Download the form
DA Form 1296 exists to stock accounting record — that is the short version. Title of record: STOCK ACCOUNTING RECORD. The page covers the download, the entries and the disposition, nothing else. Current here: edition 07/01/2024, status ACTIVE, 2 page(s), near 200 fields. Superseded edition. A newer one is out; stay here only for files already executed on this version.
G-4 is the proponent, PAM 710-2-2 the prescribing authority. Read the directive only if something about your situation departs from the standard case. Otherwise the form is filled by the individual it describes, or by the records clerk keeping the file, and reviewed through the printed signature blocks.
The formats are PDF, XFDL, and the choice comes down to keyboard or pen. Fillable pdf for typing — live fields, tab order, saved entries. Printable pdf for handwriting — same page, no interactive objects, print it blank. Content is identical; only entry method differs.
Use a full pdf reader, not the browser viewer. Browser viewers display fields they cannot always save, and the loss shows up only when you reopen the file — type one entry, save, reopen, verify, then fill the rest. The xfdl file is IBM Lotus Forms, used inside Army systems, and opens in the Lotus Forms Viewer alone — no pdf reader, no word processor.
Free, unregistered, unmodified. What arrives is what the publisher released.
What the form asks for
- BALANCE
- BALANCE_1
- BALANCE_10
- BALANCE_11
- BALANCE_12
- BALANCE_13
- BALANCE_14
- BALANCE_15
- BALANCE_16
- BALANCE_17
- BALANCE_18
- BALANCE_19
- BALANCE_2
- BALANCE_3
- BALANCE_4
- BALANCE_5
- BALANCE_6
- BALANCE_7
- BALANCE_8
- BALANCE_9
- BALANCE_A
- BALANCE_A_1
- BALANCE_A_10
- BALANCE_A_11
The heading entries carry more weight than the body. Name spelled as in official records, identification number, organisation, date prepared. Retrieval runs on those values, so a transposed digit or a casual spelling costs someone a file search. Fill them before anything else.
Tabbing beats clicking for coverage. The order was set at build time and tracks the page layout, so following it leaves no gaps. Boxes and buttons are clicked; where options are exclusive, one selection cancels another by design. Watch field width on long entries: one-line fields have no wrap, and what runs past the edge disappears in print though the screen still shows it. Move that text to remarks or a continuation. Never leave an inapplicable field empty — enter the nil mark, because a reviewer cannot distinguish a skipped question from a considered answer.
The signature closes the form and nothing precedes it. Draft status holds until it is applied, by hand or by an accepted electronic method. Countersignatures go in printed order, each dated at signing. Then one final read from the top, looking for the four recurring defects: empty mandatory fields, swapped digits in identification numbers, day-month inversion in dates, and residue from a reused file that goes forward as though intended.
Read the Privacy Act statement at the point it appears. Authority, purpose, routine uses, mandatory or voluntary — four facts, and they govern what you are about to enter. A completed copy holds personal data and takes the handling rules that attach to it.
Routing follows PAM 710-2-2 and nothing else — a named office, the unit administrative channel, or the individual's file, according to why the form was raised. Copy it before it leaves. Retention is fixed by the records schedule for the series, which local practice does not shorten or extend.
Look for associated forms by series and number. In the DA series, documents sharing a proponent or a governing directive tend to travel together, and anything referenced on the page normally submits alongside. Collect continuations, covers and transmittals in advance of sending.
A stored file goes stale silently. The proponent revises, a new edition date is published, and your copy says nothing about it — so compare the printed date against the edition in force before typing into it again. Completed submissions on an earlier edition are not reopened.
The files are copies of published Department of the Army forms. This site has no official connection, no authority to issue anything, and no basis for saying whether an office will accept a given submission. None of the text is legal advice. Real questions — entry, requirement, eligibility — belong with G-4 or the administrative office servicing your unit.
Questions and answers
- What is DA Form 1296?
- STOCK ACCOUNTING RECORD
- Which edition is current?
- 07/01/2024
- Who is responsible for this form?
- G-4
- In which formats can it be downloaded?
- PDF, XFDL, PDF