Can some clever person help me draft an email please

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I need someone to help me highlight an issue in a professional way, if you'd be so kind.

Background: we have a contractor who has been working for us for 20 years. They are heavily involved in one of the core aspects of our business, and they are absolutely ripping the piss out of us.

I've been with the company for 15 years and I've seen it from day 1. It was actually a task I was originally brought it in to do, and then it got delegated to this contractor for them to oversee, so I know first hand how this process operates.

In a nutshell, the contractor is running the process exactly how he wants it, to maximise the amount of money we pay him, but to the detriment of the company. E.g. he's bringing in 4 guys to do a job that 1 guy could easily get done in a day.

His invoices that he gives us are not sent to anyone within this process, but to our accounts department in another country.

Frustration got the better of me last week and I asked the accounts department if I could see the invoice because I wanted to know what they were charging us. It's an eye watering sum. AND he's charging us for extras we never asked for e.g. paying 3 out of the 4 guys early start money.

The lady in the accounts department said she assumed we had asked for these 4 guys specifically so didn't query this or any other previous invoices she processes. This has been going on for YEARS.

I want to flag this up to our MD but invoices, and this process, are now none of my business. I just have a bee in my bonnet from previous experience which is why it grates on me so much. So as to avoid dripfeeding, our company is in trouble financially so that is my main motivation for reporting it. I'm not just being a bitch because I'm bitter.

How can I send a message to my MD that he needs to start looking at these invoices in more detail without coming across as a busybody sticking her nose into a department which is nothing to do with me?

Do you have any estimate of how much you could save the business if this was addressed? Do you know how to sort it out and would you be prepared to take it on?

Do you know if this contractor is socially connected to the MD?

Perhaps suggest you’ve seen another contractor offering x amount for the service and put of curiosity how much do we pay Y?

might trigger a check of the costs.

surely invoices would be approved by a budget holder though rather than going straight through.

Feed all that into ChatGPT, or Claude. That will give you a starting point.

Ask it to focus on the fact that the company is paying too much, while it has financial problems.

I don't think you can go at it head on, otherwise you are basically pointing out that other people haven't been doing their jobs properly.

How about suggesting an audit, or a process review?

Or getting the MD to start a scheme asking for suggestions on how to save money?

The MD is brand new. 3 weeks into this side of the business and he has been brought in specifically to help save the company from going under. Which is why I want to flag it up now. I have been screaming about it for years to local management and it has fallen on deaf ears. I am local management now following a promotion so I feel this is the right time to raise it.

I don't know exactly figures because this is the first invoice I've ever seen from the contractor. But I could calculate back based on this one.

Dear XXX

I hope you don’t mind me flagging this, but I wanted to share some observations that might be worth looking into, given our current financial pressures.

As you know, (contractor) has been involved in overseeing (core processes) for many years. Having worked closely with this area in the past, I noticed recently that the contractor’s invoices are submitted directly to our overseas accounts team, who understandably process them without detailed context.

I took the initiative to review one recent invoice and found some charges that raised questions, such as billing for four workers when, in my experience, the tasks could be completed by fewer people, and additional fees for early starts on personnel we never formally requested. It appears this pattern has been ongoing for some time.

Given the scale of these costs and our current financial situation, it may be worthwhile for the leadership team to review the invoicing process and contractor engagement more closely to ensure alignment with our business interests and control over spend.

I’m sharing this purely out of concern for the company’s financial health and without intent to overstep into areas outside my role. I’m happy to discuss further if helpful.

Thank you for considering this.

Best regards,
XXX

This is precisely my worry! It's not the accounts lady's fault that she doesn't know what's going on. She's not even in this country so how could she know??

The MD has asked us to come to him with cost saving ideas and suggestions already.

Amazing!!!!!! Thank you so much xx

Yes make an estimate (err on the side of caution or give a range) and put that early on in the email.

Or - rather than promising a £saving, say how much you think has been overpaid over the past x months.

Dear MD,

I am aware our company is in a tight financial situation.

I am concerned that sometimes our oversight of contractors and our checking that invoices are authorised is not always as thorough as it could be.

I have a particular concern over X Contractor. Although not part of my remit any more it was initially so I have kept an interested eye on it. It is my strong impression that this contractor is over charging / charging for non authorised extras and I think there could be significant savings to be made.

If this is of any interest to you I can expand further or talk to an appropriate senior manager.

Dear MD,

I'm concerned that costs for X Project are running higher than anticipated. I attach accounts for reference. As an example, we could reduce the number of contractors involved in delivering Y, saving in the region of £ZZZ.

My recommendation would be that we review the way this project is being run, with a view to minimising unnecessary costs - I'd be happy to help you with this process, or can link you in with Jane Smith to discuss further.

Best regards

LikeYou

You guys are brilliant. I am famous at my work for a lengthy email, but it takes me 3-5 business days to draft and it's normally a giant ramble by the end

Thank you so much xx