Self bill invoices for incorrect amounts

[BHicks]

Hi, I have a question here regarding self billing and what to do if issues are observed with the amounts being invoiced.

Allow me to explain, I started an assignment earlier this year where the agency in question insist on their self bill option being used.

I agreed to this and when reviewing the latest invoice generated by this, I noticed that the number of days for a given week didn't match what had been authorised on my timesheet.

EG For a given week lets say I have a timesheet for 4.5 days. The corresponding entry on the invoice has been marked for 5 days instead, despite that my contract has an express provision for a half day rate where a half day is worked.

I reviewed my previous timesheets/invoices and came to the conclusion that their system is rounding up and can't handle half days at all.

Half of me says screw 'em, my responsibility is to ensure that my timesheets are accurate (which they are) and as they're running the self bill system, the onus for ensuring accuracy of those lies with them.

The other half of me says that I should bring the issue to their attention as they clearly have a systems issue of some kind and its not money that my company is entitled to.

Interested in whether anybody has had any similar experiences in the past or in comments on how you'd approach this.

[SueEllen]

Just tell them.

Otherwise they will chase you to reclaim the money which is legally theirs.

[BHicks]

Just tell them.

Otherwise they will chase you to reclaim the money which is legally theirs.

Yeah you're probably right, however what's going to be really fun is when the client gets wind of the fact that they're being consistently overcharged by the agency. Imagine if this isn't just a case of my contract being badly configured in their system (or something similar), if this is happening across the board then their account manager is going to have some explaining to do.

For the record, this is one reason (amongst others) that I don't rate self billing arrangements. That and the fact that my latest invoice didn't get generated on time because they claimed a timesheet from 3 weeks ago was missing/unauthorised (it wasn't).

[Contreras]

Half of me says screw 'em, my responsibility is to ensure that my timesheets are accurate (which they are) and as they're running the self bill system, the onus for ensuring accuracy of those lies with them.

The other half of me says that I should bring the issue to their attention as they clearly have a systems issue of some kind and its not money that my company is entitled to.

I think I'd be inclined not to raise it as long as we're only talking say one half-day every couple of weeks, but be prepared to pay it back without quibble and retain enough funds within the company to do so at short notice.

Or leave it until the end of the contract if you do want to advise them of the problem - assuming they're still in business at that point. It could get messy correcting errors on a week by week basis if the system cannot cope with half days.

[BHicks]

I think I'd be inclined not to raise it as long as we're only talking say one half-day every couple of weeks, but be prepared to pay it back without quibble and retain enough funds within the company to do so at short notice.

Or leave it until the end of the contract if you do want to advise them of the problem - assuming they're still in business at that point. It could get messy correcting errors on a week by week basis if the system cannot cope with half days.

It's more than one half day every couple of weeks. Also, the other ball ache is the impact on my VAT stuff. I have to pay over VAT on the issued invoices. Only when it's corrected would I be able correct the VAT amounts which will be another bunch of hassle (albeit that the accountant will have to deal with).

If I renew with these jokers, they can take their self bill system and shove it.

[tractor]

.

Yeah you're probably right, however what's going to be really fun is when the client gets wind of the fact that they're being consistently overcharged by the agency. Imagine if this isn't just a case of my contract being badly configured in their system (or something similar), if this is happening across the board then their account manager is going to have some explaining to do.

For the record, this is one reason (amongst others) that I don't rate self billing arrangements. That and the fact that my latest invoice didn't get generated on time because they claimed a timesheet from 3 weeks ago was missing/unauthorised (it wasn't).

You cannot assume that the billing arrangements with the Client are back to back with yours. The Agent/Client relationship may be entirely different.

[BHicks]

You cannot assume that the billing arrangements with the Client are back to back with yours. The Agent/Client relationship may be entirely different.

Sorry, not sure what point you're making here?

The agency is invoicing the client in some shape or form (assuming they want payment) and I'm assuming that the invoiced amounts relate to what my self billed invoices are for (with their margin etc on top) with whatever frequency is specified in their contrtact.

My point was that since the Agency are overpaying me, then there's a very good chance that the invoices to the client are wrong as well. Unless it's likely that the agency are invoicing the client for fewer days than they're paying me which I can't really see being the case. Unless it's a new kind of agency model

[mudskipper]

I agree you should tell them.

And offer to fix it (or you know a man who can!)

[LisaContractorUmbrella]

I think you'll find that their system will pick it up and they will simply deduct the over payment from another one of your invoices - their accounts department will reconcile timesheets to invoices on a regular basis as part of their accounting process.

[malvolio]

As for the VAT issue, switch to cash accounting, where the VAT liability is worked out from when the money reaches your account rather than when the invoice is issued. Your accountant should have done this anyway, but give them a poke - you do have an accountant, I assume...