CONTRACT COST PRINCIPLES AND PROCEDURES Part 6-Reserved 15-600 ARMED SERVICES PROCUREMENT REGULATION CONTRACT COST PRINCIPLES AND PROCEDURES Part 7-Grants and Contracts With State and Local Governments 15-701 Purpose and Scope. 15-701.1 Objectives. This Part sets forth principles for determining the allowable costs of programs administered by State and local governments under grants from and contracts with the Federal Government. The principles are for the purpose of cost determination and are not intended to identify the circumstances or dictate the extent of Federal and State or local participation in the financing of a particular grant. They are designed to provide that federally assisted programs bear their fair share of costs recognized under these principles, except where restricted or prohibited by law. No provision for profit or other increment above cost is intended. 15-701.2 Policy Guides. The application of these principles is based on the fundamental premises that: (a) State and local governments are responsible for the efficient and effective administration of grant and contract programs through the application of sound management practices. (b) The grantee or contractor assumes the responsibility for seeing that federally assisted program funds have been expended and accounted for consistent with underlying agreements and program objectives. (c) Each grantee or contractor organization, in recognition of its own unique combination of staff facilities and experience, will have the primary responsibility for employing whatever form of organization and management techniques may be necessary to assure proper and efficient administration. 15-701.3 Application. These principles will be applied by all Federal agencies in determining costs incurred by State and local governments under Federal grants and cost reimbursement type contracts (including subgrants and subcontracts) except those with (a) publicly financed educational institutions subject to Section XV, Part 3, and (b) publicly owned hospitals and other providers of medical care subject to requirements promulgated by the sponsoring Federal agencies. 15-702 Definitions. 15-702.1 Approval or Authorization of the Grantor Federal Agency means documentation evidencing consent prior to incurring specific cost. 15-702.2 Cost Allocation Plan means the documentation identifying, accumulating, and distributing allowable costs under grants and contracts together with the allocation methods used. 15-702.3 Cost, as used herein, means cost as determined on a cash, accrual, or other basis acceptable to the Federal grantor agency as a discharge of the grantee's accountability for Federal funds. 15-702.4 Cost Objective means a pool, center, or area established for the accumulation of cost. Such areas include organizational units, functions, objects or items of expense, as well as ultimate cost objectives including specific grants, projects, contracts, and other activities. 15-702.5 Federal Agency means any department, agency, commission, or instrumentality in the executive branch of the Federal Government which makes grants to or contracts with State or local governments. 15-702.5 ARMED SERVICES PROCUREMENT REGULATION CONTRACT COST PRINCIPLES AND PROCEDURES 15-702.6 Grant means an agreement between the Federal Government and a State or local government whereby the Federal Government provides funds or aid in kind to carry out specified programs, services, or activities. The principles and policies stated in this Part as applicable to grants in general also apply to any federally sponsored cost reimbursement type of agreement performed by a State or local government, including contracts, subcontracts and subgrants. 15-702.7 Grant Program means those activities and operations of the grantee which are necessary to carry out the purposes of the grant, including any portion of the program financed by the grantee. 15-702.8 Grantee means the department or agency of State or local government which is responsible for administration of the grant. 15-702.9 Local Unit means any political subdivision of government below the State level. 15-702.10 Other State or Local Agencies means departments or agencies of the State or local unit which provide goods, facilities, and services to a grantee. 15-702.11 Services, as used herein, means goods and facilities, as well as ser vices. 15-702.12 Supporting Services means auxiliary functions necessary to sustain the direct effort involved in administering a grant program or an activity providing services to the grant program. These services may be centralized in the grantee department or in some other agency, and include procurement, payroll, personnel functions, maintenance and operation of space, data processing, accounting, budgeting, auditing, mail and messenger service, and the like. 15-703 Basic Guidelines. 15-703.1 Factors Affecting Allowability of Costs. To be allowable under a grant program, costs must meet the following general criteria: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for proper and efficient administration of the grant program, be allocable thereto under these principles, and, except as specifically provided herein, not be a general expense required to carry out the overall responsibilities of State or local governments. (b) Be authorized or not prohibited under State or local laws or regulations. (c) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles, Federal laws, or other governing limitations as to types or amounts of cost items. (d) Be consistent with policies, regulations, and procedures that apply uniformly to both federally assisted and other activities of the unit of government of which the grantee is a part. (e) Be accorded consistent treatment through application of generally accepted accounting principles appropriate to the circumstances. (f) Not be allocable to or included as a cost of any other federally financed program in either the current or a prior period. (g) Be net of all applicable credits. 15-703.2 Allocable Costs. (a) A cost is allocable to a particular cost objective to the extent of benefits received by such objective. (b) Any cost allocable to a particular grant or cost objective under the principles provided for in this Part may not be shifted to other Federal grant programs to overcome fund deficiencies, avoid restrictions imposed by law or grant agreements, or for other reasons. 15-703.2 ARMED SERVICES PROCUREMENT REGULATION CONTRACT COST PRINCIPLES AND PROCEDURES (c) Where an allocation of joint cost will ultimately result in charges to a grant program, an allocation plan will be required as prescribed in 15-709. 