Invoicing - VRE Training Manual - Externalv3.1.pdf

Training Document CAATS

Version 3.1 Page 1 of 28 02/08/2024

Centralized Administrative Accounting Transactions System (CAATS)

Vocational Readiness and Employment (VR&E) – External Website

Training Guide

Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) Administrative and Loan Accounting Center (ALAC)

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Version Control

Date Author Version Changed Performed

08/29/2023 Alice M. Garrett 3.0 VBA Initial Draft

02/07/2024 Marcus Porter 3.1 Adding multi factor authentication (MFA) guidance to Section 3.1

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction

2. CAATS System Overview

3. Getting Started

3.1. Logging Into the system

3.2. Forgot Password

4. Creating an Invoice

5. Updating Your Profile

6. Appendix

6.1 Appendix A – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

6.2 Appendix B – CAATS Contractor Access Form

6.3 Appendix C – VR&E Contract Referral Form

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1. Introduction

The Centralized Administrative Accounting Transactions System (CAATS) is a web application used by the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) program office and finance office for the National Contract Chapter 31 program, National Contract Chapter 36 program, and Local Discrete Service Program. These programs assist Veterans with service-connected disabilities to prepare for, find, and keep suitable jobs.

For Veterans with service-connected disabilities so severe that they cannot immediately consider work, the program offers services to improve their ability to live as independently as possible. Contractors utilize CAATS to submit electronic invoices for services provided to Veterans.

CAATS is accessed by VBA field stations (Regional Offices - RO’s); VR&E Contractor sites; as well as the VBA Administrative and Loan Accounting Center (ALAC) in Austin, Texas. CAATS provides centralization for related benefit and administrative accounting functions. ROs have the capability to input referrals and update invoices received from Contractors. These invoices create a transaction that interface into the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Financial Management System (FMS) to issue payments to the Contractor.

Implementation of CAATS will greatly streamline the processing of accounting documents and transactions into FMS. Prior to CAATS utilization, these documents were handled in a manual labor-intensive manner. CAATS provides automated preparation, approval and processing of transactions directly into FMS.

2. CAATS System Overview

Contractors can submit several invoices for payment in the CAATS External website. This external website interfaces with the CAATS internal website and allows VR&E employees to approve invoices for payment.

Architecture The CAATS system is a web application. The users are VA Contractors and VA employees.

The CAATS external system will interface with the CAATS internal system. Additionally, CAATS contains a database to record external and internal information, such as users, configuration, access logs, as well as data to record all of the events and usage of the CAATS system. The database provides comprehensive web-based reporting.

User Management and System Administration The CAATS system maintains a database of authorized users.

Authorized users are tied to e-mail accounts with VA mandated account / password requirements (i.e. passwords must adhere to VA complexity rules, must be changed every 90 days, etc).

CAATS user accounts are assigned to configurable roles. Various functions in the system will be enabled via the use of roles. In addition to limiting access to functionality by roles, user accounts are assigned station access. A user can have one or more stations assigned to them along with one or more roles.

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CAATS user permissions and system issues will be controlled for each user by ALAC in Austin, TX. Once a user has been added, CAATS administrators will specify which Module the user has access to and will assign their Role they are permitted to perform based upon the access form we received for the user.

3. Getting Started

CAATS is located at the following external website:

https://www.caats3.va.gov/

The CAATS –Contractor Access Form located in Appendix 6.2 must be completed and submitted prior to accessing the external website. Once completed, the forms should be sent to the CAATS mailbox at CAATS.VBAMLA@va.gov for processing.

CAATS team will send a registration e-mail to the e-mail address indicated on the access form.

The user will navigate to https://www.caats.va.gov/.

If you have not registered, then select Click here to create a new account. The following screen will be displayed:

https://www.caats3.va.gov/ mailto:carolyn.thomas2@va.gov https://www.caats.va.gov/

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Complete all required fields and select the Register button. The vendor code and e-mail address you enter in CAATS must match up to the email address and vendor on your External Website CAATS Access form. You must be vendorized, and have a valid vendor code with VA, in order for the CAATS Administrators to grant you access.

Once completed, the system will prompt you with a message that you have successfully registered. CAATS administrators will activate your account based upon the CAATS access form received and notify you through e-mail when your account has been activated.

3.1. Logging Into the system

Log on to the system at https://www.caats3.va.gov and input Username and Password.

https://www.caats3.va.gov/

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Upon clicking “Log On”, an email is sent to the user’s email address. The email will contain the CAATS multi factor authentication (MFA) code as shown below:

User will enter the MFA code into the CAATS MFA Validation Code box and click “Confirm” as shown below:

NOTE – If the MFA code is copied and pasted from email notification, please remove any extra space before clicking “Confirm”.

