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Auditing for Overcharges & Fraud in Government Contracting

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Date(s): May 08, 2025
Time: 8:00AM - 4:30PM
Registration Fee: $159.00
Cancellation Date: May 01, 2025
Location: JOHN M. KEEL LEARNING CENTER
City:
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Parking Info:

Parking for SAO, Professional Development courses is in Garage B (1511 San Jacinto Blvd.). The Garage signage may read 1511 San Jacinto or Garage B. The elevator in Garage B is not reliable. If you are unable to walk the stairs, please contact the professionaldevelopment@sao.texas.gov for alternate parking arrangements. Handicapped parking is free at the meters around the downtown area.

A course coordinator will email you a parking permit prior to the course start date. A permit must be displayed or you will be ticketed.


Course Description

Contracting relationships have implicit opportunities, risks and exposures for dozens of things to go wrong and remain undetected. Those risks that must be carefully managed include the possibility that the supplier or contractor will take unfair advantage by delivering poor quality goods or services, overcharge the organization for work that is performed, and commit outright fraud.

 Auditors can provide measurable value to management through verification of both the work performed and the accuracy of costs. In this session, we’ll provide a roadmap for auditors from any organization in exactly how to do just that: audit contacts for overcharges and fraud. We’ll also include ideas for project and fiscal managers who oversee contracts – to help them avoid problems ‘on their watch’.


Potential CPE Credits: 8.0
Govt Hours: This class meets 8.0 hours of the 24-hour requirement for governmental CPE under Government Auditing Standards (yellow book), in most cases.
Technical Hours: This class meets 8.0 CPE credits of technical training in compliance with Texas Admin. Code Rule 523.102.

Instruction Type: Live
Experience Level: ALL
Category: Auditing

Course Objectives

Upon completion of this course, participants will be better able to:

  • Audit contracts

  • Recognize overcharge risks in contracts

  • Recognize fraud risks in contracts

  • Explore what can go wrong in bidding and awarding contracts, subcontracts, and supply orders

  • Identify overcharge and fraud risks in service contracts – where deliverables are often difficult to measure

  • Identify exposures in owner contract billing and change order pricing

  • Explore how to diffuse “Cost is what I tell you cost is!” and other contractor arguments

  • Identify how, why and when to audit contractors for compliance

  • Recognize the importance of securing strong management support for audits of contractors & suppliers

 

 Detailed Course Outline

 

In this “how-to” course for government auditors and contract oversight managers, participants will learn:

  •  How to manage fraud risks in contracts

  • Auditing skills and approaches in government contracting

  • Special fraud risks present in contracts services

  • Exposures in construction and other large and longer-term contracts

  • Fraud risks in determining needs & setting specifications

  • Fraud risks in the bid and tender process

  • Fraud risks in the awarding and performance of the work

  • Fraud risks in project billing and close-out

  • Fraud risks in lump-sum, cost-plus and unit-price contracts


Prerequisites

A working knowledge of contract, auditing, accounting, risk management, and/or internal controls is helpful but not required.


Instructors

John Hall

John J. Hall, CPA is the President of Hall Consulting, Inc., the creator of www.FraudPreventionPro.com, and the author of the award-winning book “Do What You Can! Simple Steps–Extraordinary Results”. He has been a business consultant, results coach, speaker and auditor for most of his 43-year career.  

Through live skills training programs, conference keynote presentations, business and personal results coaching, and business consulting engagements, John helps program participants and client team members:

 Identify and improve areas of exposure to business risk, wrongdoing, and fraud

·         Improve organizational and personal performance

·         Enhance the effectiveness of business processes and individual behavior

·         Improve interpersonal and communications skills

Speaking, training, coaching and consulting areas include:

·         Fraud Risk Management: prevention, deterrence, early detection and effective incident response 

·       Business keynote and conference presentations

·       Communication and interpersonal behavior skills programs, including:

 

o  Establishing business rapport and trust

o  Effective interviewing and listening

o  Speaking and presenting

o  Selling ideas and influencing others to take action

o  Leadership, collaboration and influence

o  Consulting skills for professionals

 

·         Intensive One-to-One and small group performance and results coaching

·         Board and senior management anti-fraud consulting

·         Audits of costs incurred in large construction projects and other contractor services

 In addition to operating his speaking, training and business consulting firm since 1990, he has worked in senior leadership positions in large corporations and international public accounting and consulting firms. 

John is a Certified Public Accountant (Pennsylvania). He is an active member of the National Speakers Association, the American Institute of CPAs, and the Institute of Internal Auditors.

 

Meet John

www.JohnHallSpeaker.com

www.FraudPreventionPro.com


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