Advancing the FM Vision with Action: The Beauty of IPP

The FM Vision is more than an idea. It's a series of goals that focus on the Fiscal Service initiatives that support the federal financial management community. These initiatives are about making federal financial management better for you and for those who use our services. So let's talk about the Invoice Processing Platform (IPP) that is part of our goal for optimizing disbursing.

How does IPP benefit the American people? IPP, Treasury's solution for electronic invoicing (e-invoicing), saves agencies and vendors time, effort and money. As a secure centralized service IPP is available at no charge to executive, legislative and judicial branch agencies and their vendors.

Replacing paper-based, manual processes with structured data exchanged through electronic workflow allows federal agencies and vendors to track invoice status accurately and quickly. E-invoicing typically saves 50% of agency invoice processing costs. Also, IPP enables agencies to reduce late payment fees - funds that could otherwise be used to support core agency missions.

It's great for vendors. The days of preparing a paper invoice, buying a stamp, and visiting the post office are over. Gone are worries about whether the invoice will land on the wrong desk, be lost, or caught in a paper shuffle. For vendors, lost, delayed, or inaccurate invoice payments cost time and money.

"IPP is great and an easy way of submitting invoices to the government, and payment is much quicker. IPP is a very stress-free and user-friendly business solution to get paid faster by federal agencies. The interface is clean and easy to follow – you don't have to be a technical expert to use it, which is terrific," said an executive of an 8(a) company that provides services to several federal agencies.

IPP is a major time-saver for federal employees too. It stops overbilling and improper payments, which take time to correct. For agencies that use IPP, personnel no longer handle paper invoices, and system-to-system interfaces eliminate manual data entry which reduces human error. The days of phone tag with agency staff are over, because vendors can easily check an invoice's status online.

IPP also supports the President's Management Agenda, which aims to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the government by modernizing business-facing services and reducing improper payments.

Currently, 12 CFO Act agencies use IPP. FM Vision's goal is to increase that number to 17 CFO Act agencies by 2021. That's a 42% boost. If all agencies embrace e-Invoicing, cost savings are estimated at $100 million annually. For agencies, that means more resources to meet core missions, rather than supporting administrative functions.

If you're using IPP, you're making a wise choice. If not, why not? You can learn more about IPP at https://www.ipp.gov.

Last modified 09/21/18