The Department of Veterans Affairs has migrated its payroll services to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service in an effort to improve efficiency and enhance controls.
VA secretary Eric Shinseki said the move would help the VA better serve veterans while taking care of its 298,000 employees, the largest civilian agency that DoD processes payroll for.
The department said the migration of payroll services to the DFAS was completed on time, under budget, and relatively smoothly, something the VA’s deputy chief financial officer, Edward Murry attributed to a high level of collaboration between VA’s payroll migration team and the department’s three administrations.
According to the VA, the effort required significant systems development because of complex federal legislation for paying physicians, nurses and medical clinicians.
Murry added that better timekeeping and pay distribution would help the VA become more accountable and transparent.
