Contingency Recovery for Governments

Recover lost public dollars. No recovery, no fee.

ThirdLine helps state and local governments find and recover missed revenue, duplicate payments, improper payments, vendor overcharges, and hidden billing errors — without adding work to already-stretched finance teams.

Start a Recovery ReviewSee What We Recover
Revenue RecoveryExpenditure Recovery$0 UpfrontPublic Sector Focused
Recovery Opportunity Map
Contingency Model
$
Lost dollars often hide in two places: revenue that was never collected and expenditures that should never have been paid.
✓Find under-collected utility billing, hotel taxes, business licenses, and fees.
✓Recover duplicate vendor payments, billing errors, and improper payments.
✓Use analytics and review workflows to prioritize the highest-value recovery opportunities.
The opportunity

Governments lose money on both sides of the ledger.

Revenue leakage happens when fees, taxes, licenses, and utility charges are missed or under-collected. Expenditure leakage happens when vendors are paid twice, paid incorrectly, overbill, or receive improper payments. ThirdLine helps identify both.

01

Revenue is missed

Billing rules, tax rules, license registries, and fee schedules change over time. Gaps create under-collections.

02

Spend is overpaid

Duplicate invoices, vendor file issues, recurring service errors, and contract drift quietly drain budgets.

03

Staff are stretched

Finance and audit teams know these issues matter, but often lack the time, data access, and tools to review everything.

Recovery areas

Click an area to see where money may be hiding.

Start with one recovery category or review several at once. ThirdLine looks across ERP data, vendor records, payments, billing files, tax records, contracts, invoices, and supporting documents to identify recoverable dollars.

Revenue

Hotel / Lodging Tax

Find underreported hotel occupancy or lodging tax.

What we reviewLodging tax returns, hotel lists, payment history, exemptions, late filings, and reported room revenue.Possible recoveriesUnpaid tax, underreported taxable revenue, penalties, interest, and compliance gaps.
Revenue

Short-Term Rental Tax

Identify rentals operating outside registration or tax rules.

What we reviewSTR registries, lodging tax returns, addresses, business licenses, permits, and third-party rental listings when available.Possible recoveriesMissing registrations, unpaid lodging tax, local fees, penalties, and recurring compliance opportunities.
Revenue

Business Licenses

Find vendors or local businesses missing required licenses.

What we reviewVendor master, local addresses, payment data, permit records, license registry, and renewal history.Possible recoveriesUncollected license fees, expired renewals, missing registrations, and fairness gaps among local businesses.
Revenue

Utility Billing Under-Collections

Catch incorrect rates, missed charges, or inactive billing issues.

What we reviewCustomer accounts, rate codes, usage, meter status, account class, adjustments, write-offs, and inactive accounts.Possible recoveriesUnderbilled water, sewer, refuse, stormwater, fees, penalties, and recurring billing rule errors.
Revenue

Franchise Fees

Review utility, cable, telecom, waste, and energy franchise payments.

What we reviewFranchise agreements, provider payments, gross receipts reports, exemptions, customer lists, and fee calculations.Possible recoveriesUnderpaid franchise fees, misclassified revenue, missing providers, and incorrect exemption treatment.
Revenue

Right-of-Way / Telecom Fees

Find missed telecom, fiber, utility, or occupancy fees.

What we reviewROW agreements, permits, telecom occupancy records, provider lists, payments, and recurring fee schedules.Possible recoveriesUnderpaid occupancy fees, missing permit fees, expired agreements, or providers not remitting correctly.
Revenue

Permit, Inspection & Local Fees

Validate whether local fees were charged and collected correctly.

What we reviewFee schedules, permit systems, inspection records, waivers, billing history, and receivables.Possible recoveriesMissed fees, incorrect fee calculations, unauthorized waivers, and unbilled inspections.
Revenue

Grants / Reimbursements

Find eligible costs not claimed or reimbursed.

What we reviewGrant agreements, eligible cost rules, project expenses, payroll, AP detail, drawdowns, and reimbursement requests.Possible recoveriesMissed reimbursements, underclaimed eligible costs, timing issues, and documentation gaps.
Spend

Duplicate Payments

Recover invoices paid twice or vendors paid in error.

