Expedited Payment Procedures

The Veterans Administration (VA) requested a decision as to whether the VA Centralized Payment Center may pay invoices which have been forwarded from the initiating facility without the required administrative certifications that goods or services have been received, subject to later audit and verification of the invoices. GAO has, in the past, approved similar fast payment procedures where they were necessary to take advantage of prompt payment discount opportunities and where adequate alternative internal controls were present to assure that the agency received what it paid for in the proper amount and condition. Although GAO had no objection in principle to the VA proposal, it was not approved unequivocally at this time. GAO recommended that proper control procedures be implemented, such as limiting the type of contractor and number of dollars involved; testing of the procedures before implementation agencywide; and reviewing the system periodically.