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Virginia Capitol Connections, Spring 2017 9
automatically provides the purchase order to payment match easily
tying purchase order and payment data together. Currently, the pilot
program using DGS procurement and payment data eliminates any
gaps in transparency. DGS is looking to expand the report functionality
to the Virginia Community College System and other agencies and
universities that have requested it.
“Simply put, matching procurement and payment data together
is a gap that needs to be closed to be fully transparent,” Caudill said.
“We owe that to our citizens, agencies, and our vendors. I’m excited
that our team at DGS was able to leverage eVA to meet that need. We
are looking forward to the challenge of implementing this functionality
across the Commonwealth.”
Beyond transparency, eVA delivers two crucial elements to ensure
taxpayer dollars are being spent wisely: efficiency and savings. By
replacing paper with an electronic solution, efficiency gains result
in an inherent overall reduction in the cost of doing business, with
$11 million saved annually in administrative efficiencies. eVA also
provides savings on items and services purchased to the tune of
around $30 million per year.
Todd said businesses like his can help keep the Commonwealth’s
costs down by mining the data that’s on eVA, businesses can identify
if they are able to compete based off historical contracts and orders or
if they need to sharpen their pencils. Instead of receiving paper orders
through fax or mail, vendors can choose to receive orders electronically
and within minutes of being fully issued by an agency. eVA has made
it easier for businesses to connect with the launch of its Business 2
Business tool tied to each solicitation.
“There’s a vast group of agencies that are out there and there’s a
lot of purchasing going on for multiple products,” Todd said. “It’s tax
dollars. It’s my tax dollars; it’s your tax dollars. We’re just trying to be
good stewards.”
Dena Potter is Director of Communications at the Department of
General Services.
EVa By Dena Potter
Every day, a team of employees at
Andy and Janet Todd’s small office supply
company, Snap Office Supplies, search
Virginia’s online eProcurement marketplace,
eVA, for their next business opportunity.
With a few clicks of themouse, a business
can find out what Virginia state agencies and
other public entities are buying, who they’re
buying from, and how much they are paying
for items. Armed with this information, the
employees at Snap Office Supplies reach out to agency procurement
professionals to explain why they should be doing business with the
Richmond supplier instead of their competitors.
“Our team is on eVA every day. It’s a wealth of information that is
public information,” Andy Todd said. “The information is there, you’ve
just got to know how to find it.”
Todd credits his team’s use of eVA over the past two and a half
years for “substantial growth” in their business, which offers over
60,000 office supplies, from traditional items to standup desks and hard-
to-find supplies. While Snap is considered a micro-business, meaning
it has 25 or fewer employees and has averaged less than $3 million in
gross receipts over the past three years, with eVA’s help Todd hopes it
won’t be micro for long.
“It provides the key for us to get in,” Todd said. The biggest
challenge, he says, is harnessing the power of eVA by learning how
to navigate its variety of reports, such as the popular ‘Who is buying
what I’m selling’ report that allows vendors to see who, what, when,
and where of purchases in the Commonwealth. A vendor can run a
report using keywords such as “office furniture” and see exactly which
Commonwealth entities bought office furniture, the exact details of the
furniture item, the price, quantity, and the buyer who made the purchase.
eVA Director Shane Caudill hears stories like Todd’s often. “eVA
really levels the playing field,” Caudill said. “Most small businesses
don’t have an army of sales staff that is able to go out and aggressively
search, research, respond, and compete for state business. eVA gives
everyone the tools, no matter what your size, to easily research past
purchases to identify your target market and find upcoming business
opportunities so you can bid and win business.”
To help businesses leverage the power of the information found on
eVA, the Department of General Services’ eVA team travels Virginia
teaching businesses like Todd’s how to use the free tool.
eVA brought transparency to government procurement more than a
decade ago. Data about everyday purchases the Commonwealth makes
is available on the eVA website, Businesses,
citizens or government officials seeking information about whatVirginia
needs and is buying simply need Internet access to see past, current and
future procurements, as well as detailed order and contract information.
With more than 700,000 purchase orders representing more than
$6.4 billion in annual spend visible, eVA brings innovation to the
promise of transparency by leveraging the best procurement software
and tools that are available in the marketplace. eVA’s publicly accessible
Procurement Transparency Reports page offers every vendor, buyer,
citizen and the public easy-to-use reports that provide access to up-
to-the-day detailed order data. Additionally there are easy-to-read pie
charts, bar graphs, and maps that categorize the purchases made through
eVA for monitoring or analysis. These reports give a snapshot of the
dollars the Commonwealth spends in various categories, such as Top
Commodities, TopVendors, Orders by County, etc.
To further enhance eVA’s transparency features, the eVA team is
working on a procure-to-pay transparency report that links purchase
transactions to payments. Currently, purchase order data, through
purchase order to the corresponding payment information you would
have to manually match the purchase order to a payment voucher and
check. The eVA procure-to-pay report removes the manual process and
See EVa, continued on page 10
June 9-11, 2017 • Tazewell, Virginia
The Dragon Roars...
• Bill Dixon 5 Time Champion
• Monster Freestyle MX Show
• Kaitlyn Baker & Outshyne
• Bike & Car Shows
• Kids Area
• Vendors
• Craft Beer Garden
• Demolition Derby
• Dragon Master Ride
• Friday Night Kick
Off Celebration
V