Financial Policy

The Office of Financial Policy (OFP) provides financial policy and guidance to the Department’s Administrations and Staff Offices. OFP develops financial policies in accordance with requirements specified in laws, regulations, control agency guidance and accounting standards.

VA’s robust financial policy library includes policies on such topics as, budget cycles, appropriations, funds control, financial reporting, cash management, payroll, travel, government purchase cards, grants, debt management, and other Government-wide financial programs and initiatives.

OFP manages the Accounting Policy helpdesk which provides timely responses to accounting and operational policy inquiries from around the Department. OFP represents VA at standard setting boards such as, the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Board and the US Standard General Ledger.

For questions regarding Accounting, Payroll and Travel Policy contact Office of Financial Policy; for operational Charge Card questions contact Purchase Card Operations, and for operational Travel Card questions contact Travel Card Operations.

How are WE doing VA Employees? OFP strives to provide you with policy advice that is helpful, sound and reliable. Take a moment and complete this short survey to let us know how we are doing.

• Volume I – General Accounting
• Volume II – Appropriations, Funds, and Related Information
• Volume III – Obligations
• Volume IV – Revenue and Expenses
• Volume V – Assets
• Volume VI – Liabilities
• Volume VII – Financial Reporting
• Volume VIII – Cash Management
• Volume IX – Reserved
• Volume X – Grant Management
• Volume XI – Reserved
• Volume XII – Debt Management
• Volume XIII – Cost Accounting
• Volume XIV – Travel
• Volume XV – Payroll
• Volume XVI – Charge Card Programs

VA is in the midst of a multi-year finance and acquisition system modernization project (Integrated Financial and Acquisition Management System (iFAMS)) which will replace VA’s core financial management system (FMS) and standardize many business practices. The Office of Financial Policy (OFP) is working closely with stakeholders during implementation to prioritize policy chapter updates and ensure that policy is aligned with system and business process changes

OFP provides high-level guidance that aligns with statutory and regulatory requirements, as well as requirements issued by control agencies and standard setting bodies. Department level financial policy sets the parameters for decision making throughout VA, policy is not intended to provide detailed operating procedures or specific instructions for processing transactions.

Due to the substantial volume of financial policies and the time necessary for planning, preparation and stakeholder participation, there will be an interim period where the financial policies may not be updated for the new system. During this interim period, organizations using the new system should continue to rely on the existing policy even if the current financial policy may reference legacy systems. In the event of such policy gaps, fiscal offices should consider the intent of the policy, and guide actions toward those most likely to achieve the desired outcome. Please notify OFP of gaps to help inform the prioritization process and ensure timely resolution.