Introduction: This VCSS training session has been developed to provide : I.A quick overview of VCSS II.A walk through of the main VCSS features III.Solutions to the common issues/errors reported by Customers I.Overview: VCSS was implemented by GSA in August 2011 to replace WebBill. It is a web-based application that allows customers to: a.View billing and payment information; b.View correspondence information; c.Link to external websites; d.Export billing data to CSV; e.Manage their own accounts, review account history and submit new correspondences to GSA.
II.A screen shot of the VCSS Home page
System Requirements needed to use VCSS
Contact information in case you need further assistance
Help Section has training guides (both in word, Power point or videos), FAQs, updated instructions on how to download as CSV, or how to use VCSS with IE 9.
III.Common Issues/Errors reported by Customers & the applicable Solutions The issues identified in the next slides are not covered under the “Frequently Asked Questions” in the Help Section on the VCSS website. These issues/errors have been categorized as follows: – User Access – BOAC Registration – Viewing & Printing Bills – Account Management
User Access Issues: 1.Why do I receive an error when trying to log in, stating: a.Log in attempt failed. Please try again. b.Unexpected error occurred. Please contact your System Administrator. 2.Why does the system hour-glass and freeze after I have logged in? Solutions a.Make sure you are using your valid VCSS user id and password -- not Webbill credentials to log into VCSS. Your user id is usually your firstnamelastname all in lower case. After a few failed attempts, your account will be locked in VCSS and you’ll need to contact OCFO helpdesk at to reset your password. b.The settings within your local browser may be preventing you from navigating VCSS. Contact your IT department to ensure that your computer is compatible with the VCSS requirements. (See VCSS homepage for system requirements) 2.Same as above (b).
BOAC Registration Issues: Why do I receive an error while trying to register my BOAC stating: a.Company Name already registered? b.BOAC should be alphanumeric? Solutions a.A company may have more than one BOAC registered under the same name, click “continue” to complete the registration. However, if the error persists, check to confirm that you are registering the BOAC with the valid name as registered with GSA. If you are unsure, contact your GSA Representative for the correct information. b.The BOAC number is incorrectly entered, check to confirm you are entering the correct BOAC number, if error persists, contact your GSA representative.
Viewing & Printing Bills Issues: 1.Why can’t I view any records for my BOAC – search query does not return any results? 2.Why is it that when I select a statement # and click “View as PDF” or “View as CSV”, it takes me back to the same screen? Solutions 1.If it is a Military BOAC, please add “F” at the end of the BOAC. You may not be authorized to access this BOAC, please refer to the VCSS home page to request access to the BOAC using the “Access Request” option. If the BOAC is not yet registered with VCSS, please register it and get access using the “Register Company or Account” option. If you already requested access and were granted access, contact the OCFO help desk at You have a security pop up blocker preventing you from downloading the file in CSV or PDF. To disable the pop-up blocker, do as follows: Click in the highlighted message in yellow that states: In order to protect your security, Internet Explorer blocked this site from downloading files to your computer. Click here for options… Select “Download file” Click “Retry” – After approx. 1 minute, the file download window will appear if you selected to view file as PDF. – If you opted to view file as CSV, after clicking “retry” you will be taken back to the search results page, click “View as CSV” again to download file.
Viewing & Printing Bills Issues: 3.Why do I receive an error stating: No Statement Available, when I select a statement number and click on “View as PDF”? 4.Why does the PDF statement contain so many BOACs (prints the whole agency bill) yet I specifically requested one BOAC? Solutions 3.BOAC was registered in VCSS after the bills had been generated and therefore the PDFs were not stored in VCSS but can be manually transferred upon request. However, these bills can be vieiwed as CSV. Call the OCFO help desk at: to have the PDFs transferred. Note: Bills (PDFs) relating to August 2011 and prior cannot be transferred to VCSS, instead, they can be found in webbill. 4.This happens with all IPAC bills when downloaded as PDF. IPAC bills were set up to generate at ALC level and not BOAC level. To narrow down the search to the requested BOAC, do as follows: Go to “Edit” on the PDF download file Select “Find” Enter the specific BOAC number Click “Search” to go the specific pages associated with the requested BOAC
Viewing & Printing Bills Issues: 5.When viewing as CSV, why doesn’t the file return all the account details or columns? Solutions 5.This may be due to: – Downloading the CSV file from the “View and Print Statement” option or, – Not having access to certain BOACs associated with a statement number To view file as CSV with all details/columns: i.From the “Statement” drop down menu option, select “View Details” ii.Enter the appropriate parameters and click “Search” iii.When the search query returns the records, click on “View as CSV”. If you don’t retrieve all the details, check to confirm that you have access to the BOACs associated with the missing details.
Account Management Issues: 1.How do I update the Account Administrator for my BOAC? 2.How do I update the Account information associated with my BOAC such as company address? 3.How do I update my User account information such as password? 4.How do I reset my password if I have forgotten it? Solutions 1.Go to the VCSS homepage and click on the “Manage Account” hyperlink. Complete the form as requested. – If the current Account Administrator left the company/Agency, send an to stating so. 2.Log into VCSS and on the Account Menu strip, click on the “Correspondence” Tab then select “Create an account correspondence” option. Complete as requested and submit to GSA. 3.Log into VCSS and click “Preferences” on the top right hand corner, then select “User information” and complete as requested and click “Save”. 4.If you set your security questions, use the “Forgot my password” link to reset your password otherwise call the OCFO Help desk at
Questions