What does this form do? DA Form 5462 is titled TIP ALLOCATION WORKSHEET, and its job is to tip allocation worksheet. Anyone sent to find "the 5462" is being sent here. Everything below expands on that one function.
Am I looking at the right edition? The copy here carries the date 01/01/2026 and the status ACTIVE. Forms in the DA series are identified by edition date rather than by revision number, so that date is what you compare against. One correction: a newer edition now exists. This one is superseded and remains available only for reference and for files already executed on it.
Who fills it out, and how long does it take? The individual named in the entries fills it, or a records clerk fills it on that person's behalf. Length is 1 page(s) with about 200 entry fields, which is the honest measure of the work involved. Who owns the form and when it is raised comes from G-1 and AR 215-1 respectively.
What the form asks for
- ACTIVITY
- ALL_AM
- ALL_AM_1
- ALL_AM_2
- ALL_AM_3
- ALL_AM_4
- CASH
- CHARGENO
- CHARGEYES
- CUR_CHA
- CUR_GR
- CUR_PAID
- CUR_TIP
- CUR_TOT
- ContentArea1
- DIR_CASH
- DIR_CASH_1
- DIR_CASH_2
- DIR_CASH_3
- DIR_CASH_4
- DIR_CHA
- DIR_CHA_1
- DIR_CHA_2
- DIR_CHA_3
Download the form
Which formats can I download? These: PDF, XFDL. All of them carry the same published page — the difference is not what the form says but how you get words onto it.
Fillable or printable — which do I want? Fillable, if there is a keyboard involved: the boxes are interactive objects that store text. Printable, if there is a pen involved: the boxes are just lines on paper. Nothing else distinguishes them.
What do I open a pdf with? Any current browser will display one, and any dedicated reader will do better. For fillable use the reader is the safer choice, because some browser viewers accept typing and then discard it when the tab closes. Test one field and one save before committing. What opens an xfdl file? Only the IBM Lotus Forms Viewer. The format is IBM Lotus Forms, carried by several Army systems, and no pdf reader or word processor will touch it.
Is it free? Yes, entirely. No registration stands between you and the file, and what arrives is exactly what the publisher released.
What goes in first? The heading block — your name exactly as official records show it, then identification number, then organisation, then the date you prepared the form. Is the order important? It is, because those four entries become the index for the finished record, and an error there is the one mistake that hides the document from everyone looking for it.
What is the fastest way to fill the body? Tab from field to field. The order was set at build time and normally matches how the page reads, which is why tabbing catches boxes that clicking past would leave empty. And the boxes and buttons? Those take a click. Where only one option in a set can apply, choosing one deselects the other.
Why does my text vanish when I print? Because one-line fields have no wrap, and anything past the field width is truncated on paper even though the screen shows all of it. Where should the overflow go? Into remarks, or onto a continuation. What about entries that do not apply? Enter the mark meaning "none". Blank space is ambiguous; a reviewer cannot tell an omission from a considered nil.
Where does the signature belong in the sequence? At the very end, by hand or by an accepted electronic means. An unsigned form is a draft regardless of how full it is. Are countersignatures needed? Where the form provides for them — reviewing official, approving authority, witness — taken in printed order and dated on the day applied. What should you check before releasing it? Empty mandatory fields, digit transposition in identification numbers, day-month inversion in dates, and residue from an old copy used in place of a blank one.
Why does the form carry a Privacy Act statement? Because personal information is being collected, and the statement declares the authority, the purpose, who else routinely sees the data, and whether answering is required or optional. Is it worth reading? Read it before you fill the fields it governs, not after. Does it change how you keep the file? It should — a filled copy is a personal record and gets the handling such records receive.
Where does the finished form go? Wherever AR 215-1 says — to the office it names, along your unit administrative channel, or into the individual's own record, depending on why it was raised. Should you keep a copy? Yes, before it leaves your hands. How long is it held? The records schedule for the series decides that, and local practice does not override it.
What if this form is not the only one you need? Search by series and number. Within the DA series, forms under the same proponent or the same prescribing directive tend to be required as a set, and anything named on the face of one normally accompanies it. Are continuations part of that? They are, along with covers and transmittals, and all of them are collected in advance rather than after a query.
When is an edition replaced? When the proponent revises the form and publishes a new edition date. What should you do with a copy kept on your own machine? Check its date against the edition in force before reusing it. Does the change reach backwards? It does not; work already completed on an earlier edition remains valid as filed.
What exactly is this site? A place to download reproductions of published Department of the Army documents. Is it part of the Department of the Army? No — it is independent, issues no forms of its own, and has no authority over any of them. Can it tell you whether your completed form will be accepted? It cannot, and nothing written here is legal advice. Who answers the real questions? G-1 or the administrative office servicing your unit, on any question of entry, requirement or eligibility.
Questions and answers
- What is DA Form 5462?
- TIP ALLOCATION WORKSHEET
- Which edition is current?
- 01/01/2026
- Who is responsible for this form?
- G-1
- In which formats can it be downloaded?
- PDF, XFDL, PDF
Publisher notes
- PRIVACY ACT STATEMENT