CONTRACT COMPLIANCE

Many times contracts are written by vendors in a multi-page document with very fine print covering a number of terms and conditions.  These documents are very difficult to read.

Sending vendor agreements to the legal department and/or the corporate attorney does not enable a company to maintain contract compliance.

Promised discounts, special pricing, customized terms and conditions are overlooked by many billing departments.  It is the obligation of the business accounting department to make sure that overcharges are not occurring.

We rarely find that contracts are broken down by a business into each and every component so that invoices can be compared with promised pricing schedules and discounts. 

In order to evaluate contract compliance it is essential that all terms and conditions, expiration dates, evergreen clauses and other special terms and conditions are fully understood.

Once this is accomplished a true evaluation of the vendor billing can be determined.

Special software, templates and audit techniques must be developed to enable a business to make sure that the vendors do not overcharge and eliminate benefits like certain discounts.

Charges seem to rise over time without appropriate approvals costing business large amounts of money.

OTHER COST SAVING AREAS

The complexity of your telecommunication agreements and the number and type of programs has enabled us to make this statement:  "Savings is almost guaranteed upon a complete review of your telecommunication costs even if a review was conducted six months ago."

Voice over IP (VOIP) is an excellent solution for some types of voice traffic.  Do not be fooled into thinking it will work in all environments because jitter, cost of redesign, cost of equipment and other problems arise making VOIP not yet the perfect solution.

Utilities have again spun out of control.  Many solutions exist that can reduce costs and/or at the very least guarantee that costs will not rise. 

All vendor relationships must be reviewed semi-annually and vendor negotiations must be aggressive.  Comparing prices with other vendors is essential.

PROBLEM

Lack of human resources exists at almost all companies.  In almost every business staff are being asked to do more work with less help.  This has enabled vendors to overcharge since the cost controls that were in place for many years are now stretched to the limit. 

Almost everyday we find our clients spending money on items that are not needed.  Also, we find costs that have spiraled out of control without proper checks and balances.

 SOLUTION

The staff responsible for purchasing should enable outsourced resources to help and support the cost reduction initiatives.  These additional human resources can be assigned tasks for developing foundational inventories that will enable cost cutting services to be most effective. With proper information negotiations will be most effective.

OUR PROMISE TO YOU: "Our charges are based on savings: no savings no fee is due.  Almost all cost reduction services are done off site. The time and energy involved by the business is very limited.   Our experienced staff makes recommendations that enables cost savings without disruptions.  We work exclusively for you and your best interests." 

We hope you will look forward to the Communicator and would appreciate any feedback that you would like to provide. 

Please email comments to dc@auditbills.com

ATI Cost Reduction & Cost Management Services

To unsubscribe please email to dc@auditbills.com and fill in the subject line “unsubscribe”.