VA Time and Attendance System Support

Optimizing Federal Workforce Operations Through Reliable Time Tracking at VA

Posted on 01.14.26

Introduction

Modernizing timekeeping to serve a large federal workforce

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) employs more than 400,000 personnel and relies on accurate time tracking to ensure consistent pay and benefits. Its VA Time and Attendance System (VATAS), a comprehensive timekeeping solution, requires ongoing testing and validation to ensure continued performance. Artemis provides mission-critical operational support to test upgrades, coordinate software updates and verify that the system functioned reliably across VA’s national footprint.

Results at a Glance

Maintains 100% uptime for VATAS across all updates
Conducts continuous testing to ensure performance and reliability
Assisted in correcting 96,312 timesheets for 35,385 VA furloughed employees, resulting in distributing payments amounting to $177,148,173.38 to the impacted employees in November 2025 the day the government reopened
Implemented immediate timesheet policy updates for multiple programs including the VA Deferred Resignation Program

Our Team’s Advantage

Proven testing expertise in federal workforce systems
Reliable delivery of operational performance improvements
Consistent coordination with software vendors and agency leadership

Challenge

Ensuring integration and continuity for time and attendance tracking

The VA Financial Services Center (FSC) provides accounting, financial and administrative services to VA and other government agencies. VATAS interfaces with multiple accounting and pay service software systems, and it’s critical to ensure that all systems work correctly and cohesively to ensure that over 400,000 VA employees are paid accurately and on time.

Quarterly, VA incorporates a full system update without gaps in service. Additionally, VA corrects bugs and updates the system using an agile methodology to quickly respond to immediate policy changes. To accomplish this, Artemis works with VA as a supporting partner to manage software testing, operations and maintenance.

Solutions

Artemis partners with VA to lead software testing, manage upgrade timelines and streamline implementation efforts. The team serves as a liaison between VA and the software vendors, delivering a reliable system for payroll accuracy and workforce performance tracking.

Coordinating testing operations

Artemis manages the test strategy and execution for each VATAS upgrade. This includes creating test cases, tracking test performance and producing weekly updates. The team delivers full performance and stress tests before each deployment and coordinates defect tracking with development teams to ensure timely resolutions.

Testing and validating enhancements

Artemis conducts comprehensive pre-deployment testing for every release. The team creates and executes test plans for smoke, unit and functional testing, then documents outcomes in formal test reports. Post-deployment, Artemis verifies application functionality and stability through smoke tests, ensuring uninterrupted service delivery.

Supporting user acceptance testing

To support user acceptance training (UAT), Artemis prepares the testing environment, configures access, develops test cases and manages execution timelines. The team collaborates with developers to resolve issues and validate fixes. By maintaining an agile testing framework, Artemis helps VA ensure system functionality aligned with agency expectations.

Results

Delivering a stable timekeeping system with full operational continuity

Artemis helps VA maintain 100% uptime during all system upgrades. The team consistently meets delivery milestones and accelerated critical deployments, including a Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) enhancement released two weeks ahead of schedule.

Early in the engagement, Artemis supported the successful migration of VATAS to Amazon Web Services, validating system performance and reliability. Throughout multiple releases, the system remained stable, enabling VA to process payroll without interruption and support its workforce without error.