Step by step instructions on preparing for the Center for Veterans Enterprise (CVE) site visits. Prepared by Pat Dotter, MN Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC)

1. Preparing for your VA Site Visit
Updated 4-12-2013
Site Visits are usually scheduled, but may happen unannounced!
GUIDE TO ONSITE EXAMINATION (SITE VISIT) (prepared by VA)
This Guideline is intended to assist Applicants in complying with the regulatory requirements in 38 CFR Part
74 in order to apply for verification. Whenever this Guideline appears inconsistent with 38 CFR Part 74 VA
Veteran-Owned Small Business Verification Guidelines, the language in 38 CFR Part 74 applies.
A company is selected for a site visit in order to provide the Applicant the opportunity to provide additional
information and clarification of issues that would otherwise result in a denial of their application for verification as a
VOSB or SDVOSB.
COMPONENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL SITE VISIT
1. Schedule a firm date and prepare for the Site Visit. Talk with the Examiner to learn any specific
requirements and schedule a mutually agreeable date. Update your registration in the VIP database.
Once the visit is scheduled, it is not easy to reschedule. In many cases the Examiner has made travel
arrangements and/or may have other visits scheduled the same week.
Typically, VA will not approve the application unless the site visit is completed successfully and demonstrates
that the Applicant fully conforms to the regulatory requirements in 38 CFR Part 74.
The Veteran must be present during the site visit.
2. Read 38 CFR Part 74 if you are not sure of the specific ownership and control requirements to which the
Applicant must conform. Applications that do not conform to the requirements of Veteran status, ownership,
and control in 38 CFR Sections 74.3 and 74.4 will be denied. In summary, these are:
The Veteran has unconditional direct ownership;
The Veteran holds the highest officer position and is the highest paid employee, unless there is a
reasonable explanation submitted by the Veteran as to how taking a lower salary than other
employee(s) helps the business;
The Veteran manages the company on both a strategic policy and a day-to-
day basis; and
Non-Veterans do not control the company.
The Veteran has the managerial experience of the extent and complexity needed to run the company
3. The Applicant must be present during the visit. Schedule the visit such that the Veteran Applicant will be
present during the visit. The Examiner may wish to interview all the company owners during the site visit.
4. Respond quickly and completely, to any requests for information. Many site visits are performed by VA support
contractors. If the Examiner requests additional documents, processing stops until they receive those
documents. If the Applicant does not respond, VA can deny the application based upon a lack of supporting
information.

2. Scheduled On-Site Reviews – Notification via Phone by the On-Site review person (prepared by PTAC)
You will receive an informational email following your contact via phone with the site reviewer (sample below). In the
email, you will receive a checklist list similar to the sample attached called Document Checklist.
To assist in being prepared for this On-Site occasion, PTAC recommends that you prepare the items according to the
checklist, in the order as listed and place in a folder for the Reviewer to take with them. The site reviewer will follow
this order when interviewing and reviewing your documents.
Sample Email follow-up:
Dear __________;
It was a pleasure speaking to you today. Your company, _________________ , has applied for verification status as a
Veteran (VOSB) or Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), and an on-site review will be conducted as
part of the verification process.
The visit will take between 2-4 hours, with the majority of time spent reviewing the records. In addition to
interviewing you, I will also need to interview all other owners, if any, of ____________________.
As we discussed, I have attached a list of documents that will need to be copied and ready for my review. If a requested
record is not applicable to your business, please annotate the template to reflect ‘N/A’.
When I depart, I will take the records with me. Therefore, please redact any personal identifiable information such as
social security numbers.
Please respond to this email and confirm your availability on the scheduled date and time of
___________________ (DAY) at _______ a.m. (p.m.)
Thank you,
Examiner (Name)
(phone number)
ITEMS to Prepare: Please see next three pages; one page list of Interview Questions and two page checklist
documents from VA.
REMEMBER, if you need assistance with this process; call your local PTAC person. Go to
http://www.mnptac.org/contact-us.html to find the counselor serving your area

3. Site visit Preparation -This is a list of interview questions that are typically asked during on-site visit:
1. Verified company name.
2. What is your title?
3. What is your percent of ownership?
4. What are the services or products of the business?
5. Are you a distributor or reseller?
6. Who is your customer base?
7. Verified what company focus.
8. What is your background, why did you choose this field?
9. What were you doing previous to this?
10. How long have you been doing this?
11. Website questions.
12. How many employees to you have?
13. Asked if I was Service Disabled?
14. Is there a payroll – do you pay yourself?
15. If you don’t have a payroll, what are you living on?
16. Who are you currently working for?
17. What are your hours of employment?
18. What is your position if you have outside employment?
19. Is that a full time (40 hrs. /week) position?
20. Do you work out of your home or an office?
21. What is the location of the office?
22. What hours do you work?
23. Needed statement that full time work does not hinder my business.
24. Do you own any other business?
25. You each have a separate relationship with the suppliers?
26. Do you currently have an active contract?
27. Has or how has the CVE verification been beneficial?
28. When you look at solicitations would you work as a sub for another company?
29. Are you the only signor on your business accounts?
30. Do you need to be in the home or at your computer to runmanage your business?
31. She requested full resume for current position as well as previous positions.
32. What is your educational background?
33. Do you have any cancelled checks?
34. Were monies in bank contributions to the business in 2011?
35. Review NAICS code