DPS Pays First Invoice

16. Dec, 2008 Comments Off

Two weeks ago, we submitted our first DPS invoice since the program was launched at the initial 18 bases. (It was not really the first DPS invoice, because of the invoice we submitted prior to launch.) After a couple of problems which slowed the progress of the invoice, it made its way through the process and was paid successfully late last night.

The first problem was the PPSO initially refused to approve the line items for a couple of reasons. One was some confusion over the origin service charge, a new item code with which the PPSO was not very familiar. Secondly, the PPSO was very concerned that she could not see and verify the rates of the invoice. We anticipated that the electronic nature of the 400NG would cause some concern when the PPSOs realized they would not be able to see the underlying rates in this tariff. The PPSO eventually was persuaded by JPMO-HHGS to approve the line items without being able to see the rates, but we anticipate this will be a recurring problem when getting PPSO approval for domestic invoices.

The second hold-up occurred when the invoice failed to move back to PowerTrack for payment, even after the PPSO approved all of the line items. After waiting about 24 hours, we alerted PowerTrack, GEX, and JPMO-HHGS that the invoice was stuck. After some investigation, it was determined that the problem was a DPS “network connectivity” issue, which was fixed over the weekend. Yesterday, the invoice was retransmitted by DPS, and after some brief problems with communication with GEX and DPS, it made its way back to PowerTrack for payment.

The good news is that all of the line items successfully matched. Although it was a pretty basic invoice, it was still good to have the line items match up. All in all, the first invoice went pretty much as expected. The file transmittal hiccup is indicative of continuing to work the bugs out of the system, and hopefully will not become a recurring issue. A more pressing issue is the concern expressed by the PPSO about the inability to independently verify the rates. If the PPSOs continue to have that expectation, it could significantly hamper our efforts to get DPS invoices approved.