What we reviewAP payments, invoice numbers, vendor names, dates, amounts, duplicate vendors, and credit memos.Possible recoveriesDuplicate invoices, duplicate vendors, overpayments, unapplied credits, and refund opportunities.
Spend

Fraud

Stop Vendor takeover or Employee Fraud.

What we reviewVendor statements, credit memos, refund history, payment records, open balances, and recurring invoices.Possible recoveriesUnused credits, unapplied refunds, overpayments, and billing adjustments.
Spend

Contract Pricing Overcharges

Compare invoices to agreed prices, terms, and rates.

What we reviewContracts, amendments, pricing sheets, invoices, PO terms, escalation clauses, and service levels.Possible recoveriesOverbilling, incorrect rates, missed discounts, unauthorized fees, and contract noncompliance.
Spend

Telecom / Internet / Mobile

Find unused lines, wrong plans, tax errors, and billing drift.

What we reviewTelecom invoices, mobile plans, internet circuits, user lists, taxes, fees, and service inventories.Possible recoveriesBilling errors, inactive lines, unused devices, incorrect taxes, and services no longer needed.
Spend

Electric, Gas, Water & Sewer Bills

Audit the government's own utility bills for overcharges.

What we reviewUtility invoices, meter data, tariffs, account classes, taxes, fees, demand charges, and usage patterns.Possible recoveriesWrong rate class, meter errors, duplicate charges, tax errors, and tariff misapplication.
Spend

Recurring Service Bills

Review waste, recycling, copier, printer, uniforms, and similar recurring spend.

What we reviewRecurring vendor invoices, service locations, contract terms, account counts, rates, fees, and cancellation dates.Possible recoveriesServices no longer used, duplicate locations, incorrect rates, hidden fees, and contract drift.
Spend

P-Card / Improper Spend

Find split purchases, prohibited merchants, and missing support.

What we reviewP-Card transactions, receipts, merchant categories, policy rules, approvers, dates, cardholders, and limits.Possible recoveriesReimbursements, personal spend, sales tax paid in error, split purchases, and policy violations.

Not sure where to start? Send us one AP export, one vendor file, or one revenue source and we'll help identify the highest-probability recovery area.

Recovery calculator

Estimate the dollars hiding in one area.

Choose a recovery category, enter the annual dollars flowing through that area, and adjust the recovery assumption. The estimate is directional and can be refined after reviewing actual data.

Pick the area closest to the data you have available.
Example: annual AP spend, annual hotel tax collections, annual utility billing, or annual telecom spend.
3.5%
Use the buttons for a starting point, then adjust the slider based on your local context.
Estimated recovery opportunity
$350,000
Based on $10,000,000 and a 3.5% recovery assumption.
Conservative$200,000
Typical$350,000
Aggressive$500,000
This calculator is an estimate, not a guarantee. Actual recovery depends on data quality, legal authority, billing rules, contracts, vendor responsiveness, documentation, and the specific recovery category.
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Flexible ways to start

Two paths to find recoveries and strengthen controls.

Some governments can use a contingency recovery model. Others need a fixed-fee, software-supported, or tech-enabled service model. ThirdLine can help either way.

Option 1

$0 Upfront Recovery Review

Start with no upfront cost. ThirdLine reviews selected historical data, identifies potential recoveries, and is paid only from confirmed recoveries.

  • Best for governments that allow contingency recovery work.
  • Useful for duplicate payments, vendor credits, overcharges, and selected revenue categories.
  • Low-friction way to test whether recoveries exist.
  • No recovery fee if no confirmed recovery is found.
Check contingency fit
Option 2

Software + Tech-Enabled Service

Use ThirdLine’s analytics platform and public-sector experts to review recovery areas, monitor controls, and prevent future leakage through dashboards, alerts, and recurring analysis.

  • Best when contingency pricing is not allowed or not preferred.
  • Supports fixed-fee pilots, subscriptions, or scoped professional services.
  • Includes analytics, evidence packages, dashboards, and expert review.
  • Can turn one-time findings into ongoing monitoring.
Explore software-supported review

Procurement, legal, and audit requirements vary by government. ThirdLine can help your team evaluate which model fits your policies, purchasing process, and recovery goals.

Proof from the field

Virginia Beach recovered over $40K with a contingency audit.

