dor delivers and invoices the govern - ment. The government receives sup - plies or services, inspects and accepts them. Only then will the seller get paid in accordance with the Prompt Payment Act, which generally estab - lishes a payment due date 30 days after the acceptance of supplies/ser - vices or receipt of invoice. This can create hardship for vendors carrying those costs, sometimes for months, until we (eventually) make payment. This is especially problematic when delivery occurs at distant locations with limited communications (e.g., to a war zone or remote area). When we elect to use Fast Payment procedures, the entire process changes. When using these procedures, we are allowed to pay the contractor prior to the government receipt, inspec - tion, and acceptance of the supplies! This could cut weeks if not months off the payment timeframe. So, it is very beneficial for the vendors. But do you see any risk involved? What if we never receive the items or the vendors are not vetted? Since we have already paid, we have no re - course, right? That is not so! Herein lies the beauty of Fast Payment pro - cedures. The government is willing to take some risks to help the vendor with its payment timeframes. But in return, we put some of that risk back on the vendor. Specifically, when we include that clause in our purchase orders, it means that by submitting an invoice, the vendor is certifying the supplies have been delivered in accordance with the contract (to post office, common carrier like UPS, or first point of government receipt [like a transshipment point for things go - ing overseas]). The clause also requires the ven - dor to replace, repair, or correct any supplies the government does not receive—or receives damaged—or that are not in accordance with the contract. Therefore, while the govern - ment assumes some risk, we mitigate that risk by the language of the Fast Payment clause at RFO FAR 52.232-90.
These goals are accomplished by designing procedures and processes that are less formal than those used in other parts of the FAR. Documenta - tion requirements are reduced; time - lines can be compressed. Detailed steps are reduced or eliminated and great discretion is afforded the gov - ernment when using SAP. Also, cer - tain statutes and clauses do not apply to SAP [e.g., the Competition in Con - tracting Act—SAP (Simplified Acquisition Procedures | Acquisition.GOV) ]will be a topic for another article. But in brief, the procedures in question include use of the govern -
mentwide commercial purchase card, Blanket Purchase Agreements, and purchase orders. For purposes of this article, note that an entire FAR subpart 13.4 was dedicated to Fast Payment. With the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO), this topic has been moved to RFO FAR subpart 32.12.
The Uniqueness of Fast Payment
To understand how unique (to the government) Fast Payment proce - dures are, we first must discuss nor - mal receipt and payment processes. We normally issue a contract; the ven -
JANUARY – FEBRUARY 2026 | DEFENSE ACQUISITION MAGAZINE 43
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