Veterans Affairs transitions to e-invoicing.(extra credit)(electronic)

Following its July 2007 initiative to eliminate paper invoices, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is now making the transition to electronic invoicing, contracting with A&T Systems and OB10 to enable that transition. OB10 operates the leading global e-invoicing network and A&T Systems, as the prime contractor, is a provider of technology and other solutions to the federal government. Jointly, they will enroll the department's hundreds of thousands of suppliers onto the OB10 network, allowing suppliers to submit invoices to the VA in any electronic format. The network does all the data mapping and translation and presents the VA with the invoice in the desired format.

The Department of Veterans Affairs--the second largest of the 15 Cabinet departments--operates nationwide programs for healthcare, financial assistance and burial benefits for veterans and their families.

The VA operates in a shared services environment with a central site--Veterans Affairs Financial Services Center (VAFSC)--that processes invoices for all its hospitals and other facilities. Currently, the VAFSC handles some 450,000 invoices annually. By going electronic, the VAFSC will gain significant efficiencies in its invoice handling, primarily by requiring less staff time in the opening and handling of paper associated with the nearly 9,000 invoices it receives in the mail each week.

Security will also be enhanced. Currently, the VAFSC must perform a security check on each invoice as it arrives by mail, slowing the process considerably. Because the OB10 network delivers a finished invoice, no additional security review is needed.

Electronic delivery will also eliminate invoice errors resulting from manual data entry of paper invoices into the payment system by VAFSC staffers. Also, the fact that invoices are delivered instantly helps the VA comply with prompt payment guidelines that require Executive Branch departments and agencies to pay commercial obligations within certain defined time periods or pay interest penalties when payments are late.

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E-invoicing is also a "green" technology, thanks to its elimination of paper. If all 450,000 yearly VAFSC paper invoices were replaced by e-invoices, it would save 160 trees, 27,000 kilowatts of electricity and 400 pounds of air pollutants involved in paper manufacturing, along with 22 cubic yards of eventual landfill space.