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ATTACHMENT A [RESERVED]

ATTACHMENT B

SELECTED ITEMS OF COST

Table of Contents

1. Advertising costs

2. Bad debts

3. Bid and proposal costs (reserved)

4. Bonding costs

5. Communications costs

6. Compensation for personal services 7. Contingency provisions

8. Contributions

9. Depreciation and use allowances

10. Donations

11. Employee morale, health and welfare costs and credits

12. Entertainment costs

13. Equipment and other capital expenditures 14. Fines and penalties

15. Fringe benefits

16. Idle facilities and idle capacity

17. Independent research and development (reserved)

18. Insurance and indemnification

19. Interest, fund raising, and investment management cost

20. Labor relations costs

21. Losses on other awards

22. Maintenance and repair costs

23. Materials and supplies

24. Meetings, conferences

25. Memberships, subscriptions, and professional activity costs

26. Organization costs

27. Overtime, extra-pay shift, and multishift premiums

28. Page charges in professional journals 29. Participant support costs

30. Patent costs

31. Pension plans

32. Plant security costs

33. Preaward costs

34. Professional service costs

35. Profits and losses on disposition of depreclable property or other capital assets

36. Public information service costs

37. Publication and printing costs

38. Rearrangement and alteration costs 39. Reconversion costs

40. Recruiting costs

41. Relocation costs

42. Rental costs

43. Royalties and other costs for use of pat

ents and copyrights

44. Severance pay

45. Specialized service facilities

46. Taxes

47. Termination costs

48. Training and education costs 49. Transportation costs

50. Travel costs

[Circular No. A-122]

ATTACHMENT B

SELECTED ITEMS OF COST

Paragraphs 1 through 50 provide principles to be applied in establishing the allowability of certain items of cost. These principles apply whether a cost is treated as direct or indirect. Failure to mention a particular item of cost is not intended to imply that it is unallowable; rather determination as to allowability in each case should be based on the treatment or principles provided for similar or related items of cost.

1. Advertising costs.

a. Advertising costs mean the costs of media services and associated costs. Media advertising includes magazines, newspapers, radio and television programs, direct mail, exhibits, and the like.

b. The only advertising costs allowable are those which are solely for (1) the recruitment of personnel when considered in conjunction with all other recruitment costs, as set forth in paragraph 40; (ii) the procurement of goods and services; (iii) the disposal of surplus materials acquired in the performance of the award except when organizations are reimbursed for disposals at a predetermined amount in accordance with Attachment N of OMB Circular A-110; or (iv) specific requirements of the award.

2. Bad debts. Bad debts, including losses (whether actual or estimated) arising from uncollectible accounts and other claims, related collection costs, and related legal costs, are unallowable.

3. Bid and proposal costs. (reserved) 4. Bonding costs.

a. Bonding costs arise when the Government requires assurance against financial loss to itself or others by reason of the act or default of the organization. They arise also in instances where the organization requires similar assurance. Included are such bonds as bid, performance, payment, advance payment, infringement, and fidelity bonds.

b. Costs of bonding required pursuant to the terms of the award are allowable.

c. Costs of bonding required by the organization in the general conduct of its operations are allowable to the extent that such bonding is in accordance with sound business practice and the rates and premiums are reasonable under the circumstances

5. Communication costs. Costs incurred for telephone services, local and long distance telephone calls, telegrams, radiograms, postage and the like, are allowable.

6. Compensation for personal services.

a. Definition. Compensation for personal services includes all compensation paid currently or accrued by the organization for services of employees rendered during the period of the award (except as otherwise provided in paragraph g. below). It includes, but is not limited to, salaries, wages, director's and executive committee member's fees, in

centive awards, fringe benefits, pension plan costs, allowances for off-site pay, incentive pay, location allowances, hardship pay, and cost of living differentials.

b. Allowability. Except as otherwise specifically provided in this paragraph the costs of such compensation are allowable to the extent that:

(1) Total compensation to individual employees is reasonable for the services rendered and conforms to the established policy of the organization consistently applied to both Government and non-Government activities; and

(2) Charges to awards whether treated as direct or indirect costs are determined and supported as required in this paragraph. c. Reasonableness.

