Understanding Your Leave and Earnings Statement

Understanding Your Leave and Earnings StatementUnderstanding Your Leave and Earnings StatementA servicemembers Leave and Earnings Statement (LES) is the militarys version of a pay stub. Unlike the pay stub you may receive from your civilian employer, this pay stub has 78 fields, which makes it somewhat cumbersome to deal with, to say the least. Fortunately, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) has provided detailed explanations to help you make sense of this very important document Fields 1 Through 9 Contain the Identification Portion of the LES 1. NAME The members personenname in last, first, middle initial format. 2. SOC. SEC. NO The members Social Security Number. 3. GRADE The members current pay grade. 4. PAY DATE The date the member entered active duty for pay purposes in YYMMDD format. This is synonymous with the Pay Entry Base Date (PEBD). 5. YRS SVC In two digits, the actual years of creditable service. 6. ETS The Expiration Term of Service in YYMMDD format. This is synonymous with the Expiration of Active Obligated Service (EAOS). 7. BRANCH This field reflects branch of service OR program which the servicemember is enrolled. 8. ADSN/DSSN The Disbursing Station Symbol Number used to identify each disbursing/finance office. 9. PERIOD COVERED This field will show the Check Date for Reserve or National Guard members. Fields 10 Through 22 Contain the Entitlements, Deductions, Allotments, Their Respective Totals, a Mathematical Summary Portion, and Date Initially Entered Military Service 10. ENTITLEMENTS In columnar style the names of the entitlements and allowances being paid. Space is allocated for fifteen entitlements and/or allowances. If mora than fifteen are present the overflow will be printed in the remarks block. Any retroactive entitlements and/or allowances will be added to like entitlements and/or allowances. 11. DEDUCTIONS The description of the deductions is listed in columnar style. This includes items such as taxes, SGLI, and dependent dental plan. Space is allocated for fifteen deductions. If more than fifteen are present the overflow will be printed in the remarks block. Any retroactive deductions will be added to like deductions. 12. ALLOTMENTS Reservist and National Guard do not have allotments. 13. AMT FWD The amount of all unpaid pay and allowances due from the prior LES. 14. TOT ENT The figure from Field 20 that is the total of all entitlements and/or allowances listed. 15. TOT DED The figure from Field 21 that is the total of all deductions. 16. TOT ALMT Reservist and National Guard do not have allotments. 17. NET AMT The dollar value of all unpaid pay and allowances, plus total entitlements and/or allowances, minus deductions due on the current LES. 18. CR FWD The dollar value of all unpaid pay and allowances due to reflect on the next LES as the AMT FWD. 19. EOM PAY The actual amount of the payment to be paid to the member on that specific payday. Fields 20 Through 22 - TOTAL. The total am ounts for the entitlements and/or allowances, and deductions respectively. Fields 23 and 24 are not used by Reserve and National Guard members. Fields 25 Through 32 Contain Leave Information 25. BF BAL The brought forward leave balance. Balance may be at the beginning of the fiscal year, or when active duty began, or the day after the member was paid Lump Sum Leave (LSL). 26. ERND The cumulative amount of leave earned in the current fiscal year or current term of enlistment if the member reenlisted/extended since the beginning of the fiscal year. Normally increases by 2.5 days each month. 27. USED The cumulative amount of leave used in the current fiscal year or current term of enlistment if member reenlisted/extended since the beginning of the fiscal year. 28. CR BAL The current leave balance as of the end of the period covered by the LES. 29. ETS BAL The projected leave balance to the members Expiration Term of Service (ETS). 30. LV LOST The number of days of leave that has be en lost. 31. LV PAID The number of days of leave paid to date. 32. USE/LOSE The projected number of days of leave that will be lost if not taken in the current fiscal year on a monthly basis. The number of days of leave in this block will decrease with any leave usage. Fields 33 through 38 Contain Federal Tax Withholding Information 33. WAGE PERIOD The amount of money earned this LES period that is subject to Federal Income Tax Withholding (FITW). 34. WAGE YTD The money earned year-to-date that is subject to FITW. 35. M/S The marital status used to compute the FITW. 36. EX The number of exemptions used to compute the FITW. 37. ADDL TAX The member specified the additional dollar amount to be withheld in addition to the amount computed by the Marital position and Exemptions. 