Report Contents
Report Terms
Report Recommendations
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs develop and include in its invoice review guidance its expectations regarding the timely completion of post-payment reviews of expedited provisional payments and procedures that CMO-Frankfurt may follow to proactively request additional resources when invoice review backlogs are likely to occur.
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, in coordination with the Bureau of Administration, provide sufficient resources to the Contract Management Office-Frankfurt to ensure all unallowable costs are identified and recovered in a timely manner. This review should begin with those invoices provisionally approved beginning in September 2014 and already identified as awaiting post-payment review and then going back to identify and review those provisionally approved invoices submitted before September 2014 that did not receive full review.
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs report the status of the backlog to the Office of Inspector General, Assistant Inspector General for Audits, including the number of invoices reviewed and the dollar value of questioned costs, quarterly until such time as it is has been eliminated.
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs direct its invoice review staff to fully document sampling done in each applicable checklist and to follow the checklist guidance.
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs develop and implement a process to periodically review and address staffing requirements in Frankfurt and in Iraq to ensure invoice oversight staff levels are sufficient to complete effective and timely invoice reviews in accordance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation, Foreign Affairs Manual, Foreign Affairs Handbook, Contract Management Office-Frankfurt Standard Operating Procedures, and Contract Management Office-Frankfurt invoice checklist.
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs develop and implement a process to a) track and ensure that contracting officer’s representative inspections are completed in accordance with the inspection schedule; b) document the inspection results, including deficiencies found; and c) report the inspection results to the Contract Management Office-Frankfurt in a timely manner.
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, develop reliable, objective, clear, and measurable performance metrics and include these metrics in all current and future Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs Iraq contracts.
OIG recommends that the Bureau of Administration, Office of Logistics Management, Office of Acquisitions Management, develop and implement a) a methodology to calculate the cost associated with the contractor not meeting performance metrics and b) a process to reduce payment to the contractor when contractual requirements are not being met. This methodology and process should be included in all current and future Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs Iraq contracts.