(1) When the organization is predominantly engaged in activities other than those sponsored by the Government, compensation for employees on Government-sponsored work will be considered reasonable to the extent that it is consistent with that paid for similar work in the organization's other activities.

(2) When the organization is predominantly engaged in Government-sponsored activities and in cases where the kind of employees required for the Government activities are not found in the organization's other activities, compensation for employees on Governmentsponsored work will be considered reasonable to the extent that it is comparable to that paid for similar work in the labor markets in which the organization competes for the kind of employees involved.

d. Special considerations in determining allowability. Certain conditions require special consideration and possible limitations in determining costs under Federal awards where amounts or types of compensation appear unreasonable. Among such conditions are the following:

(1) Compensation to members of nonprofit organizations, trustees, directors, associates, officers, or the immediate families thereof. Determination should be made that such compensation is reasonable for the actual personal services rendered rather than a distribution of earnings in excess of costs.

(2) Any change in an organization's compensation policy resulting in a substantial increase in the organization's level of compensation, particularly when it was concurrent with an increase in the ratio of Government awards to other activities of the organization or any change in the treatment of allowability of specific types of compensation due to changes in Government policy.

e. Unallowable costs. Costs which are unallowable under other paragraphs of this Attachment shall not be allowable under this paragraph solely on the basis that they constitute personal compensation. f. Fringe benefits.

(1) Fringe benefits in the form of regular compensation paid to employees during periods of authorized absences from the job, such as vacation leave, sick leave, military leave, and the like, are allowable provided such costs are absorbed by all organization activities in proportion to the relative amount of time or effort actually devoted to each.

(2) Fringe benefits in the form of employer contributions or expenses for social security, employee insurance, workmen's compensation insurance, pension plan costs (see paragraph g. below), and the like, are allowable provided such benefits are granted in accordance with established written organization policies. Such benefits whether treated as indirect costs or as direct costs, shall be distributed to particular awards and other activities in a manner consistent with the pattern of benefits accruing to the individuals or group of employees whose salaries and wages are chargeable to such awards and other activities.

(3)(a) Provisions for a reserve under a selfinsurance program for unemployment compensation or workmen's compensation are allowable to the extent that the provisions represent reasonable estimates of the liabilities for such compensation, and the types of coverage, extent of coverage, and rates and premiums would have been allowable had insurance been purchased to cover the risks. However, provisions for self-insured liabilities which do not become payable for more than one year after the provision is made shall not exceed the present value of the liability.

(b) Where an organization follows a consistent policy of expensing actual payments to, or on behalf of, employees or former employees for unemployment compensation or workmen's compensation such payments are allowable in the year of payment with the prior approval of the awarding agency provided they are allocated to all activities of the organization.

(4) Costs of insurance on the lives of trustees, officers, or other employees holding positions of similar responsibility are allowable only to the extend that the insurance represents additional compensation. The costs of such insurance when the organization is named as beneficiary are unallowable. g. Pension plan costs.

(1) Costs of the organization's pension plan which are incurred in accordance with the established policies of the organization are allowable, provided:

(a) Such policies meet the test of reasonableness;

(b) The methods of cost allocation are not discriminatory;

(c) The cost assigned to each fiscal year is determnined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles as prescribed in Accounting Principles Board Opinion No.

8 issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants; and

(d) The costs assigned to a given fiscal year are funded for all plan participants within six months after the end of that year. However, increases to normal and past service pension costs caused by a delay in funding the actuarial liability beyond 30 days after each quarter of the year to which such costs are assignable are unallowable.

(2) Pension plan termination Insurance premiums paid pursuant to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (Pub. L. 93-406) are allowable. Late payment charges on such premiums are unallowable.

