Until 1946 it was known as the People's Commissariat for Finance (Russian: Народный комиссариат финансов – Narodnyi komissariat finansov, or "Narkomfin").

Narkomfin, at the all-Union level, was established on 6 July 1923 after the signing of the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR, and was based upon the People's Commissariat for Finance of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) formed in 1917.

The Commissariat, and later the Ministry, prepared the state budget in a joint process with its republican and local branches.

Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced several reforms during his rule which had the unintended consequence of considerably hurting the ministry's prestige.

On 26 November 1921 Lenin issued a note calling for the appointment of Grigory Sokolnikov to the newly established post of People's Commissar for Finance.

The OSA group oversaw the construction of a building which should have housed the employees of the People's Commissariat for Finance.

The building was designed by Moisei Ginzburg and Ignati Milinis and has a reputation for being one of the best examples of still-standing Soviet constructivist architecture.

[9] During its humble beginnings, the main task of the People's Commissariat of Finance were: confiscation of property, robbery and requisition; printing and creating money; and taxation.

As nearly all organisations had some sort of financial aspects the Ministry of Finance set standards and rules for accounting and bookkeeping.

This is also a common feature in the United States Department of Treasury, although the Soviet's regulations differ in being of a highly centralised manner that the US one does not.

There were several Deputy Ministers of Finance, each of them focusing their responsibility in one specific area, for example the financial regulation of the Soviet automobile industry.

[11] The Ministry of Finance continued functioning until the RSFSR government issued a decree completing its takeover of the Soviet financial system.