10:27 AM
Kinsz
Outsourcing is a common practice these days. Whether you are looking for an accountant to handle your books, a marketing guru to drive some business your way, or an attorney to handle your legal needs the odds are you have someone (or several someones) who you pay on a regular basis but who aren't on your normal payroll. And chances are these vendors are billing you by the hour for their services, right?
This was exactly the case with the Illinois Department of Transportation. Just like all of us, they were in the position where they trusted another organization to take manage a task that they did not have the time or resources to handle internally. Unfortunately, the people who they trusted ended up siphoning more than $1 million dollars by falsifying time sheets.
Kamleshwar Gupta, the owner of the Elgin-based engineering consulting firm being used, directed a bookkeeper to falsify time sheets. (Conveniently it was company policy to write out the paper timesheets in pencil, so they could easily be edited). He then signed off on fraudulent invoices before sending them to the Department of Transportation. Luckily, a routine audit caught the fraudulent activity.
Is it possible the same thing is happening to you? Of course not! However, it might be worth a few minutes of your time to explore how your vendors are keeping track of their "billable time." Do you currently know of the method they use to track their hours spent on your projects? Or is it possible that some or all of them have not adopted a method that is accurate and most efficient. Coffee breaks and quick phone calls for other clients can be inadvertently, or advertently, forgotten when using a pencil and paper system.
Don't be afraid to ask vendors how they track their time. Keep in mind that if they're using a manually entered timesheet then it's probably "padded" in their own favor. If their method makes you nervous, don't be afraid to ask them to implement an automated time tracking system if they want your business. After all you are paying them for the actual time that they work for you, not just what hours they think they spent (including their Starbucks run).
This was exactly the case with the Illinois Department of Transportation. Just like all of us, they were in the position where they trusted another organization to take manage a task that they did not have the time or resources to handle internally. Unfortunately, the people who they trusted ended up siphoning more than $1 million dollars by falsifying time sheets.
Kamleshwar Gupta, the owner of the Elgin-based engineering consulting firm being used, directed a bookkeeper to falsify time sheets. (Conveniently it was company policy to write out the paper timesheets in pencil, so they could easily be edited). He then signed off on fraudulent invoices before sending them to the Department of Transportation. Luckily, a routine audit caught the fraudulent activity.
Is it possible the same thing is happening to you? Of course not! However, it might be worth a few minutes of your time to explore how your vendors are keeping track of their "billable time." Do you currently know of the method they use to track their hours spent on your projects? Or is it possible that some or all of them have not adopted a method that is accurate and most efficient. Coffee breaks and quick phone calls for other clients can be inadvertently, or advertently, forgotten when using a pencil and paper system.
Don't be afraid to ask vendors how they track their time. Keep in mind that if they're using a manually entered timesheet then it's probably "padded" in their own favor. If their method makes you nervous, don't be afraid to ask them to implement an automated time tracking system if they want your business. After all you are paying them for the actual time that they work for you, not just what hours they think they spent (including their Starbucks run).
About the Author:
See what web-based time tracking software your vendors are using and hire with confidence! TSheets offers a simple and customizable time tracking solution for individuals and companies.
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