(3) Excise taxes on accumulated funding deficiencies and other penalties imposed under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act are unallowable.

h. Incentive compensation. Incentive compensation to employees based on cost reduction, or efficient performance, suggestion awards, safety awards, etc., are allowable to the extent that the overall compensation is determined to be reasonable and such costs are paid or accrued pursuant to an agreement entered into a good faith between the organization and the employees before the services were rendered, or pursuant to an established plan followed by the organization so consistently as to imply, in effect, an agreement to make such payment.

1. Overtime, extra pay shift, and multishift premiums. See paragraph 27.

j. Severance pay. See paragrah 44.

k. Training and education costs. See paragraph 48.

1. Support of salaries and wages.

(1) Charges to awards for salaries and wages, whether treated as direct cost or indirect costs, will be based on documented payrolls approved by a responsible official(s) of the organization. the distribution of salaries and wages to awards must be supported by personnel activity reports as prescribed in subparagraph (2) below, except when a substitute system has been approved in writing by the cognizant agency. (See paragraph E.2 of Attachment A)

(2) Reports reflecting the distribution of activity of each employee must be maintained for all staff members (professionals and nonprofessionals) whose compensation is charged, in whole or in part, directly to awards. In addition, in order to support the allocation of indirect costs, such reports must also be maintained for other employees whose work involves two or more functions or activities if a distribution of their compensation between such functions or activities is needed in the determination of the organization's indirect cost rate(s) (e.g., an employee engaged part-time in indirect cost activities and part-time in a direct function). Reports maintained by nonprofit organizaitons to satisfy these requirements must meet the following standards:

(a) The reports must reflect an after-thefact determination of the actual acitivity of each employee. Budget estimates (1.e., estimates determined before the services are performed) do not qualify as support for charges to awards.

(b) Each report must account for the total activity for which employees are compensated and which is required in fulfillment of their obligations to the organization.

(c) The reports must be signed by the individual employee, or by a responsible supervisory official having first hand knowledge of the activities performed by the employee, that the distribution of activity represents a reasonable estimate of the actual work performed by the employee during the periods covered by the reports.

(d) The reports must be prepared at least monthly and must coincide with one or more pay periods.

(3) Charges for the salaries and wages of nonprofessional employees, in addition to the supporting documentation described in subparagraphs (1) and (2) above, must also be supported by records indicating the total number of hours worked each day maintained in conformance with Department of Labor regulations implementing the Fair Labor Standards Act (29 CFR part 516). For this purpose, the term nonprofessional employee shall have the same meaning as nonexempt employee, under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

(4) Salaries and wages of employees used in meeting cost sharing or matching requirements on awards must be supported in the same manner as salaries and wages claimed for reimbursement from awarding agencies.

7. Contingency provisions. Contributions to a contingency reserve or any similar provision made for events the occurrence of which cannot be foretold with certainty as to time, intensity, or with an assurance of their happening, are unallowable. The term contingency reserve excludes self-insurance reserves (see paragraph 6f.(3) and 18.a.(2)(d); pension funds (see paragraph 6.(g)); and reserves for normal severance pay (see paragraph 44.(b)(1)).

8. Contributions. Contributions and donations by the organization to others are unallowable.

9. Depreciation and use allowances.

a. Compensation for the use of buildings, other capital improvements, and equipment on hand may be made through use allowances or depreciation. However, except as provided in paragraph f. below a combination of the two methods may not be used in connection with a single class of fixed assets (e.g., buildings, office equipment, computer equipment, etc.).

b. The computation of use allowances or depreciation shall be based on the acquisition cost of the asset involved. The acquisition cost of an asset donated to the organiza

tion by a third party shall be its fair market value at the time of the donation.

c. The computation of use allowances or depreciation will exclude.

