Best expense account around- your government contract

We, in the the contracting community have been slammed for mismanaging contracts once awarded. The big magnifying glass from above (this week) is on those award fees paid when the contractor is not a good performer. However, in this case involving a pair of contracts (almost $600 million in value) to help Iraq improve their local governing processes, contract payments were made in a curious turn of events:

"On August 19, 2004, Research Triangle Institute physically lost $185,481 in Local Governance Project cash," the report [by the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction] said. "It reported the loss to USAID, and on October 3, 2004, the USAID Iraq contracting officer issued a letter" stating the loss was "unforeseen" and not the institute's fault. [Inspector General Stuart] Bowen's office said it had no details on how or where the money was lost and the institute and USAID didn't immediately provide an explanation on Tuesday. But Bowen said USAID approved the payment of more than $242,000 to the institute in the case — including the $185,481 in lost cash and an additional $57,000 in "general and administrative expenses" and a "fixed fee."

I guess we need to be more careful out there. If cash is involved, I would hope it's security (and potential loss) would have been "foreseen" and appropriate protections taken.

Maybe next time.

Comments??