Originally Posted by
HMPS
OOOOOHHHH ! Don't suggest that. Otherwise they will charge us on a COST PLUS basis. There are a raft of "experts" dealing / representing vendors to the Defense Dept.
I see this sort of comment often and it always makes me laugh a little. Can you imagine if a business only invoiced the Government for its cost alone? It would be a nonprofit and not a business, no? This is a perfectly legit and ethical business model. Basically, if I pay Johnny $10/hr to mow the grass on an Army base, then I'm going to bill the government that cost plus an agreed to fee (typically either an incentive fee based on performance, or a flat agreed to fixed fee). These days I often see fees in the 5% range, +/- a few percentage points.
On the other hand, if a contractor or vendor attempts to invoice the government for additional fees that were not agreed to in advance, at the very least the invoice will be rejected flat out. And if the Government finds that there was an attempt to defraud (as in what
hotelboy advocates and what the subject property has done), then very likely someone is going to prison.