Preaudits, conducted to ascertain whether contracts committing the State to a liability are unreasonable or fraudulent, allow for an independent examination of transactions having a financial impact. They also enable errors and unreasonable transactions to be corrected before a financial obligation has been incurred or an expenditure has been made. Generally, those transactions which are unreasonable are extremely difficult to justify, and are either dropped by the agency or the approach is changed, usually at a reduced cost. Since competition or its threat often produces better prices, it is up to the auditor conducting the preaudit to suggest procedures for finding more bidders who can perform needed tasks more cheaply and more efficiently. Over 10 cases are described.