User is logged into the system once all MFA steps are complete.

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3.2. Forgot Password

If you have registered but have forgotten your password, you can reset your password by entering your e-mail address and clicking the link on the right side of the screen under “Forgot your password?” You will then see the screen below:

After you type in your e-mail address and select “Reset Password,” you will see the following screen:

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CAATS will e-mail you a link to reset your password with. The link is valid for up to an hour and appears like the screen below:

After you select the hyperlink within the e-mail, you will see a screen that will prompt you to input your e-mail address, new password, and confirm your new password like the screen below.

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After you are able to log in; you can navigate to the Profile dropdown or the VRE Service Group dropdown.

Once you have successfully entered your e-mail address and password, you will arrive at the main menu screen below titled “Invoice List”:

You will see only those stations which you have been granted access to invoice by selecting the drop down arrow key.

4. Creating an Invoice Once you have received a VR&E Contract Referral Form, completed the services on that referral form, and received the Quality and Assurance deliverable, you can create an invoice by clicking the arrow key to select the station you are invoicing and then selecting “Add Invoice.”

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Once the “Add Invoice” button is selected, the below screen will appear:

Complete the following fields under the Invoice tab:

Referral Number – Fill In [Required Field] Veteran First Name – Fill In [Required Field] Veteran Last Name – Fill In [Required Field]

If you type an invalid Referral Number, Veteran First Name, or Veteran Last name, you will see the following screen:

After you type a valid referral number, Veteran First Name, and Veteran Last Name, the following screen will appear:

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Service Rendered Date – Fill In [Required Field] Quantity – Fill In [Required Field]

If the services being rendered are priced using a flat rate, then the quantity field will auto-populate 1 for the quantity.

Unit Price – Auto-Populate- Based on referral order Extended Price Rendered – Auto-Populate – Based on referral order

If Travel was authorized, then the system will generate the following fields:

Was Reimbursement for Travel Authorized? – Select Yes or No [Required Field] If the user selects “Yes”, then the system will generate the following field:

Travel Amount – Fill In [Required Field] If the user selects “No,” then the system will allow the user to finish the transaction.

Total Billed Amount – Calculated Field – Quantity multiplied by Unit Price.

If it’s a flat rate, then the system will auto-populate 1 for quantity.

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If travel was authorized and the user input a travel amount, then the system will first multiply the Unit Price field by the Quantity field and then add the travel amount.

Obligation Number – Auto-Populate – Based on referral order Contract Number – Auto-Populate – Based on referral order Type of Service/CLIN/SLIN/Travel – Auto-Populate – Based on referral order Location of Service – Fill In [Required Field] Invoice Number – Fill In – The system will not allow duplicate invoice numbers or special characters [Required Field] Invoice Date – Auto-Populate – Based on the current date Billing Period Begin Date – Fill In [Required Field] Billing Period End Date – Fill In [Required Field] Comment – Fill In Vendor Code – Auto-Populate –Based on user logon Name – Auto-Populate –Based on user logon Address – Auto-Populate – Based on user logon Contact Name – Auto-Populate Based on user logon Contact Title – Auto-Populate Based on user logon Phone – Auto-Populate Based on user logon Email – Auto-Populate Based on user logon Contractor Cert. Name – Fill In [Required Field] Contractor Cert. Date – Auto-Populate – Based on date submitted

Once the Invoice tab is completed, select the SAVE or CANCEL button.

After selecting “Save” the user will have the option to make any adjustments by selecting the “Edit Invoice”.

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After selecting “Save,” the user has the options above the referral number to select Submit, Delete, or Exit.

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If the user selects “Submit,” then the system will submit the invoice to the internal VBA CAATS Invoice / Payment module and appear in “Working” status for the RO VR&E representative. In addition, CAATS will send an e-mail notification to the ROs VR&E representatives.

If the user selects “Exit,” then the system will bring the user back to the default screen on the external website.

If the user selects “Delete,” then the system will delete the invoice. The status will change from “Working External” to “Deleted External.”

After you successfully submit an invoice, the system will prompt you with a message that the invoice was successfully submitted and navigate the user back to the Invoice List screen like the screen below:

4.1 Researching Invoices

Users can research invoices previously submitted by utilizing either the Invoice List or the Contractor Invoice List under the VR&E Service Group drop down menu. After selecting the User Invoice list, use the arrow key and select the appropriate station.

