Accounts Payable FAQs: Vendor Intercepts

To find out if a payment has been intercepted, for how much, and by which department, use the Vendor Intercepts Guidance found on the Accounts Payable page.

Per CRS 24-30-202.4 (3.5), the SOC is required to intercept payments for debt owed to the state. If a paying agency meets the terms and conditions required to take the discount, and a third-party authority (i.e., court garnishment, IRS levy, state controller offset) withholds all or a portion of that payment due to debt owed to the state, the discount is valid and cannot be re-billed. Written agreements (i.e., state contracts, state purchase orders) contain a specific provision regarding vendor intercept. Explain this to the vendor and request a new invoice with the discount taken. Do not pay re-billed intercepted amounts. 

Payments should only be canceled if they were legitimately issued to the wrong vendor. Reissues should only be completed on a partial intercept (non-zero-dollar payment) if the vendor lost or did not receive a warrant. Please make sure your vendor is aware that the reissue will also be intercepted. 

Some vendor payments are not intended to be offset by law. For example, under Colorado Revised Statutes 26-2-131 and 8-42-124, payments for Federal Food programs or workers' compensation are exempt. If you believe your payee or payments should be exempt, please contact the Central Accounting and Vendor Operations (CAVO) (state_centralapproval@state.co.us) with the legal or statutory guidance supporting the exemption. In CORE, these exemptions/exceptions are managed in the INTDBEX (Intercept Disbursement Exception) table. It is organized by Fiscal Year, Department, Object Code, and Appropriation Unit Fund Accounting codes. If this coding needs to change for payments that should be exempt, please contact CAVO (state_centralapproval@state.co.us) to ensure payments are not intercepted in error. 

Procurement transaction terms and conditions specifically include language giving vendors notice that if the debt is owed to the state, it can be intercepted. Intercepting departments provide vendors with notices regarding their debt and the remedies that may be used per statute to collect the debt. 

In addition, vendors receive the following notice on the stub of an intercepted warrant or in the EFT remittance email: 

All or a portion of this payment has been intercepted according to the Colorado Vendor Offset Law (CRS 24-30-202.4)