The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has joined many other civilian agencies now in requiring its contractors to use the Treasury Department's Invoice Processing Platform (IPP) to submit invoices, public vouchers, and other payment requests. The IPP is a "secure" (insofar as anything can be secure) web-based service that manages Government invoices. Currently the EPA requires contractors and vendors to submit paper invoices, which are inefficient, costly, and outdated.
The requirement is found at EPAAR (EPA Acquisition Regulation a.k.a. the EPA FAR Supplement) 1552.232-70. Here's a few notes regarding the IPP.
- Scanned documents are acceptable when they are part of a submission of a payment request. This would include the traditional SF 1034 and SF 1035 forms.
- The contractor's government business point of contact as listed in SAM (System for Award Management) will receive enrollment instructions via email from the IPP. The contractor must register within 3 to 5 days or receipt of the email.
- Waiver requests are available if the contracting officer determnes in writing that the IPP would be unduly burdensome for the contractor.
- Invoices can be submitted more often than monthly if the contracting officer approves more frequent billing.
The new clause contains detailed instructions for preparing and submitting public vouchers under the new IPP system. One major difference between the IPP and the old paper system is that the IPP has no provision for suspending costs. Cost suspension occurs when the Government needs more information to support a particular cost before paying an invoice. It does retain the capability of disallowing costs which essentially serves the same purpose.
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