. Keating ... [et al.]. p. cm. " MR-1597. " Includes bibliographical references. document analyzed the Defense Finance and Accounting Service's (DFAS's) cost structure and recommended changes in Defense Working Capital Fund (DWCF) pricing policies to better accord with DFAS's cost structure. In early 2001, DFAS leadership asked RAND to further examine DFAS's cost structure and pricing policies via a project entitled " Improving the Defense Finance and Accounting Service's Price Structure. " This report summarizes the results of that examination. The authors recommend pricing policy changes to more closely align DFAS's prices to its cost structure, thereby providing DFAS customers with more appropriate incentives in their decisions on how much and what sort of workload to provide to DFAS. This report should be of interest to the management of DFAS and to policymakers and researchers interested in Department of Defense budgeting and resource management.