United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2001-02-22 monographic deposited born digital 33 p. GA 1.13:GAO-01-309 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-309 P0b002ee1803754e8 f:d01309 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-23 GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-309 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-309 GAO-01-309 Contract administration Financial management Overpayments Contractor payments Defense cost control Underpayments Internal controls Debt collection Letter Report GAO reviewed the amount of excess payments and underpayments made by the Department of Defense (DOD) to its contractors during fiscal year 1999. The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS)--Columbus Center, Ohio reports that contractors repaid $670 million in fiscal year 1999 and closer to a billion dollars--$901 million--in fiscal year 2000. The higher amount for fiscal year 2000 reflects the inclusion of repayments made through offsets of other payments ($269 million) in addition to the amount repaid by check ($632 million). Although small in relation to total contract payments, these amounts represent a sizable amount of cash in the hands of contractors beyond what is intended to finance and pay for the goods and services DOD is purchasing. The 39 large contractors covered by GAO's review returned excess payments totaling $351 million in fiscal year 1999. Seventy-seven percent of these excess payments stemmed from contract administration actions and 18 percent stemmed from billing or payment errors. Large contractors reported resolving $41 million in underpayments during fiscal year 1999. Contractors attributed most underpayments to payment errors made by DFAS--Columbus. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-309/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-309.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-309/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-309.pdf GAO-01-309 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-309 Letter Report GAO-01-309; Contract Management: Excess Payments and Underpayments; Contract administration Financial management Overpayments Contractor payments Defense cost control Underpayments Internal controls Debt collection