purchase card | The Contracting Education Academy

July 3, 2020 By cs

GSA still must answer supply chain risk questions with e-commerce platforms

The General Services Administration has awarded proof-of-concepts to Amazon Business, Overstock.com, and Fischer Scientific to provide agencies access to their commercial e-commerce platforms for purchases below the micro-purchase threshold of $10,000.

The test of online marketplaces was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic. It was protested at least twice after the solicitation came out in November. The White House contradicted it with a January executive order, and it remains controversial among contractors.

But the General Services Administration’s e-marketplace platform initiative finally reached the end of the beginning.

Two of the three winners — Amazon and Overstock — submitted agency level protests about the solicitation over the last six months forcing GSA to amend it at least twice.

The goal for these pilots, which could last up to three years, is to test out the use of commerce platforms that hopefully will give agencies more granular data into what GSA estimates is a $6 billion annual market through the government purchase cards.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/reporters-notebook-jason-miller/2020/06/gsa-still-must-answer-supply-chain-risk-questions-with-e-commerce-platforms/

October 23, 2019 By cs

How GSA plans to capture $6 billion in under-the-radar spending

The General Services Administration (GSA) plans to see if micro-purchasing innovation makes a big difference in agency acquisition.

Each year, federal agencies spend billions of dollars collectively making purchases using their federal government purchase cards or other micro-purchase methods, which receive little notice on a governmentwide scale when compared with higher-value contracts.

GSA is currently looking for a way to change that, by offering an e-marketplace platform that not only allows agencies to more easily search for and make those smaller-cost purchases, but also gives GSA and user agencies better data about how their spending stacks up.

At the beginning of October, GSA released its request for proposals for a proof-of-concept of the program, which will kick off a three-year maximum test to see whether a government-organized e-marketplace is more valuable than agencies simply making these purchases on their own, as they do now.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.federaltimes.com/acquisition/2019/10/18/how-gsa-plans-to-capture-6b-in-under-the-radar-spending/

June 19, 2019 By AMK

GSA out of compliance on improper payments, watchdog finds

Financial controls designed to minimize agency payments to undeserving parties are not being fully followed by the government’s landlord, the General Services Administration, according to a watchdog report released on Friday.

GSA in fiscal 2018 failed to comply with two of six requirements in the amended Improper Payments Act, said the agency’s inspector general. Specifically, the agency “did not publish an accurate improper payment estimate in its Fiscal Year 2018 Agency Financial Report and … [did not] publish accurate and complete improper payments data in its Fiscal Year 2018 Agency Financial Report,” said the report by the team under IG Carol Fortine Ochoa. “GSA’s risk assessment process is flawed and its procedures for the Do Not Pay initiative contain significant deficiencies and are ineffective.”

Federal law requires agencies with programs susceptible to significant improper payments to estimate and report on them annually to the Office of Management and Budget, in addition to implementing corrective actions. But if a program’s estimated and reported improper payments are below the statutory thresholds for a minimum of two consecutive years, the agency may request relief from the annual reporting requirements.

The IG reviewed GSA’s improper payments in rental of space and purchase cards in fiscal 2017 and 2018, having found $109 million in total improper payments in 2017, and then $16.7 million in 2018 in the rental of space program only. The new report’s review covered August 2018 through February 2019.

Keep reading article at: https://www.govexec.com/management/2019/06/gsa-out-compliance-improper-payments-watchdog-finds/157447

October 10, 2016 By AMK

GSA’s IG says Pcard program is vulnerable to illegal, improper, or erroneous purchases

GSA may not identify illegal, improper, or erroneous purchases because the controls over the resolution of questionable purchase card transactions are not operating effectively.

pcard That’s one of the findings of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the General Services Administration in a report issued September 30, 2016. The OIG found that purchase card (Pcard) transactions are not properly and fully supported, reported, and approved to ensure the goods and services are business-related. The audit report also finds that GSA lacks controls to routinely monitor purchase card transactions to identify split transactions, which increases the risk that GSA cardholder violations of federal acquisition regulations concerning micro-purchase authority will go undetected.

The finding align with the purpose of the audit. The objectives of the OIG’s audit were to determine whether: 1) GSA’s purchase card program has controls in place to ensure purchase cardholders are in compliance with GSA’s purchase card policies, 2) GSA purchase card transactions are properly and fully supported, reported, and approved, and 3) GSA purchase card use above the single transaction limit of $3,000 complies with acquisition laws.

Based on the audit, the OIG recommended that:

GSA management enforce existing GSA operating policy (specifically, GSA Order OAS 4200.1A on the subject of Management and Use of the GSA SmartPay Purchase Card;
Ensure questionable charges are identified, reviewed, and resolved; and
Ensure that the Charge Card Management Division fully develops and implements its existing Pcard monitoring system, and performs routine tests of split transactions.

GSA management concurred with the audit report findings and recommendations.

June 25, 2015 By AMK

No more charging strippers to Uncle Sam’s plastic

Federal employees who want to gamble or frequent strip clubs for an evening of fun will have to use their own credit cards to pay for it.

An amendment included in the House-passed fiscal 2016 Defense spending bill prohibits Defense civilian workers and military personnel from using government charge cards for expenses related to “gaming, or for entertainment that includes topless or nude entertainers or participants.”

The language specifically prohibits gaming, rather than any expenses at a casino, so lodging and meals, for example, would be exempt.

Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., sponsored the amendment, which was adopted on voice vote. The House on Thursday passed the fiscal 2016 Defense spending bill. The full Senate has not yet considered its fiscal 2016 Defense appropriations legislation.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/management/2015/06/no-more-charging-strippers-uncle-sams-plastic/115174

The General Services Administration has awarded proof-of-concepts to Amazon Business, Overstock.com, and Fischer Scientific to provide agencies access to their commercial e-commerce platforms for purchases below the micro-purchase threshold of $10,000.

The General Services Administration (GSA) plans to see if micro-purchasing innovation makes a big difference in agency acquisition.

Financial controls designed to minimize agency payments to undeserving parties are not being fully followed by the government’s landlord, the General Services Administration, according to a watchdog report released on Friday.

GSA may not identify illegal, improper, or erroneous purchases because the controls over the resolution of questionable purchase card transactions are not operating effectively.

Federal employees who want to gamble or frequent strip clubs for an evening of fun will have to use their own credit cards to pay for it.

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