The process should be 100% transparent here. I'm curious why the budgeting, invoicing, cannot be looked at transparently to discover what is going on here?
Can the contractors hired not be held accountable to their proposed budgets? 2-5x multiple seems about right as a fudge factor - but 10x?
Can the contractors hired not be held accountable to their proposed budgets? 2-5x multiple seems about right as a fudge factor - but 10x?