38. TAX YTD The cumulative total of FITW withheld throughout the calendar year. Fields 39 Through 43 Contain Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) Information 39. WAGE PERIODThe amount of money earned this LES period that is subject to FICA. 40. SOC WAGE YTDThe wages earned year-to-date that are subject to FICA. 41. SOC TAX YTDCumulative total of FICA withheld throughout the calendar year. 42. MED WAGE YTDThe wages earned year-to-date that are subject to Medicare. 43. MED TAX YTDCumulative total of Medicare taxes paid year-to-date. Fields 44 Through 49 Contain State Tax Information 44. STThe two digit postal abbreviation for the state the member elected. 45. WAGE PERIODThe amount of money earned this LES period that is subject to State Income Tax Withholding (SITW). 46. WAGE YTDThe money earned year-to-date that is subject to SITW. 47. M/SThe marital status used to compute the SITW. 48. EXThe number of exemptions used to compute the SITW. 49. TAX YTDThe cumulative total of SITW withheld throughout the calendar year. Fields 50 Through 62 Contain Additional Pay Data 50. BAQ TYPEThe members type of Basic Allowance for Quarters status. W/O DEP - Member without dependents.W D EP - Member with dependents.WDAGQT - Member with dependents assigned government quarters. 51. BAQ DEPNIndicates the type of dependent. SpouseChildParentGrandfatheredMember married to member/own rightWard of the courtParents in LawOwn rightStudent (age 21-22)Handicapped child over age 21Member married to the member, child under 21No dependentsN/A 52. VHA ZIPThe zip code used in the computation of Variable Housing Allowance (VHA) if entitlement exists. 53. RENT AMTThe amount of rent paid for housing if applicable. 54. SHAREThe number of people with which the member shares housing costs. 55. STATThe VHA status i.e., accompanied or unaccompanied. 56. JFTRThe Joint Federal Travel Regulation (JFTR) code based on the drehort of the member for the Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) purposes. 57. DEPNSThe number of dependents the member has for COLA purposes. 58. 2D JFTRThe JFTR code based on the location of the members dependents for COLA purposes. 59. BAS TYPE STAND - Separate Rations(blank) - Rations-in-kind not availableOFFIC - Officer Rations 60. CHARITY YTDThe cumulative amount of charitable contributions for the calendar year. 61. TPCThis field is not used by the Active Component. Army Reserves and National Guard use this field to identify Training Program Codes. A - Normal pay status code for a regular servicemember on regular duty.C - Funeral Honors Duty.M - Annual training tours over 30 days.N - Death.O - Training for HPSP, ROTC, and Special ADT over 30 days.T - ADT over 29 days. (School)U - Undergraduate pilot training, in-grade pilot, navigator, and advanced flying training officers.X - Stipend Tour of HPIP participants or subsistence for ROTC participants.Z - Administrative and support training (exclusive of recruiting). 62. PACIDNThe activity Unit Identification Code (UIC). Fields 63 Through 75 Contain Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) Information 63. BASE PAY satzThe percentage of base pay elected for TSP contributions. 64. BASE PAY CURRENTThe amount of Base Pa y withheld for TSP from current pay entitlement. 65. SPECIAL PAY RATEThe percentage of Specialty Pay elected for TSP contribution. 66. SPECIAL PAY CURRENTThe amount of Special Pay withheld for TSP from current pay entitlement. 67. INCENTIVE PAY RATEPercentage of Incentive Pay elected towards TSP contribution. 68. INCENTIVE PAY CURRENTThe amount of Incentive Pay withheld for TSP from current pay entitlement. 69. BONUS PAY RATEThe percentage of Bonus Pay elected towards TSP contribution. 70. BONUS PAY CURRENTThe amount of Bonus Pay withheld for TSP from current pay entitlement. 71.Reserved for future use. 72. TSP YTD DEDUCTION (TSP YEAR TO DATE DEDUCTION)Dollar amount of TSP contributions deducted for the year. 73. DEFERREDDollar amount of pay elected to be deferred during the tax year. 74. EXEMPTDollar amount of TSP contributions that are reported as tax exempt to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). 75.Reserved for future use. 76. REMARKSNotices of starts, stops, and changes to a mem bers pay items as well as general notices from varying levels of command may appear. 77. YTD ENTITLEThe cumulative total of all entitlements for the calendar year. 78. YTD DEDUCTThe cumulative total of all deductions for the calendar year. If you still have questions about your LES or you dont understand a specific field or numerical figure, please contact your disbursing/finance office for further explanations. Updated by Armin Brott.