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After selecting the appropriate station, the following screen will appear:

The invoice filter defaults to “My Invoices” and the status filter defaults to “All Active.” Please note that “All Active” consists of invoices in the following statuses:

1. Working External status - invoices the user has created but has not yet submitted

2. Returned to Contractor status - invoices that were rejected back to the contractor by their VR&E Representative

Under the invoice filter, users have the choice to select “My Invoices” or “All Invoices.”

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If “All Invoices” is selected, then the system will populate all invoices the user created for a particular station. Users can view invoices created by their coworkers, but will not be able to submit their coworkers invoices. You can only submit invoices that you created.

Users can also utilize the status filter to view submitted invoices, which are tracked in CAATS as “In Review” status.

Users are able to sort any of the rows by the header in either ascending or descending order by clicking on the column title, or they can enter their search parameters in the filter. Users can also change the filter requirements in each of the columns by selecting the icon inside the column. For example, if I select the filter icon inside the Total Amount column, then the system will populate the following screen:

If the Total Amount Certified is less than the Total Amount, which is the amount you billed for, then you can view the reason for the difference inside the invoice under the Certified Tab.

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If you select the Certified Info tab, then the following screen is displayed:

If the Billed Reason or Travel Reason field is blank, then the VR&E Representative certified the full amount the contractor billed for.

If the Certified Billed Amount or Certified Travel Amount is blank, then the invoice has not been certified yet.

The History tab, will display the invoice’s workflow history. See below:

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Users can also research invoices by using the Contractor Invoice List. See below.

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After selecting the Contractor Invoice List and selecting a station, the user should see the screen below:

Users are able to sort any of the rows by the header in either ascending or descending order by clicking on the column title, or they can enter their search parameters in the filter.

Reminder: All questions regarding the referral and invoice information should be directed to your VR&E point of contact.

If you have system questions, please e-mail them to the CAATS mailbox at CAATS.VBAMLA@va.gov.

mailto:Carolyn.thomas2@va.gov

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5. Updating Your Profile

Under the Profile submodule, users can update their profile or change their password.

If you select “Update Profile,” you will see the following screen:

If you select “Change Password,” the following screen is displayed:

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6. Appendix

6.1 Appendix A – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

1. Who do I contact if my account has been deactivated?

See Appendix D – Contact Information

2. I received the following message when performing an action in CAATS. “An error was encountered while processing your request. The following reference number was created for this issue.” What do I need to do?

Please contact the CAATS team with a description of the error and what you were doing when you received this error at CAATS.VBAMLA@va.gov.

3. I tried to submit an invoice and received the following error message “Referral not found! Please check your referral number or Veteran’s name.” What do I need to do?

Compare the Referral Number, Veteran First Name, and Veteran Last Name to the contract referral form you received. If you still receive the same error message after verifying the information to the referral form, then please contact your VA point of contact to verify the information.

4. I tried to submit an invoice and received the following error message “Unable to proceed with action. The line detail does not have a valid referral.” What do I need to do?

Please contact your VA point of contact and inquire about the referral order’s QA status. Often, this error message is a result of the QA field on the referral order being set to Not Reviewed Yet.

5. I tried to submit an invoice and received the following error message “Unable to proceed with action. Billing Period from field is not within the Referral’s Service Period.” What do I need to do?

Compare the Billing Period From and Billing Period To field to the Period of Performance on the contract referral form. If you need to make corrections, then select the Edit button. Select the Save button after making your changes.

6. I tried to submit an invoice and received the following message. “Unable to proceed with action. The referral order is not in Form Generated Status.

Contact your VA point of contact to update the referral order’s status to Form Generated.” What do I need to do?

mailto:CAATS.VBAMLA@va.gov

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Please contact your VA point of contact and inform them of the error message you received. They will have to update the referral order to Form Generated Status in order for you to submit the invoice.

7. I tried to submit an invoice and received the following error message. “Unable to proceed with action. Invoice travel amount exceeds the amount authorized.” What do I need to do?

Compare the travel amount you entered to the travel amount on the contract referral form. Please contact your VA point of contact and inform them of the error message you received. The referral order’s travel amount might need to be adjusted. You might have to view the travel amount you entered on previous invoices to verify you are not exceeding the travel amount authorized.

8. I tried to submit an invoice and received the following error message. “Unable to proceed with action. The amount total for multiple invoices exceeded the amount for the referral.” What do I need to do?

Check to see if you have any outstanding invoices that you have not yet submitted.

