403.15 - Receipt for Goods and Services
12/20/96
OPR: Office of Acquisition and Federal Assistance
1. Purpose. This chapter establishes policy and procedures for processing receiving reports and invoices for goods and/or services acquired by the USGS under simplified acquisition or schedule ordering procedures.
2. Definitions.
A. Receiving report is used to document receipt and acceptance/rejection of goods or services. One copy of the form 9-1134 is designated as the "RECEIVING REPORT COPY", although any extra copy of the order may also be used if necessary. Photocopies of the form may be used to prepare receiving reports for partial deliveries.
B. Invoice is the original of a Contractor's bill or written request for payment for supplies or services provided. In order to be a "proper invoice" it must contain all the information required by the Prompt Payment Act regulations, including the USGS contract, purchase and/or delivery order number; description, quantity, unit and extended price for each item; shipping and payment terms; and other information required by the order.
C. Statement is a vendor account summary of billings and payments received during the statement period. While a statement may show a "balance due" it is not a proper, itemized invoice and generally may not be used to make payments. In unusual situations, a statement can be used in place of an invoice by special arrangement with the Office of Financial Management (OFM).
3. Policy. Invoices for goods and services must be supported by evidence that the goods or services have been received and accepted by the USGS. Payment on invoices may not be authorized, either by OFM or by remote data entry personnel without certification of receipt and acceptance, except for procurement of the following:
A. Subscriptions to newspapers, periodical, or other publications supported by an invoice from the vendor and an authorization by the ordering office;
B. Establishment or replenishment of deposit accounts with the Government Printing Office (GPO) and the National Technical Information Service (NTIS);
C. Post office box rentals;
D. Training/tuition;
E. Automatic recurring payments under SM 342.2;
F. Warranties, provided the warranty does not include periodic maintenance, enhancements or repairs beyond "corrections of defects resulting from failure of the goods to conform to the represented quality of the goods" (GAO Decision B-249006, April 6, 1993);
G. Orders using "Fast Pay" procedures of FAR Subpart 13.3; or
H. Payment of monthly bankcard invoice from Rocky Mountain Bank.
4. Responsibilities.
A. The Contracting Office issuing the purchase/delivery order is responsible for distributing the Receiving Report copy of the order to the designated billing office once the order is signed. It is also responsible for assisting the consignee and the billing office in resolving any disputed charges, negotiating with vendors regarding consideration for acceptance of nonconforming items, and issuing any necessary modifications to the order and formal written decisions regarding vendor claims.
B. Office of Financial Management (OFM) is responsible for processing payment from the certified receiving report and invoice, and for notifying the vendor of any invoice deficiencies preventing or delaying payment. Where remote entry is used, this becomes the responsibility of the office entering the payment data.
C. The Billing Office is the office or individual designated on the requisition and order to receive the vendor invoice and Receiving Report copy of the order.
(1) This office is responsible for making sure that the Receiving Report is promptly completed by the consignee or other employee having first-hand knowledge that acceptable goods or services have been received. The billing office is responsible for date stamping the vendor invoice upon receipt and sending the invoice with the completed receiving report to the OFM, Mail Stop 270, Reston, VA 20192, or designated remote data entry personnel. If the invoice and receiving report are not forwarded within 5 days of receipt, late payment interest charges may become due to the vendor and will be charged to the USGS project account shown on the order. In order to correctly compute the payment due date, the billing office must provide both the date goods were received/services performed and the date goods/services were accepted, as well as the invoice receipt date.
(2) Each receiving report must be marked to indicate whether this is a partial delivery or the final (or only) delivery under the order. On orders issued on a "not to exceed" basis, marking an invoice as "final" will authorize OFM to deobligate any remaining funds on the order.
(3) Where the invoice contains charges that are not covered by the terms of the order or charges for goods/services not received or accepted, the invoice must be annotated to line out these charges and compute a revised invoice total. Even though portions of the invoice may be disputed, we should pay promptly for those items which we have accepted and will retain regardless of the disposition of the remaining items. Never certify as received/performed any items that have not been completed and accepted unless the order contains separate pricing for completion of interim stages or deliverables.
(4) To reduce the problem of duplicate payments to vendors, offices with several persons acting in the certifying role must have adequate controls to assure that only one invoice for the same transaction is certified for payment. If a vendor submits a copy of his invoice other than the original, the copy that the billing office submits to OFM or for remote entry must be marked as follows:
No "original" invoice was issued for this order. This copy will serve as the "original" invoice and is certified as such by ____________________.
D. The Consignee is responsible for inspecting goods/services promptly upon receipt or for designating another employee to perform any necessary inspection or testing. If goods are not received by the order's delivery date, the consignee should determine from the vendor when goods were, or will be, shipped. Any significant delay in delivery or rejection of nonconforming items should be reported to the Contracting Officer, who will advise or assist in taking appropriate remedial action. Consignees should not tolerate repeated delays in delivery or repeated delivery of nonconforming items, as inaction on the Government's part may render the order unenforceable.