“The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS or the Department) finalizes its proposed regulation amending the Department’s Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement, the HHS Acquisition Regulation (HHSAR), to support the HHS Electronic Invoicing Implementation Project and HHS’s transition to the Department of the Treasury’s Invoice Processing Platform. This complies with Office of Management and Budget (OMB) memorandum M-15-19, Improving Government Efficiency and Saving Taxpayer Dollars Through Electronic Invoicing, issued on July 17, 2015.”
“Response: HHS appreciates the comments and agrees that the benefits of electronic submission and processing of payment requests to support the HHS Electronic Invoicing Implementation Project and HHS’s transition to the Department of the Treasury’s Invoice Processing Platform, will generally outweigh any administrative costs associated with the transition. The HHS Electronic Invoicing Implementation Project will bring HHS in compliance with the OMB Memorandum M-15-19, Improving Government Efficiency and Saving Taxpayer Dollars through Electronic Invoicing, issued on July 17, 2015 which directed federal agencies to transition to electronic invoicing for appropriate federal procurements. Implementation of these solutions will improve citizen and business facing services, improve consistency, automate workflows, improve the transparency of invoice status, and support specific business needs identified across HHS while maintaining compliance with the OMB and Treasury requirements.
Comment: One commenter raised concern with the timing of the inclusion of the clause in new and existing contracts and the confusion that may be caused with tracking payment requests submitted prior to and after the change in invoice submission requirements.
Response: HHS appreciates the commenters concern and agrees additional information on the invoice submission process is necessary to mitigate any administrative confusion for the tracking of payment requests during the transition period. Since the HHS operating divisions utilize various accounting systems and their internal processes and procedures may vary depending on the systems they utilize, the HHS operating divisions will be issuing Payment Instructions to their respective contractor community with specific invoice submission instructions related to their internal policies, procedures, and processes…” Read the full article here.
Source: Department of Health and Human Services Acquisition Regulation-Electronic Submission and Processing of Payment Requests, February 2, 2022. Federal Register.