Query the referral number and check the history for each invoice. Delete any unnecessary invoices, where you had previously entered the invoice but never submitted the invoice. For instance, I created invoice 40 for referral order 3201200510053 but have not submitted invoice. I created a new invoice under invoice number 47 for the same referral order number and tried to submit it but received the error message. I need to delete invoice number 47 since it was created erroneously. Refer to the screen shot below:

9. Who do I contact if I’m not getting a timely response from the field regarding a processing issue?

First, contact your VR&E officer COTR (Contracting Officer Technical Representative). If you have not received a response after 2 weeks, then contact Carolyn Thomas at Carolyn.thomas2@va.gov.

10. Do VR&E employees get a notification after the contractor submits an invoice?

Yes, the CAATS system will send e-mail notifications to VA employees as the invoice goes through the approval process.

11. Do we still need to submit hardcopy invoices?

No, invoices will be created and submitted electronically through CAATS.

mailto:CAATSVBAMLA@va.gov

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12. What is the time limit to complete the QA form in order for a contractor to submit an invoice?

The station has 5 business days to either reject or accept the deliverables from the date of receipt.

13. How do we know when we have been paid?

You should receive payment in your bank account 30 days from the Accepted by FMS date. Utilize the Contractor Invoice List and query the status Accepted by FMS.

You could also utilize one of the following sites to help track your invoices:

a. The U.S. Department of Treasury’s Financial Management Service offers the Invoice Processing Platform (IPP) and can be accessed at the following url:

https://www.ipp.gov/

b. The FSC has the Vendor Inquiry System and can be accessed at the following url: https://www.vis.fsc.va.gov

14. What do I do if I submitted an invoice for the incorrect quantity or travel amount?

Contact your VA point of contact and inform them of the situation. They will be able to return the invoice back to you. The status of the invoice will be Returned to Contractor, which you can query on the Contractor Invoice List.

15. If we forgot to bill for travel, then can we submit an invoice just for travel and will it affect the QA?

Yes, you can create an invoice just for travel and it won’t affect QA because the QA is about the report and is already completed before you invoice. Please remember to adjust the quantity to 0 if you are just billing for travel.

16. Why is my bank statement not listing the invoice number?

Check with your bank. The bank might charge you additional money for certain information.

17. Who do I contact if I have an idea for a system enhancement to improve the

CAATS functionality?

Submit CAATS enhancement ideas to Carolyn Thomas at carolyn.thomas2@va.gov.

https://www.ipp.gov/ https://www.caats.va.gov/ mailto:CAATS.VBAMLA@va.gov

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6.2 Appendix B – CAATS Contractor Access Form

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1. Action Requested (check only one)

• Create New Customer - check only if user does not have access to CAATS currently

• Modify Existing Customer - check if adding additional roles for current users in CAATS

• Delete Existing Customer - check is deleting user in CAATS

2. Customer Information A. Full Name - Full name of user B. CAATS User ID - email address C. Company – name of your agency D. Address – street address of agency E. City/State/Zip – City, state and zip for your agency F. Phone Number – phone number G. Job Title/Department – job title/department H. Vendor Code – Tax identification number (TIN) Section A

• (Column 1 - Station Number (List all stations need access to in CAATS) - can be multiple stations

• Column 2 – Obligation Number/Contract Number – obligation number or contract number

• Column 3 - Roles - select the roles for the users - can only check one selection per line (can have multiple roles per one form per one user) Initiator – inputs/ creates the document Read Only – view only no input ability (type this on the form under

3. Signatures

• Requesting Official and Title/Date - Contractor who is requesting the user access – should be supervisor

• VR&E Official and Title/Date – Person who is approving the user access

• CAATS Approving Official and Title/Date - no input required by contractor

Form needs to be e-mailed to your VR&E representative.

The VR&E representative will e-mail the form to VBAALAC_CAATSTEAMS@va.gov.

mailto:VBAALAC_CAATSTEAMS@va.gov

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6.3 Appendix C – VR&E Contract Referral Form

Note: The contract referral form will be sent to you outside of CAATS (i.e. email or fax)

6.4 Appendix D – CAATS Contact Information

Reminder: All questions regarding the referral and invoice information should be directed to your VR&E point of contact.

If you have system, please contact the OFM – CAATS Team at VAVBAWAS/CO/FISCAL SYSTEMS, FiscalSystems.VBAVACO@va.gov

If VR&E questions, please e-mail them to the ALAC - CAATS team at VBAALAC_CAATSTEAM@va.gov mailto:FiscalSystems.VBAVACO@va.gov mailto:VBAALAC_CAATSTEAM@va.gov