How to Fill Out DD Form 577: Sections, Signatures, and Termination

To fill out DD Form 577, the Department of Defense’s Appointment/Termination Record for authorized signatures, you enter the appointee’s identifying information, mark a single position and describe its scope, obtain the appointing authority’s signature, and then sign the acknowledgement accepting personal financial liability for the funds or certifications under your control. The form is what gives anyone in the DoD legal authority to certify a payment voucher, disburse money, or manage a cash fund, and no appointment takes effect until every required signature is on the page.¹

Before You Fill Anything In

Two things need to be true before the form is worth starting.

First, one form covers one position. Item 6 lists 12 possible appointments, from disbursing officer and certifying officer down to cashier, paying agent, change fund custodian, and safekeeping custodian, and you may only check a single box. Checking more than one invalidates the appointment. If the same person needs authority for two roles, complete a separate DD Form 577 for each.¹

Second, if you are being appointed as a certifying officer for payments that route through Treasury, the Bureau of the Fiscal Service requires you to complete Certifying Officer Training and pass the exam within 30 days before the appointment form is submitted. The Core track is for first-time appointees; the Refresher track is for renewals and requires prior completion of Core. You have to keep the certificate and produce it on request, and the training has to be redone each time credentials are issued or renewed.²³

Section I: Appointee Information (Items 1-5)

The appointee fills in their full name and rank or grade, their 10-digit DoD Identification Number, and the organization’s complete address including email and DSN telephone number.⁴

Double-check the DoD ID Number. That number is the identifier finance offices and auditors will use to tie you to specific certifications, so a transposed digit here creates problems that surface much later.

Items 6 and 7: Position and Scope

Item 6 is where you mark the single position being appointed. If the box is disbursing officer or deputy disbursing officer, you also enter the Disbursing Station Symbol Number.⁴

Item 7 is where the appointing authority spells out the appointee’s specific responsibilities. This is the most important field on the form to get right, because the language written here defines the boundaries of both the authority and the liability that comes with it. Item 7 typically includes:

Dollar limitations on payments the appointee may certify or disburse
The types of payments authorized, such as military pay, travel vouchers, or Government Purchase Card invoices
The specific system involved, such as the Defense Travel System or the Government Purchase Card program
The publications and regulations the appointee is expected to know

The appointing authority can write the scope as broadly or narrowly as they see fit.⁴ A certifying officer appointed only for GPC invoices, for example, should have that limitation stated explicitly rather than receiving blanket authority over all payment types.⁵

Section II: Appointing Authority Signature

The appointing authority, usually a commander or director, signs and dates Section II to authorize the appointment. Dates use YYYYMMDD format. The authority’s printed name, title, and organization all need to be included. If a digital signature is used, the date field does not need to be completed separately because the digital signature embeds the date automatically.⁴

One sequencing point matters here: the appointing authority’s signature locks Items 1 through 11. Everything above must be complete and correct before Section II is signed. Corrections after that point mean starting a new form.⁴

Section III: Appointee Acknowledgement

The appointee signs Section III to acknowledge the appointment. That signature is not a formality. It confirms that you understand and accept personal responsibility for the funds or certifications your position covers, and the appointment has no legal effect until you sign. The signature date is the effective date of your authority.⁶

Your signature here also becomes the specimen signature that finance offices compare against future certified vouchers to confirm authenticity. Sign the way you intend to sign vouchers going forward.⁶

Digital or Wet Signatures?

The signature format on your DD Form 577 has to match the kind of vouchers you will certify.

For electronic vouchers processed through systems like the Defense Travel System, a digitally signed PDF submitted by email is generally acceptable. For manual vouchers requiring a pen-and-ink certification, the form must carry wet signatures and the original must be mailed to DFAS.⁷

If the appointment covers both electronic and manual vouchers, a single form can be used, but it needs both digital and wet signatures. In that case you email a scanned PDF to DFAS and also mail the wet-signature original by certified mail.⁷ Mismatched signature format is one of the most common reasons DFAS rejects a submitted form.

Submitting the Form

Once every required signature is in place, the form goes to the appropriate finance office so the appointee’s authority can be registered in payment systems. For many DoD components that means DFAS. Wet-signature originals are sent to DFAS Indianapolis by certified mail; digitally signed forms for electronic voucher systems can typically be emailed to DFAS directly.⁸

Do not begin certifying or disbursing until the finance office confirms the appointment is registered. Acting on unregistered authority is a paperwork problem with real financial exposure attached.

Section IV: Terminating an Appointment

When authority needs to end, whether for a transfer, separation, or reassignment, the appointing authority completes Section IV of the same DD Form 577 that established the appointment. Section IV requires:¹

The effective date of termination in YYYYMMDD format
The appointing authority’s printed name, title, and signature
The appointee’s initials acknowledging that their authority is revoked

If the appointee should keep some authority but lose the rest, such as retaining GPC certification while giving up travel voucher certification, do not try to modify Item 7 on the old form. Terminate the old appointment in Section IV and complete a new DD Form 577 with the narrower scope.⁵

What You Are Actually Signing

The DD Form 577 is where personal financial liability attaches, so it is worth being clear on what your signature commits you to.

A certifying officer is personally responsible for repaying any payment that turns out to be illegal, improper, or incorrect because of a bad certification, under 31 U.S.C. § 3528.⁹ A disbursing officer is personally accountable for all public money in their custody and can be held liable for any physical loss or deficiency of those funds under 31 U.S.C. § 3527.¹⁰

Statutory relief exists for good-faith mistakes and losses that were not the result of fault or negligence, but relief runs through your own agency’s procedures and depends on facts that will be reconstructed long after the certification. The practical protection at the paperwork stage is making sure Item 7 accurately narrows your scope to what you actually do, and seeking an advance opinion from your general counsel before certifying any payment whose legality is in doubt.¹¹

Annual Review and Record Retention

An active DD Form 577 is not a set-and-forget document. Supervisors are responsible for reviewing every appointment annually to confirm it is still valid, that the appointee is still in the same role, that Item 7 still matches actual duties, and that any required training remains current. Stale appointments are a common audit finding.¹²

The appointing organization has to retain a copy of every completed DD Form 577 with supporting documentation for six years and three months after the appointment is terminated. That retention window exists so audits and investigations can reach back to transactions certified during the appointee’s tenure.¹² Destroying the record early can leave both the appointee and the organization exposed if a payment question surfaces years later.

1
Department of Defense. DD Form 577 – Appointment/Termination Record – Authorized Signature
2
Bureau of the Fiscal Service. Certifying Officer Training
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Bureau of the Fiscal Service. Certifying Officer Training
4
Headquarters Marine Corps. DD Form 577 Instructions for Completing Appointment/Termination Record
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Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment. Sample PIEE JAM CO DD Form 577
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Fiscal Service, U.S. Department of the Treasury. DD Form 577 – Appointment/Termination Record – Authorized Signature
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I Marine Expeditionary Force. Memorandum – Electronic Signatures on DD Forms 577 (DTS Appointments)
8
Procurement Integrated Enterprise Environment. IUID Government Users – Getting Started Help
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 U.S. Code 3528 – Responsibilities and Relief from Liability of Certifying Officials
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 31 U.S. Code 3527 – General Authority to Relieve Accountable Officials and Agents from Liability
11
Bureau of the Fiscal Service. Job Aid 2 – Relief from Liability – Certifying Officer Training
12
DoD Comptroller. Financial Management Regulation Volume 5, Chapter 33 – Certifying Officers, Departmental Accountable Officials, and Review Officials