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DOA says vendor payables fall sharply; refunds and payment processes remain under review
Summary
DOA told the finance committee that outstanding vendor payables declined from roughly $41 million to about $4 million, but that invoice-aging, funding gaps and credit-card convenience-fee reimbursement remain under active review.
Department of Administration leaders told the finance committee on June 19 that outstanding vendor payables have fallen substantially but that payment timing, aging and certain reimbursements still need work.
Director Edward Byrne told the panel, "When I first took this position, the outstanding vendor payables were about 41,000,000. When we ran the report, for this meeting, it was something over just over 4,000,000." DOA CFO Theresa Rivers and accounting staff said the outstanding total reflects invoices that have been submitted; they cautioned the figure can move as agencies continue to submit previously unfiled invoices.
Why it matters: Vendor payment timeliness affects local businesses and service continuity. Lawmakers pressed DOA on vendors aged longer than 120 days and asked whether some unpaid invoices are simply due to lack of funding. Rivers said some invoices remain unpaid because the correct account was not identified or because the account lacked sufficient budget; she confirmed there are cases where lack of funding delayed payment and that DOA helps agencies find appropriate accounts.
Credit-card convenience fees and refunds: DOA said it has implemented segregated terminals to avoid charging convenience fees to personal payers. "As of May, about a $150,000 worth of credit card fees charged ... have been refunded," Rivers said, describing manual reimbursements where necessary. Byrne described the technical challenge of separating business payers from personal payers on online portals and said the department is working with DRT and banks to resolve those interfaces.
Tax refunds and turnaround: Senators asked about income-tax refund timing. Byrne said DOA’s internal turnaround is "3 to 4 days once they receive the information," and he said the government has issued over $100,000,000 in refunds for 2024 returns as part of the broader refund effort.
Aging and timeline rules: On aging metrics, Rivers said the invoice aging countdown begins on the invoice date; if incomplete documents are provided, DOA cannot process the invoice until corrected. Senators asked for a report on how many aged invoices remain unpaid because of lack of funding and DOA agreed to provide more detailed data.
Ending: DOA told senators it will continue to expand invoice-upload access for agencies, accelerate reconciliations where accounts were misidentified, and provide requested reporting on the subset of invoices unpaid because of funding shortfalls.
