Firm Picked For UW Project Reeling From Scandal

RYAN J. FOLEY

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The University of Wisconsin System acknowledged Wednesday the high-priced consultant working on its $81.4 million payroll project is reeling from an accounting scandal that is raising questions about its future.

The system has picked Huron Consulting Group Inc. of Chicago to help install the new payroll, benefits and human resources computer system. Plans released last week show Huron and its subcontractor, Accenture, are expected to reap $46 million of the project's budget and do about 40 percent of the work.

Huron said last month the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating accounting problems related to past acquisitions and it is cooperating with the probe. The firm also faces lawsuits that claim investors were misled.

The firm restated its financial results in 2006, 2007, 2008 and the first quarter of 2009 to lower earnings by $56 million after discovering four suspect payments involving firms the company acquired. Its chairman, chief accounting officer and chief financial officer are leaving.

UW System President Kevin Reilly and his team knew about the problems in early August, but waited to inform lawmakers and the public until Wednesday, a day after The Associated Press inquired about them. The news comes one day before Reilly will ask the Board of Regents to approve the project during a meeting in Whitewater.