(1) The cost of land;

(2) Any portion of the cost of buildings and equipment borne by or donated by the Federal Government irrespective of where title was originally vested or where it presently resides; and

(3) Any portion of the cost of buildings and equipment contributed by or for the organization in satisfaction of a statutory matching retirement.

d. Where the use allowance method is followed, the use allowance for buildings and improvement (including land improvements such as paved parking areas, fences, and sidewalks) will be computed at an annual rate not exceeding two percent of acquisition cost. The use allowance for equipment will be computed at an annual rate not exceeding six and two-thirds percent of acquisition cost. When the use allowance method is used for buildings, the entire building must be treated as a single asset; the building's components (e.g., plumbing system, heating and air conditioning, etc.) cannot be segregated from the building's shell. The two percent limitation, however, need not be applied to equipment which is merely attached or fastened to the building but not permanently fixed to it and which is used as furnishings or decorations or for specialized purposes (e.g., dentist chairs and dental treatment units, counters, laboratory benches bolted to the floor, dishwashers, carpeting, etc.). Such equipment will be considered as not being permanently fixed to the building if it can be removed without the need for costly or extensive alterations or repairs to the building or the equipment. Equipment that meets these criteria will be subject to the six and two-thirds percent equipment use allowance limitation.

e. Where depreciation method is followed, the period of useful service (useful life) established in each case for usable capital assets must take into consideration such factors as type of construction, nature of the equipment used, technological developments in the particular program area, and the renewal and replacement policies followed for the individual items or classes of assets involved. The method of depreciation used to assign the cost of an asset (or group of assets) to accounting periods shall reflect the pattern of consumption of the asset during its useful life. In the absence of clear evidence indicating that the expected consumption of the asset will be significantly greater or lesser in the early portions of its useful life than in the later portions, the straightline method shall be presumed to be the appropriate method. Depreciation methods once used shall not be changed unless approved in advance by the cognizant Federal

agency. When the depreciation method is introduced for application to assets previously subject to a use allowance, the combination of use allowances and depreciation applicable to such assets must not exceed the total acquisition cost of the assets. When the depreciation method is used for buildings, a building's shell may be segregated from each building component (e.g., plumbing system, heating, and air conditioning system, etc.) and each item depreciated over its estimated useful life; or the entire building (1.e., the shell and all components) may be treated as a single asset and depreciated over a single useful life.

f. When the depreciation method is used for a particular class of assets, no depreciation may be allowed on any such assets that, under paragraph e. above, would be viewed as fully depreciated. However, a reasonable use allowance may be negotiated for such assets if warranted after taking into consideration the amount of depreciation previously charged to the Government, the estimated useful life remaining at time of negotiation, the effect of any increased maintenance charges or decreased efficency due to age, and any other factors pertinent to the utilization of the asset for the purpose contemplated.

g. Charges for use allowances or depreciation must be supported by adequate property records and physical inventories must be taken at least once every two years (a statistical sampling basis is acceptable) to ensure that assets exist and are usable and needed. When the depreciation method is followed, adequate depreciation records indicating the amount of depreciation taken each period must also be maintained.

10. Donations.

a. Services received.

(1) Donated or volunteer services may be furnished to an organization by professional and technical personnel, consultants, and other skilled and unskilled labor. The value of these services is not reimbursable either as a direct or indirect cost.

(2) The value of donated services utilized in the performance of a direct cost activity shall be considered in the determination of the organization's indirect cost rate(s) and, accordingly, shall be allocated a proportionate share of applicable indirect costs when the following circumstances exist:

(a) The aggregate value of the services is material;

(b) The services are supported by a significant amount of the indirect costs incurred by the organization;

(c) The direct cost activity is not pursued primarily for the benefit of the Federal Government.

(3) In those instances where there is no basis for determining the fair market value of the services rendered, the recipient and the cognizant agency shall negotiate an ap

propriate allocation of indirect cost to the services.

