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RAND Focused on Two Program Areas for Study

• The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) task force explored options to consolidate administrative operations performed with congressionally nonappropriated funding (NAF).
• Of the areas the task force considered, RAND focused on two: accounting and employee benefits.

NAF Accounting Processes

• Each of the military services independently conducts NAF accounting functions; these include payroll; accounts payable and receivable; financial management; and more. Each function is accomplished using a variety of accounting systems. Based on this, three possible courses of action (COAs) were developed.
• COA 1 would allow military services to retain independent accounting and systems while adopting the same standard general ledger (SGL).
• COA 2 would call for an SGL and uniform accounting structures, but also for standard core feeder and financial systems — though they would maintain separate databases.
• COA 3 would build on COA 2, standardizing all accounting and cost-center structures, as well as the core feeder and financial systems. All services except the U.S. Marine Corps would select one core financial service provider, although there would be no change to field personnel or ownership of financials/programs.
• All alternatives show some level of potential savings. COA 3 provides the largest potential savings if the military services are able to agree on a single set of requirements.

NAF Employee Benefits Processes

• Most task force recommendations given to the research team focused on improving communication and collaboration among the services. However, few of the recommendations would result in large budgetary savings.
• Costs for collaboration and standardization proved to be most expensive of the three categories assessed.
• Implementation and coordination included personnel time for achieving portability and for process and procedure education and training development and implementation.
• Information technology and systems collaboration included creation of a collaborative mechanism and website as well as system integration, but not specific hardware and software requirements.

The Department of Defense (DoD) routinely seeks ways to become more efficient and reduce costs. Each military service provides its members and their families with a wide range of services supported by resources that are paid for using congressionally appropriated funding (APF), nonappropriated funding (NAF), or a combination thereof. DoD was interested in determining whether any administrative NAF activities could be consolidated — and, if so, whether consolidation would save costs. DoD created a task force to explore these issues and identified several areas for improvement, ranging from contracting to information technology. DoD Military Community and Family Policy asked the RAND National Defense Research Institute to review the work of the task force and provide an independent assessment of specific recommendations. In collaboration with the sponsor, RAND provided intensive analysis of recommendations in two areas for improvement that the task force identified. Researchers determined that application of consolidation could achieve improvement and savings in some NAF accounting activities, but that there is considerably less potential in the case of NAF employee benefits.

• Chapter One

  Introduction

• Chapter Two

  Program Area Descriptions: NAF Accounting and NAF Employee Benefits

• Chapter Three

  Eight Guidelines for Managing Change: Insight from Expert Literature and Case Studies

• Chapter Four

  Managing Change: Analysis and Ways Forward for NAF Accounting and NAF Employee Benefits

• Chapter Five

  NAF Accounting Consolidation: Cost Analysis and Results

• Chapter Six

  NAF Employee Benefits Efficiency: Cost Analysis and Results

• Chapter Seven

  Conclusions and Recommendations

• Appendix A

  Semistructured Discussion Guide

• Appendix B

  NAF Employee Benefits Data Gathering

• Appendix C

  Background Information for Case Studies

• Appendix D

  NAF Accounting Cost Detail