DA Form 7923, the Army’s Statement of Charges/Cash Collection Voucher, is the document you sign to admit financial liability for lost or damaged government property and to authorize repayment through either a payroll deduction or a cash payment. The current version is dated March 2024, and the form is governed by AR 735-5. You fill it out when you voluntarily accept the charge, the loss falls under the applicable dollar cap, and no formal investigation is required.
When the Form Applies
A Statement of Charges is the simple path, and it only works in a narrow set of circumstances. Three conditions have to line up:
- The soldier, Department of the Army civilian, or contractor voluntarily admits liability and offers to pay.
- The loss does not require a Financial Liability Investigation of Property Loss (FLIPL) or an AR 15-6 investigation.
- The charge is within the dollar limits: no more than one month of basic pay for a servicemember, no more than one-twelfth of annual salary for a civilian employee. Contractors who admit liability pay the full amount regardless of total.
If the depreciated value pushes past those caps, or if the circumstances call for an investigation, the command has to open a FLIPL instead. DA Form 7923 is not an option in that situation.
Completing the Header
The top of the form ties the charge to the right unit, accounting line, and disbursing office. Some blocks are yours to fill in; others belong to supply or finance. Getting this wrong is the most common reason a form comes back.
- Block 1, Date: enter it in YYYYMMDD format (20260415 for April 15, 2026).
- Block 2, Document/Transaction/Voucher Number: assigned by the installation property book office (IPBO). If you’re the one being charged, your unit supply or property book officer gives you the number.
- Block 3, Organization: the unit or directorate responsible for the property.
- Block 4, Station: the installation where the property was accounted for.
- Block 5, Disbursing Office Collection Voucher Number: completed by finance, not by you.
- Block 6, Disbursing Station Symbol Number: also completed by finance.
- Block 7, Accounting Classification: the fund cite. The property book officer or resource manager enters this.
In practice, you fill in your identification and the item details. Supply and finance handle the accounting codes and voucher numbers. Don’t leave your blocks blank assuming somebody downstream will catch it. Incomplete forms get returned.
Itemizing the Property
The table in the middle of the form lists each piece of lost or damaged property on its own line. The IPBO verifies the identification, assigns the document number, and posts the loss from the accountable records.
- Column A, NIIN/Material Number: the National Item Identification Number. Your supply sergeant or property book officer can pull it from the property records.
- Column B, Item Description: plain-language description, for example “MONOCULAR, NIGHT VISION, AN/PVS-14.”
- Column C, Quantity.
- Column D, Unit Price: the per-item cost, typically the depreciated value. Your property book office calculates depreciation from the item’s age and condition at the time of loss.
- Column E, Total Cost: quantity times unit price.
The primary hand receipt holder or unit property representative gives the IPBO everything the entry depends on: line numbers, nomenclature, quantities, a depreciation statement, and the total after depreciation. For a nonexpendable component loss, a shortage annex listing every missing component gets attached.
Ask about depreciation before you sign anything. Depreciated value is often significantly lower than the original acquisition cost, and that difference is what actually comes out of your pay.
What Your Signature in Block 9 Commits You To
Block 9 is a legal certification, not a formality. When you sign, you are agreeing to three things at once:
- Payment authorization. If you selected payroll deduction, your signature authorizes the government to recover the debt directly from your pay. If you selected cash collection, you’re remitting the full amount at the time of signing.
- A possession statement affirming that the items listed are not in your possession.
- A recovery agreement: if you later find any of the listed articles, you turn them in to the appropriate supply officer. Title to the property stays with the government even after you’ve paid the charge.
Block 9 also asks for your rank or grade, full name, EDIPI (the 10-digit number on your CAC), and a written cause for the charge. That cause-for-charge entry becomes part of the permanent property accountability record, so be factual and specific. “Left rucksack containing items at Range 12 on 20260315; unable to locate after search” is better than “lost it.”
Payroll Deduction or Cash Collection
Block 8 asks which method you want. Payroll deduction pulls the amount from future paychecks, and larger charges near the dollar cap can be spread across multiple pay periods, though the specific installment schedule is up to the finance office. Cash collection means paying the full amount up front, which is often easier for small charges when you’d rather settle it and be done.
Whichever method you pick, the caps still govern whether the form can be used at all. A servicemember’s charge on a single DA Form 7923 cannot exceed one month of basic pay. A civilian’s cannot exceed one-twelfth of annual salary. Above that, the statement of charges route is closed.
Commander and Disbursing Officer Approvals
After you sign, the form goes through two more layers.
Block 10 is the organization commander or director. Their signature certifies that the statement of charges is complete, that the property has been disposed of according to current directives, that the charges were computed correctly under AR 735-5, and that a FLIPL was not required in this situation.
Block 11 goes to the disbursing officer or payroll certifying officer. They record whether the amount has been entered on the appropriate pay record, whether a DD Form 139 (Pay Adjustment Authorization) has been prepared and forwarded for collection, or whether cash was received. This is the step that actually triggers the deduction or processes the payment.
If the Property Turns Up After You’ve Paid
This happens more often than people expect, and the process has a built-in correction. An amendment citing the specific change is prepared and attached to the original DA Form 7923 as an exhibit. A copy goes to the accountable property officer with instructions to reestablish accountability for the recovered property. The command then forwards the amendment to the finance office under a memorandum directing repayment of the recovered property’s value to you as a “collection erroneously received.”
Turn the item in as soon as you find it. Your certification already committed you to that, and because the government retained title the whole time, keeping the item you paid a charge on is not the same as having bought it.
Where to Get the Form
The current DA Form 7923, dated March 2024, is available through the Army Publishing Directorate at armypubs.army.mil. In most cases your unit supply office or the installation property book office has blank copies and will walk you through the item-specific fields. If a statement of charges is being initiated against you, get the depreciation calculation explained before you sign Block 9.