Contractor labour reconciliation
At a large-scale mining operation, I built systems that reconciled tens of millions in annual contractor wages. Cross-checking gate records, timesheets, and invoices. In the first year, we caught roughly $1 million in errors and potential fraud that would have been paid otherwise.
The problem
At a mining operation, contractor labour represented tens of millions of dollars in annual costs. The operation had timesheets, gate records, and invoices but no systematic way to reconcile whether what was being billed matched what actually happened.
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Invoices were paid based on submitted timesheets. Gate records existed but weren't cross-checked. When discrepancies appeared, they were discovered too late or not at all. The potential for errors and fraud was significant.
What I built
I designed and implemented a contractor labour reconciliation system that:
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Tracked invoices and line items for contractor wages
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Reconciled gate records (when people actually entered/exited the site) with timesheet claims
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Cross-referenced operational activity logs with billed hours
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Flagged discrepancies automatically for investigation
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Made labour costs auditable and defensible
The outcome
In the first year, the system caught approximately $1 million in errors and potential fraud, charges that would have been paid otherwise.
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Beyond the direct cost savings:
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Labour costs became auditable end-to-end
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Invoice validation went from manual sampling to systematic checking
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Discrepancies were caught before payment, not discovered months later
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Management gained confidence that they were paying for actual work performed
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The ROI was immediate and the risk reduction was substantial. When you're dealing with tens of millions in contractor costs, even catching 1-2% in errors matters.