What do you need to know about the ARMY LES Statement? An Army LES is simply your leave and earnings statement. Anytime you generate pay, normally on the 1st and 15th of each month the Defense Finance Accounting Service will create a leave and earnings statement for you. Your pay could be for TDY pay, drill pay, regular pay, bonus pay, back pay, or several other things. This document is typically posted in your MY PAY account, where you can print it off or save an electronic version to your computer.
In the ARNG and Army Reserves, you normally get your Army LES about 4-7 days after drill weekend. The amount of time it takes to process depends upon when the responsible person in your unit processes payments. If they process the pay report the day after drill weekend, it will get processed quickly. As a Commander, you should ensure that your unit’s pay report is accurate and processed in a timely manner.
In the Regular Army, you typically get an Army Leave and Earnings Statement on the 1st and 15th or once a month, depending how often you chose to get paid.
When you receive your Army LES Statement make sure you check it for accuracy. It’s easy to make mistakes, so make sure you check the following items on each LES.
- Your Name: Check to make sure your name is accurate.
- Your Date of Rank: Make sure that your date of rank is correct. If you were recently promoted, it shouldn’t take more than 30 days for it to update in the system. If it’s been more than 30 days since you were promoted, contact your unit S1 to get it fixed.
- Years of Service: Make sure that your years in service is accurate. This would include your Pay Entry Basic Date (PEBD), which is the day you joined the military for pay purposes.
- Your Rank: As mentioned above, make sure your rank is correct.
- Pay Period: On the bottom of the LES, you will see the pay period. If you did a typical MUTA-4 drill weekend, you should get four days of Active Duty Pay. In the regular Army, it is normally for half of a month.
- Your Deductions: Make sure that your FICA, state taxes and local taxes are at the right rate.
- Your TSP Contributions: If you are signed up for the Thrift Savings Plan, make sure your contributions are being deducted from each pay period.
- Leave: Verify your leave acquired, leave used, use or lose leave, etc.
- BAH & BAS: Double check to see that your housing allowance is accurate. Make sure you are getting paid for the right number of dependents (if you have them). And double check to make sure the zip code is right.
- Allotments: This section is for Active Duty personnel only. If you have allotments set up, make sure they are accurate and posted on your LES.
Of course, these are the major categories on your LES. I think it’s a wise idea to spend 1-2 minutes reviewing the entire document to ensure its accuracy. After all, it’s your career. And it’s your job to manage it wisely. You want to make sure you pay is accurate, so the Army doesn’t overpay you or underpay you. If either of those two things happen, it could lead to minor problems. So you want to avoid that whenever possible.
If you are new to the Army National Guard or Active Duty Army, you should have your first line supervisor educate you about the Army LES. Have them sit down with you for 20 minutes to explain it in greater detail. If you have people working for you, make sure that you do the same thing with them. Teach them what to look for, so they are educated and know what to do.
If you find a mistake on your LES, don’t fret. You can get it fixed. Your key to success is promptness. Make sure you notify your first line leader so they can take you to the Unit Readiness NCO, Pay NCO, or S1 Office to get it fixed. I also think it’s a wise idea to save all your leave and earnings statements for your records. Keep them with your taxes, or in a secure place so you can refer back to them if you need to.
Do you have any added tips about the Army LES? Maybe you have a question? Please post them below and we will answer it as soon as possible.
Chuck Holmes
Former Army Major (resigned)
Publisher, Part-Time-Commander.com
Email: mrchuckholmes@gmail.com
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I still have all my LES Statement from nearly a decade ago. They probably won’t do me much good, but I figured they are a good document to have on hand, in case any of the computer systems crash and I am responsible for proving my time in service.
It’s probably a good idea that you kept all your LESs Edward. You might just need them one day!
I actually have a copy of my first LES statement as well…kind of my “first dollar made in the Army” token… But, I didn’t keep anymore after that. Like you said, I guess it would be a good proof of service date!