Frequently Asked Questions

1. Complete your paper invoice and obtain required signatures before you call.  Refer to it during your call to Invoice Express.  LISTEN CAREFULLY!  If you have trouble you can hang up at any time before pressing the star key and the invoice will not process so that you can try again later.
2. Use a touch tone phone to contact Invoice Express using the toll free number printed at the top of the invoice.
3. You will first be asked if you prefer English or Spanish.
4. You will then be asked if you want to: 1) complete an invoice; or 2) check on processing. Choose 1 to complete an invoice. 
5. The first question to answer when calling is whether your invoice is Regular or Supplemental (look in the upper left corner).
6. (1) for Regular
7. (2) for Supplemental
8. You will be asked to use the numbers on your telephone to enter the first 3 digits and then the 6 digits after the letter and dash of your invoice number.
9. To make sure no other person can get to your invoice by telephone, you will be asked to enter the payee number.
10. If your invoice has more than 1 page, you will be asked to enter the page number you wish to submit.
11. Invoice Express will read the last 4 digits of your reference number, so that you will know which line you are on.
12. Enter the number of units provided (Enter 0 when no services were rendered).
13. Invoice Express will read to you the type of service unit.  In the case of months (MON) you will be able to report either a full month, or a partial month, by reporting the number of days served (DA).
14. When you are asked to enter the units, use the numbers on your telephone number pad.
15. After entering all data, wait until the phone voice says "Press the star key now."  After you press the star key, you will hear the phone voice say, "You have successfully completed your page/invoice." This means your page/invoice has been successfully submitted and will be sent for processing .  If you hang up too soon, your invoice will not be paid!  You will then need to call Invoice Express and try again.
16. You will be asked if you'd like to enter another invoice, or, if your invoice has multiple pages, you will be asked if you wish to enter another page.

No. Scheduling a test over the telephone is only for DSHS bilingual employees and licensed agency personnel.

DSHS will not be liable for any costs incurred by the Bidder in preparation of a proposal or in presenting a proposal for any procurement.

A LiveScan Machine is a small photocopy machine. It scans your fingerprints and creates electronic copies without the mess of ink and paper cards.

LiveScan fingerprinting helps to reduce the number of fingerprint rejections and speeds up the process by allowing fingerprints to be sent electronically rather than through the mail.

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If you plan to set up your own language agency or company, please contact Business Licensing at the Department of Licensing . Contact information for Business License Information can also be found in the Government Pages in the phone book.

The pretest materials, both written and oral, are intended to familiarize you with the formats of the test and how test items are constructed. The study guides will help you know what to expect on the test, but will not be enough to help you improve your language ability, your interpreting skills, or your knowledge base in any particular field.

1. According to the state constitution, the state cannot pay for a service until the service is complete.
2. Invoice vouchers are mailed for the provider to receive just before the end of the month.
3. On a high volume day, as many as 30,000 paper invoices are returned by mail.  Clerical delays may occur because of the large number of pages received.
4. Quicker payment processing occurs when providers use Invoice Express to validate their invoice by telephone.
5. Invoices are processed immediately after the end of the month of service.
6. Some payments are delayed because messages are attached to or written on the invoice.  Invoices with messages are set aside and read as soon as possible, delaying payment.

Payment to a provider is considered timely if made within 30 days of the receipt of a properly completed invoice, plus mail time, according to RCW 39.76.010.  SSPS makes it a top priority to not only pay faster than required, but to pay as fast as is technically and legally possible.

Direct deposit takes the guesswork out of address changes and other complications of postal delivery.  Direct deposit may or may not be quicker than postal delivery, depending on the provider's geographical location and the speed of mail delivery.

Example: For the year 2013, June 3rd is the first business day of the month, and the first business day when SSPS payment for May services will be issued.  Payment for services processed on June 3rd will not reach the U.S. mail for distribution for two business days (possibly three), because Consolidated Mail Service is used to achieve significant postal discounts.  This means the U.S. Postal Service will begin mailing payments on June 5th, the third business day of the month.

When you follow the steps in how to schedule a test online, you will see open test dates and time slots. Then you can pick your test date and time.