Commerce Department conference costs can be hard to pin down

Originally posted by Kedar Pavgi on GovExec

More than 60 percent of conference spending that Commerce Department bureaus reported in the first quarter of fiscal 2012 was not based on actual costs incurred, according to a new report from Commerce's inspector general.

In an analysis of the department's spending on 24 conferences, the IG's report found that $772,282 of the total $1.7 million in reported spending was based on estimates. Auditors labeled another $282,637 of the total as unsupported costs.

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