ThirdLine helped the City of Virginia Beach identify and recover duplicate vendor payments, while also improving visibility into future duplicate and erroneous payments.

$40K+
Recovered in duplicate vendor payments

The City of Virginia Beach used ThirdLine's contingency audit approach to uncover recoverable overpayments to vendors and strengthen accounts payable oversight.

Read the Case StudyEstimate My Recovery

“We were surprised at how quickly ThirdLine’s analysis identified duplicate invoices we had missed.”

— Lyndon S. Remias, CPA, CIA
City Auditor, City of Virginia Beach

The engagement showed how contingency recovery work can create immediate budget impact while also surfacing process improvements that reduce the chance of future leakage.

Why now

Most recoveries are not obvious until the data is put together.

A single invoice, account, vendor, or transaction may look reasonable in isolation. The recovery opportunity appears when you compare the full population: vendors, payments, contracts, licenses, tax records, billing rules, rates, receipts, and supporting documents.

100% population reviewERP analyticsInvoice reviewRevenue complianceVendor overpayment recoveryNo recovery, no fee
Low-lift process

We do the heavy lifting.

The goal is simple: minimize burden on your team while maximizing recoveries. ThirdLine works from exports, invoices, contracts, billing data, and supporting records.

1

Scope the review

Pick the recovery areas with the best fit: revenue leakage, AP duplicates, vendor overcharges, utilities, telecom, or recurring spend.

2

Collect the data

We request the minimum useful data exports and supporting records needed to run the review.

3

Find recoveries

Our team applies analytics, document review, and validation workflows to identify likely recovery opportunities.

4

Recover and improve

We support recovery documentation and provide recommendations to prevent the same leakage from recurring.

Beyond one-time recovery

Recover the money. Then prevent the leak from coming back.

Recovery is valuable. Prevention is better. ThirdLine can turn the same tests into repeatable monitoring so governments keep visibility into future duplicate payments, vendor changes, under-collections, and improper payments.

↻

Repeatable monitoring

Convert one-time findings into recurring checks that run monthly, weekly, or nightly depending on the risk area.

⚑

Control improvement

Use recovery findings to improve vendor setup, approvals, billing rules, license compliance, contract management, and payment controls.

✓

Audit-ready evidence

Document what was found, why it matters, how it was validated, and what management can do next.

FAQ

Questions governments usually ask.

Recovery work should be practical, transparent, legally reviewable, and easy for finance, audit, and procurement teams to evaluate.

What is a contingency fee audit?

A contingency fee audit is an audit where the provider is paid based on a percentage of confirmed recoveries instead of an upfront fee.

Is a contingency audit allowed for governments?

In many public-sector contexts, recovery audit contingency contracts are recognized, but governments should follow their own procurement rules, legal requirements, and audit policies. Federal OMB guidance defines recovery audit contingency contracts and says agency heads may enter into contingency contracts for recovery audit services.

What data is needed for an AP recovery audit?

Typically, AP transaction history, vendor master data, and invoice or payment documentation are needed. Depending on the review, ThirdLine may also request credit memos, vendor statements, purchase orders, contracts, and check or ACH payment detail.

How much does a contingency audit cost?

There is no upfront cost. ThirdLine is paid only from confirmed recoveries.

What if ThirdLine does not find anything?

Then there is no recovery fee. Your team still gains confidence that historical payments were reviewed.

Can this work with my ERP?

Yes. ThirdLine works with government ERP data, including Tyler Munis, Workday, Oracle, SAP, CGI, Infor, and more.

Who should own this project?

Common owners include CFOs, finance directors, AP managers, internal auditors, city auditors, county auditors, controllers, and school district business officials.

Is this only duplicate payment recovery?

No. Duplicate payments are one recovery category. ThirdLine also reviews revenue leakage, utility under-collections, hotel and tax fees, business licenses, recurring bill overcharges, vendor overpayments, and improper payments.

Can this become ongoing monitoring?

Yes. One-time recovery findings can be converted into continuous monitoring so future leakage, duplicates, and improper payments are caught faster.

Start with one recovery area

Find the dollars hiding in your data.

Pick one area — utility billing under-collections, hotel and tax fees, business licenses, duplicate payments, improper payments, or recurring vendor bills — and ThirdLine will help you evaluate the recovery opportunity.

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