Government Electronic Invoicing - Wide Area Work Flow

As the federal government attempts to move closer to a paperless contracting environment, the use of invoicing systems grows every year. If your contract lists an invoicing system then you must comply and register with these electronic invoicing systems to be paid.

While reviewing a federal government bid, if electronic invoicing is mentioned, be aware that you will be using one of several government invoicing systems. If it is with the military, that system will be Wide Area Work Flow. In order to be paid, you must be aware of registration and invoice procedures.

Two examples of invoicing system includes IPP (Invoice Processing Platform) used by USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) and Wide Area Work Flow used by the Army / Air Force.

Wide Area Work Flow (https://wawf.eb.mil/) is a military system and connects to the Systems for Award Management or SAM.gov that all federal vendors must register in to be issued a CAGE Code.

Section 1008 of the National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2001 requires any claims for payment under Department of Defense (DoD) contract to be submitted in electronic form.  This is seen in DFARS (Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations) Clause 252.232-7003, Electronic Submission of Payment Requests. 

Wide area Workflow - Receipt and Acceptance (WAWF-RA) is the DoD's system of choice for implementing this statutory requirement. Branches of the military use this invoicing system so you can be paid by the Defense Finance Accounting System (DFAS), who distribute military pay and invoices for the armed services and military bases and civilian contracts.

Need to set up a WAWF account? Here's what you need.

These are required in the setup for your company to send the invoice to the right payment office.

• Your company CAGE Code
• DoDAAC (Department of Defense Activity Address Code) location of the payment office.

Having problems setting up your account or submitting your invoice?

While PTAC's (Procurement Technical Assistance Centers) can assist small businesses with invoicing, it is also good to have the help line for WAWF information.

• Customer Support Center number is 1-866-618-5988 (for setup issues)
• Customer Care Center: 1-800-756-4571, Option 2. (for invoicing issues)

Procurement counselors at the Arkansas Procurement Assistance Center can be a valuable source of assistance in this process. Reach out to us for assistance at 501-671-2390 or via e-mail at ptac@uada.edu .