BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

Updated, with corrections

VENDORS must show purchase orders to prevent the risk of not getting paid for their work, said a government official.

Poh Kui Choon, assistant accountant-general at the Treasury Department, said original purchase orders and indents need to be obtained from vendors before delivery of goods or services to the relevant government agencies can be made to ensure the agencies pay.

This, she said, is essential for the full effectiveness of the new invoice tracking system.

Invoice tracking is an upgrade from the government’s Treasury Accounting and Financial Information System (TAFIS) that enables ministries and its departments to track the movement of invoices and monitor the performance of the payment process.

Speaking with _The Brunei Times _during the TAFIS Vendor Day yesterday, Poh said that vendors that do not show original purchase order or indent for their goods or services will run the risk of not getting paid.

“The vendor has the responsibility to ensure that they produce the PO (purchase order). Even for circumstances where the projects are urgent, it helps mitigate the risk. In fact, producing a PO only takes a day or two,” Poh said.

The new system has been completely rolled out to all ministries and departments since August last year.

It was introduced to address issues of lost invoices and unacknowledged submitted invoices that resulted in late payments to vendors involved in various government projects.

All government agencies have allocated invoice receiving counters where vendors are able to submit their invoices.

A notification slip will be provided immediately to the vendor to confirm their invoice submission.

Poh said plans are under way to further improve the system to address the issues that still persist in the implementation of the system.

“Enhancements will be made to close all the loopholes that the system have at the moment, for example, when vendors have to deal with two departments, one giving the fund while the other for the work, hence require manual process,” she said.

The Brunei Times