The Homeland Security Department’s Procurement Innovation Lab (PIL) is tackling one of those hidden problems of federal acquisition — the need to close out low-risk, low-dollar contracts.

Too often these contracts are forgotten or under prioritized, and a backlog builds up. At DHS, for example, its backlog grew to more than 350,000, and 92 percent of the contracts had been completed more than a year ago.

Soraya Correa, the chief procurement officer at DHS, said the PIL took an innovation risk and re-engineered the business processes for contract closeout.

Correa said the PIL developed new quick closeout procedures in a simplified manner. DHS released a Federal Register notice in early October alerting contractors of its plans and the requirement to submit all outstanding invoices by Dec. 2.

Keep reading this article at: http://federalnewsradio.com/acquisition-policy/2016/11/dhs-gives-backlog-contract-closeouts-taste-pil/