15-703.3 Applicable Credits. (a) Applicable credits refer to those receipts or reduction of expendituretype transactions which offset or reduce expense items allocable to grants as direct or indirect costs. Examples of such transactions are: purchase discounts, rebates or allowances, recoveries or indemnities on losses; sale of publications, equipment, and scrap; income from personal or incidental services; and adjustments of overpayments or erroneous charges. (b) Applicable credits may also arise when Federal funds are received or are available from sources other than the grant program involved to finance operations or capital items of the grantee. This includes costs arising from the use or depreciation of items donated or financed by the Federal Government to fulfill matching requirements under another grant program. These types of credits should likewise be used to reduce related expenditures in determining the rates or amounts applicable to a given grant. 15-704 Composition of Cost. 15-704.1 Total Cost. The total cost of a grant program is comprised of the allowable direct cost incident to its performance, plus its allocable portion of allowable indirect costs, less applicable credits. 15-704.2 Classification of Costs. There is no universal rule for classifying certain costs as either direct or indirect under every accounting system. A cost may be direct with respect to some specific service or function, but indirect with respect to the grant or other ultimate cost objective. It is essential therefore that each item of cost be treated consistently either as a direct or an indirect cost. Specific guides for determining direct and indirect costs allocable under grant programs are provided in paragraphs 15-705 through 15-709. 15-705 Direct Costs. 15-705.1 General. Direct costs are those that can be identified specifically with a particular cost objective. These costs may be charged directly to grants, contracts, or to other programs against which costs are finally lodged. Direct costs may also be charged to cost objectives used for the accumulation of costs pending distribution in due course to grants and other ultimate cost objectives. 15-705.2 Application. Typical direct costs chargeable to grant programs are: (a) Compensation of employees for the time and effort devoted specifically to the execution of grant programs. (b) Cost of materials acquired, consumed, or expended specifically for the purpose of the grant. (c) Equipment and other approved capital expenditures. (d) Other items of expense incurred specifically to carry out the grant agree ment. (e) Services furnished specifically for the grant program by other agencies, provided such charges are consistent with criteria outlined in paragraph 15-707 of these principles. 15-706 Indirect Costs. 15-706.1 General. Indirect costs are those (a) incurred for a common or joint purpose benefiting more than one cost objective, and (b) not readily as 15-706.1 ARMED SERVICES PROCUREMENT REGULATION CONTRACT COST PRINCIPLES AND PROCEDURES signable to the cost objectives specifically benefited, without effort disproportionate to the results achieved. The term "indirect costs," as used herein, applies to costs of this type originating in the grantee department, as well as those incurred by other department in supplying goods, services, and facilities, to the grantee department. To facilitate equitable distribution of indirect expenses to the cost objectives served, it may be necessary to establish a number of pools of indirect cost within a grantee department or in other agencies providing services to a grantee department. Indirect cost pools should be distributed to benefiting cost objectives on bases which will produce an equitable result in consideration of relative benefits derived. 15-706.2 Grantee Departmental Indirect Costs. All grantee departmental indirect costs, including the various levels of supervision, are eligible for allocation to grant programs provided they meet the conditions set forth in this Part 7. In lieu of determining the actual amount of grantee departmental indirect costs allocable to a grant program, the following methods may be used: (a) Predetermined Fixed Rates for Indirect Costs. A predetermined fixed rate for computing indirect costs applicable to a grant may be negotiated annually in situations where the cost experience and other pertinent facts available are deemed sufficient to enable the contracting parties to reach an informed judgment (1) as to the probable level of indirect costs in the grantee department during the period to be covered by the negotiated rate, and (2) that the amount allowable under the predetermined rate would not exceed actual indirect cost. (b) Negotiated Lump Sum for Overhead. A negotiated fixed amount in lieu of indirect costs may be appropriate under circumstances where the benefits derived from a grantee department's indirect services cannot be readily determined as in the case of small, self-contained or isolated activity. When this method is used, a determination should be made that the amount negotiated will be approximately the same as the actual indirect cost that may be incurred. Such amounts negotiated in lieu of indirect costs will be treated as an offset to total indirect expenses of the grantee department before allocation to remaining activities. The base on which such remaining expenses are allocated should be appropriately adjusted. 15-706.3 Limitation on Indirect Costs. (a) Federal grants may be subject to laws that limit the amount of indirect costs that may be allowed. Agencies that sponsor grants of this type will establish procedures which will assure that the amount actually allowed for indirect costs under each such grant does not exceed the maximum allowable under the statutory limitation or the amount otherwise allowable under this Part 7, whichever is the smaller. (b) When the amount allowable under a statutory limitation is less than the amount otherwise allocable as indirect costs under this Part 7, the amount not recoverable as indirect costs under a grant may not be shifted to another federally sponsored grant program or contract. 15-707 Cost Incurred by Agencies Other Than the Grantee. 15-707.1 General. The cost of service provided by other agencies may only include allowable direct costs of the service plus a prorata share of allowable supporting costs (15–702.12) and supervision directly required in performing the ser 15-707.1 ARMED SERVICES PROCUREMENT REGULATION |