Consulting Firm's Proposal to the Pentagon

Dallas business consulting firm RWSMC offers to assist the Pentagon in estimating the cost of continuing U. S. military operations in Iraq

Dallas, TX (PRWEB) March 24, 2004 -- Consulting Firm Offers to Assist Pentagon for 1/10th of Halliburton Overcost

Dallas business consulting firm RWSMC has offered to assist the Pentagon in estimating the cost of continuing U. S. military operations in Iraq. The firm offered to do this for a fee of one tenth of the amount of the Halliburton Companys cost overcharges on Iraqi military contracts.

Robert W. Scroggins, a principal in the firm, says, We read in the press that the Pentagon was recently unable to provide Congress with a reliable estimate for the cost of continuing its operations in Iraq. We were surprised that the highly placed government consultants and PhDs to whom the Pentagon has access were unable to provide reliable cost estimates, but we would be pleased to take on this challenge. In a letter to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, we have offered to perform such an engagement for a fee of one tenth the cost of the Halliburton Companys cost overcharges on its Iraqi military contracts."

When asked how the firm would approach this engagement, Scroggins says that it would employ Activity-Based Costing (or ABC), a costing method originally developed to help large industrial organizations compete with low cost competitors and improve their product costing and business processes. Says Scroggins, ABC has been employed and refined for 20 years now, and it is suitable for organizations of all types. When using it for small businesses, we 'downsize it considerably to meet the time, budget and other constraints of small firms. We sacrifice some precision by doing this, but we still achieve a sufficient level of accuracy for good costing purposes. In using ABC for the Pentagon, however, we would be obliged to employ a more extensive treatment of ABC."

Scroggins believes that there is anywhere from 20% to 35% waste in the activities of the average organization. He goes on to say that, When most organizations cut costs, they eliminate workers, but the work still remains to be done by someone. Activity-based costing concentrates upon the activities and processes carried out by organizations in fulfilling their purpose (or 'cost objectives in ABC terms) and enables rational cost accumulation and cost cutting. We believe that an activity-based analysis would help the Pentagon get a handle on its future costs in Iraq, and it can also point out areas where significant cost savings might be achieved."

Scroggins concludes by saying that Organizational objectives consume activities, and activities consume costs. The principles of Activity-Based Costing will provide us with the means to accurately (but not precisely) estimate the cost of the Pentagons future military operations in Iraq at a specified volume and level (mix) of operations. We look forward to receiving a reply to our offer and are confident that our level of precision on this engagement would be acceptable to an organization that can sustain contractor cost overcharges such as Halliburtons publicized $141 million to $300 million and still function adequately."

RWSMC is based in Dallas, TX
For further information, contact Robert W. Scroggins, CPA.
E-mail: rwsmanagement@aol.com
Web site: http://members.aol.com/rscrogg562/
Voice & Fax: 360.838.0943
(This firm is not a CPA firm)