330.8 - Payment Voucher Numbering
9/8/92
OPR: Admin/Financial Management
1. Purpose. The purpose of this chapter is to provide instructions to divisions and the Office of Financial Management (OFM) for assigning document numbers to Payment Voucher (PV) documents in the Federal Financial System (FFS) and to provide guidelines to divisions for approving invoices for payment. These procedures will help the divisions identify payments that appear on their financial reports and retrieve information from FFS tables.
2. Background. Under FFS, OFM processes vendor invoices for payment using the PV document. A single PV document creates a payment to a vendor that may cover one or several individual invoices. All PV documents entered into FFS are assigned an FFS document number. FFS document numbers must be unique (by document) and may not exceed eleven characters. The PV document number together with the Vendor Code is used to store payment transactions in FFS tables, and consequently is the key needed to retrieve payment information from the tables. Vendor invoices may be received by division offices or OFM. In either case, the recipient of the invoice will be responsible for assigning the FFS document number based on the instructions that follow.
3. Procedures. PV document numbers will be assigned by division offices or by OFM depending on where the invoice is received. In general, the recipient of the invoice will assign the PV document number using one of the following formats:
- Nine-character document number indicating fiscal year, organization code, and sequential number (e.g., PV 221200127).
- Document number of related obligating document such as purchase order or contract (e.g., PV 2P0123456).
- Seven-character sequential filing number or barcode number (OFM use only) (e.g., PV 1234567).
A. Invoices Received In Division Offices. Invoices received in division offices will be assigned PV document numbers by the receiving division. Division-assigned PV numbers must be a nine-character document control number as shown in the example below.
Nine-Character Document Control Number
X Fiscal Year Code (1992=2, 1993=3)
XXXX Four digit organization code (2120, 4150)
XXXX Sequential Number (0001,0002, ...)
Divisions should include PV document numbers as part of the certifying information recorded on each invoice submitted to OFM for payment. Figure 1 contains the information required and recommended format for certification stamps to be used by divisions. Figure 2 contains an example of a completed certification. Invoices must be received by OFM within 5 days of receipt by the division.
If divisions submit invoices to OFM without assigning a document number, OFM will assign the PV document number based on the obligating document number or, if no obligation preceded the payment, by using a sequential seven-character filing number (barcode number).
If divisions submit invoices to OFM with duplicate document control numbers, OFM will assign invoices a sequential seven-character filing number (barcode number).
B. Multiple Payments Against Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPA). In cases where divisions make multiple calls against a BPA, the same nine-digit document number may be used on each invoice. To keep each document number unique, divisions must append a unique two-digit suffix to the end of the recurring number for each invoice. For example:
Call 1 2 2120 0320 01
Call 2 2 2120 0320 02
Call 3 2 2120 0320 03
The special document number format described above is permitted only for multiple payments against BPA's. Other document numbers must use the basic nine-digit numbering method.
C. Invoices Received By OFM. Invoices received by OFM that are preceded by obligations will be assigned PV document numbers that are identical to the related obligating document. For multiple payments against an obligating document, OFM will add a suffix (such as 01, 02) to the PV document number to designate the number of the payment and to create a unique number.
Any certified invoice received by OFM that does not contain a division-assigned PV number in proper format or was not preceded by an obligation will be assigned a seven-character sequential filing number (barcode number).
4. Summary. OFM will use the following procedures to assign PV document numbers:
- If present, OFM will use the division-assigned PV document number as it appears on the certification stamp. It may be the obligating document number or division-assigned number.
- If no division-assigned PV document number is available and the invoice was preceded by an obligation, OFM will use the number of the obligating document.
- If no division-assigned number is available and the invoice was not preceded by an obligation, OFM will use the seven-digit sequential filing number (barcode number).
- If the division submits a duplicate document number or a document number of less than nine positions, OFM will use the seven-digit sequential filing number (barcode number).