June 29, 2012

Review of billing issues complete; new system in place for invoicing, payments

OLYMPIA – The Department of Enterprise Services announced a $4 million settlement agreement with IKON Office Solutions, Inc., and its parent company, Ricoh Americas Corp., following a review of IKON's billings under the state's copier contract.

Enterprise Services and Ricoh agreed to engage the services of the independent auditing firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, to perform a review to help evaluate compliance by IKON after invoicing variances were discovered in 2009 relating to a sampling of contract sales. The state designed the review, which covers IKON’s customer transactions since April 2007. Ricoh agreed to pay for all associated fees.

After issuance of the review results by PricewaterhouseCoopers and separate analyses of the results, IKON agreed to the payment to resolve any variances. In addition, at the beginning of the review in 2009, the state worked with Ricoh to revise invoicing and payment procedures to provide greater transparency and to prevent a recurrence of the situation in the future.

"We worked diligently to address the concerns and are pleased with the settlement agreement," said Joyce Turner, director of Enterprise Services. "These negotiations and the process taken to bring this to resolution provide a model for government and industry working together to ensure that the taxpayers of Washington are best served."

"We are grateful to resolve this issue and take these matters very seriously. Since learning of this issue, we have worked closely in cooperation with the State of Washington to identify the problem and find an appropriate solution. We feel confident that we have taken the steps necessary to provide greater transparency to our sales and invoicing procedures in the future," said Steve Bissey, National Director of State and Local Government Sales, Ricoh USA, Inc.

Among its many duties, Enterprise Services develops and oversees more than 700 contracts for various goods and services, ranging from vehicle purchases to office supplies to fuel and more. The department, formed in October 2011, combines services from the former departments of General Administration and Printing and sections of the former departments of Personnel and Information Services. Several divisions from the Office of Financial Management are also part of the agency.

For more information

Wendy Pinckney
Director, Communications
Ricoh Americas Corporation
(610) 408-7297