Briefs

Hewlett-Packard took a $8.8 billion writedown after accusing Autonomy, the British software maker it bought last year, of falsifying finances. More than $5 billion of the charge is due to accounting problems disclosed by a senior executive at Autonomy. HP bought the software company for $10.3 billion to diversify away from PCs and printers. Autonomy allegedly misrepresented its gross profit margin and falsely created or miscategorized $200 million-plus in revenue over a two-year period starting in 2009, HP said. Autonomy’s former top management team denies the claims.

Companies that want to challenge a federal government contract award may have to start paying for the right to file a protest. The U.S. Government Accountability Office, which arbitrates contract disputes, is asking Congress to approve a $240 filing fee to fund an online docket system that would ease the strain on GAO staff, which now handles about 16,000 e-mails a year related to procurement. Protests have surged in recent years as budget cuts have led to fewer awards.