(4) Where donated services directly benefit a project supported by an award, the indirect costs allocated to the services will be considered as a part of the total costs of the project. Such indirect costs may be reimbursed under the award or used to meet cost sharing or matching requirements.

(5) The value of the donated services may be used to meet cost sharing or matching requirements under conditions described in Attachment E, OMB Circular No. A-110. Where donated services are treated as indirect costs, indirect cost rates will separate the value of the donations so that reimbursement will not be made.

(6) Fair market value of donated services shall be computed as follows:

(a) Rates for volunteer services. Rates for volunteers shall be consistent with those regular rates paid for similar work in other activities of the organization. In cases where the kinds of skills involved are not found in the other activities of the organization, the rates used shall be consistent with those paid for similar work in the labor market in which the organization competes for such skills.

(b) Services donated by other organizations. When an employer donates the services of an employee, these services shall be valued at the employee's regular rate of pay (exclusive of fringe benefits and indirect costs) provided the services are in the same skill for which the employee is normally paid. If the services are not in the same skill for which the employee is normally paid, fair market value shall be computed in accordance with subparagraph (a) above.

b. Goods and space.

(1) Donated goods; i.e., expendable personal property/supplies, and donated use of space may be furnished to an organization. The value of the goods and space is not reimbursable either as a direct or indirect cost.

(2) The value of the donations may be used to meet cost sharing or matching share requirements under the conditions described in Attachment E, OMB Circular No. A-110. The value of the donations shall be determined in accordance with Attachment E. Where donations are treated as indirect costs, indirect cost rates will separate the value of the donations so that reimbursement will not be made.

11. Employee morale, health, and welfare, costs and credits. The costs of house publications, health or first-aid clinics, and/or infirmaries, recreational activities, employees' counseling services, and other expenses incurred in accordance with the organization's established practice or custom for the improvement of working conditions, employeremployee relations, employee morale, and employee performance are allowable. Such costs will be equitably apportioned to all ac

tivities of the organization. Income generated from any of these activities will be credited to the cost thereof unless such income has been irrevocably set over to employee welfare organizations.

12. Entertainment costs. Costs of amusement, diversion, social activities, ceremonials, and costs relating thereto, such as meals, lodging, rentals, transportation, and gratuities are unallowable (but see paragraphs 11 and 25).

13. Equipment and other capital expenditures. a. As used in this paragraph, the following terms have the meanings set forth below:

(1) Equipment means an article of nonexpendable tangible personal property having a useful life of more than two years and an acquisition cost of $500 or more per unit. An organization may use its own definition provided that it at least includes all nonexpendable tangible personal property as defined herein.

(2) Acquisition cost means the net invoice unit price of an item of equipment, including the cost of any modifications, attachments, accessories, or auxiliary apparatus necessary to make it usable for the purpose for which it is acquired. Ancillary charges, such as taxes, duty, protective intransit insurance, freight, and installation shall be included in or excluded from acquisition cost in accordance with the organization's regular written accounting practices.

(3) Special purpose equipment means equipment which is usable only for research, medical, scientific, or technical activities. Examples of special purpose equipment include microscopes, x-ray machines, surgical instruments, and spectrometers.

(4) General purpose equipment means equipment which is usable for other than research, medical, scientific, or technical activities, whether or not special modifications are needed to make them suitable for a particular purpose. Examples of general purpose equipment include office equipment and furnishings, air conditioning equipment, reproduction and printing equipment, motor vehicles, and automatic data processing equipment.

b. (1) Capital expenditures for general purpose equipment are unallowable as a direct cost except with the prior approval of the awarding agency. 21(2) Capital expenditures for special purpose equipment are allowable as direct costs provided that items with a unit cost of $1000 or more have the prior approval of the awarding agency.

c. Capital expenditures for land or buildings are unallowable as a direct cost except with the prior approval of the awarding agency.

d. Capital expenditures for improvements to land, buildings, or equipment which materially increase their value or useful life are unallowable as a direct cost except with the prior approval of the awarding agency.

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