Summary: Provisions governing Federal payments for purchases have been established by legislation and regulations. Based on a GAO survey, it was found that 73 percent of firms considered Federal payment performance satisfactory, and 16 percent found it unsatisfactory. An analysis relating to vendor invoices revealed that basic causes of late payments were lack of consistent Federal criteria for determining when payment is due, and untimely processing of required documents before payment. Some examples of late payment resulted from untimely actions of contractors. Differences among agencies in payment performance were determined by reviewing invoices, with findings of late payment rates varying from 3 percent for a Department of Justice payment center and 74 percent for two General Service Administration payments centers. Some examples were also found of payments made too early. Methods for improving payment timeliness have been considered, and GAO is still assessing suggestions for interest charges on late payments.
