TOPS Shutdown Means a Return to Paper Invoices

December 2, 2008 Comments Off

Last week we got a call from DFAS-Indy concerning the effect on the decommissioning of TOPS. The current schedule calls for the shutdown of TOPS by April 30, 2009, a few months after the worldwide roll out of DPS. Once TOPS is off-line, no new shipments can be booked into that system, but of course shipments previously booked can continue to be invoiced for up to three years.

Unfortunately, by summer of 2009, DFAS-Indy plans to shut down its internal system that allows for EDI invoicing. Without TOPS, it does not make sense for them to keep the system online just for supplemental invoices. Once the system is shut down, all invoices payable to DFAS will need to be sent via paper. The net result will be more manual work by both TSPs and DFAS, and of course slower payment times. All in all, it will definitely be a step backwards from the automated process that we enjoy today.

Keep in mind that this notice applies only to invoices payable to DFAS, not those currently booked in TOPS and paid through PowerTrack. Those PowerTrack shipments, which make up 65-70% of our current invoices, will have to be handled through another process once TOPS is shut down. There has been talk of trying to migrate those to DPS for payment, but there are significant technical challenges in doing that. Hopefully, SDDC will follow DFAS-Indy’s lead and will soon announce their plans for the handling of invoices after TOPS.