Contract Services Direct Billing Program

About the Program

Category: Financial Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2011

The County of San Diego Department of general Services (DGS) Direct Billing Program was developed to provide client departments with actual and timely billing for support contract services (e.g., trash, etc.) Prior to implementation of Direct billing, support service expenses were billed on projected contract costs and charged via an estimated 1/12th basis throughout the fiscal year. This method was problematic to DGS’ client departments, in that it did not provide service detail or a correlation between actual usage and subsequent billing. The goal of the Direct Billing program was to provide actual, real-time costs with a direct correlation to the provided service. Costs reflected by Direct Billing are itemized by County property number, expenditure type, supplier, and linked to the client’s physical building occupancy. This program was implemented by creating an ivoice function within the existing Facility Management (FM) software. Clients now receive detailed electronic invoices each billing period. The invoices reflect actual charges and are adjusted monthly for any changes in service or space occupancy. As a result, Direst Billing has provided a more transparent and accurate rendering of associated client costs for contracted services support.