It is not surprising that contractors routinely bill governments at the expense taxpayers. This overbilling of hundreds of billions of dollar should shock and infuriate all.
Think about the recent example that involved New York City. SAIC was the contractor. New York City contracted SAIC in 2000 for a project called CityTime. It was a time management system that manages employee time. The budget was $73 million. The project’s total cost ballooned to more than $600 million after flagrant overbilling, kickbacks and other fraud. An SAIC whistleblower reported the massive overbilling to authorities in 2005. This led to a criminal fraud case. In March 2005, SAIC (now known as Leidos) was charged with wrongdoing. They agreed to a settlement worth more than half a million dollars.
“For seven years, fraudsters working on CityTime had a field day at the city’s expense,”Preet Bharara, Manhattan U.S. attorney. “Today, the people of New York City have more than a half billion reasons to celebrate, and corporations that deal with the city have more than a half billion reasons to do so honestly.”
This profit-over-principle approach is even more disturbing when it exploits essential government services. Such was the case when Hewlett Packard overbilled New York City $163 million on an overhaul of the city’s 911 emergency-communications system. It was a difficult time for the city to pay for its youth programs, early childhood education and fire companies. The disastrous effects of government plundering on taxpayers were evident.
It is not uncommon to overbill on labor costs, especially when contractors charge for hours that aren’t there. This problem can be solved by technology that documents and tracks the billable hours.
TransparentBusinessInternationally acclaimed cloud-based coordination software,, is doing exactly that. Citigroup named ‘the’. “Top People Management Solution,”TransparentBusiness monitors all computer-based activity in real time from any geographically distributed workforce. Project managers in government can easily verify every billable hour by capturing and storing regular screenshots of employee computers. These technology can not only prevent overbilling but can also increase productivity by up to 40% by holding every minute accountable. TransparentBusiness is a remarkable technology that provides governments with the much-needed protection from excessive billing at no cost.
We have the tools. It is time to stop giving blank checks to government contractors that inflate their hourly rates. Transparency in business is essential to save taxpayers hundreds and billions of dollars.
