United States Department of Agriculture
Research, Education, and Economics
ARS * CSREES * ERS * NASS
Policies and Procedures
Title: | Recovering Reimbursable Agreement Costs |
Number: | 2290 |
Date: | 3/10/94 |
Originating Office: | Economics Management Staff |
This Replaces: | 1512 dated 7/92 and 1512-1 dated 2/87 |
Distribution: | ERS and EMS only |
Under the Economy Act, ERS is responsible for recovering all direct and indirect costs incurred for work performed on reimbursable interagency agreement. This P&P defines responsibilities and documents the rates for overhead, leave burden, and fringe benefits to be applied in calculation of costs recovered under reimbursable interagency agreement. |
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Responsibilities for Development and Application of
Agreement Rates
3. Overhead Rates
Standard Agreements
Contract and Cooperative
(Pass-Through) Agreements
Personnel Details
OICD Agreements
4. Fringe Benefits Rate
5. Leave Burden
6. Procedures for Requesting Waivers or Exceptions
Summary of Responsibilities
Glossary
Any agency of the Federal Government can enter into a reimbursable agreement with another
agency of the Federal Government to provide services, supplies, and equipment requested by
the ordering agency. The legal authority to enter into this type of agreement is 31 USC
1535 and 1536, as amended by Public Law 97-332, commonly referred to as the Economy Act.
Under the Economy Act, the ordering agency must reimburse the performing agency based
on the actual cost of the goods or services provided. These costs include all
direct costs associated with providing the goods or services ordered, as well as all other
costs funded out of the performing agency's available appropriations that have a
significant relationship to providing the goods or services.See footnote 1
EMS's Financial Management Section (FMS) will:
Subsequent
sections of this P&P discuss these rates and provide examples to clarify their
application to the various types of agreements. The established rates should minimize the
need for waiver of, or exception to, charges for overhead on reimbursable agreements. The
ERS Administrator must approve, in writing, all exceptions to the established rates for
overhead, leave burden, or fringe benefits.
ERS administrative officers will:
ERS branch chiefs or designated project coordinators will:
The ERS Administrator will:
Standard Agreements
The standard overhead rate, 28.1 percent, applies to direct costs associated with
all reimbursable agency activities, except contract and cooperative (pass-through)
agreements, personnel details, and OICD reimbursements. This rate includes the costs of
Direct Salaries | $100,000 | |
Fringe Benefits (20.4% x Direct Salaries) | 20,400 | |
Subtotal | $120,400 | |
Leave Burden (19.2% x Subtotal) | 23,117 | |
Other Direct Costs | 30,000 | |
53,117 | ||
Total Direct Costs | $173,517 | |
Standard Overhead (28.1% x Total Direct Costs) |
48,758 | |
Total | $222,275 | |
Total Amount of Agreement (Rounded to next thousand dollars) | $223,000 |
[Standard Rate Application Example]
Contract and Cooperative
(Pass-Through) Agreements
The contract and cooperative (pass-through) agreement rate, 13.6 percent,
applies only to the contracted-out portion of a reimbursable agreement.See footnote 3 This rate includes
the costs of
Standard Rate: | ||||
Direct Salaries | $10,000 | |||
Fringe Benefits (20.4% x Direct Salaries) | 2,040 | |||
Subtotal | $12,040 | |||
Leave Burden (19.2% x Subtotal) | 2,312 | |||
Other Direct Costs | 4,000 | |||
Total Direct Costs | $18,352 | |||
Standard Overhead (28.1% x Direct Costs) | 5,157 | |||
Total ERS in-house costs | $23,509 | |||
Contract/Agreement Rate: | ||||
University of Georgia | 30,000 | |||
University of Tennessee | 12,500 | |||
Auburn University | 20,000 | |||
University of Alabama | 25,000 | |||
Total Contracts/Agreements | 87,500 | |||
Contract/Agreement Overhead (13.6% x Total Contract) | 11,900 | |||
Total Contract/Agreement Costs | 99,400 | |||
Total | $122,909 | |||
Total Amount of Agreement (Rounded to next thousand dollars) | $123,000 |
[Standard Rate Combined with Contract and Cooperative (Pass-Through) Agreement Rate
Application Example ]
Personnel Details
The personnel detail rate, 15.9 percent, used in agreements when ERS details
employees to other Federal agencies, includes the costs of
Direct Salaries | $1,500 | ||
Fringe Benefits (20.4% x Direct Salaries) | 306 | ||
Subtotal | $1,806 | ||
Leave Burden (19.2% x Subtotal) | 347 | ||
Total Direct Costs | $2,153 | ||
Detail Overhead (15.9% x Total Direct Costs) | 342 | ||
Total | $2,495 | ||
Total Amount of Agreement (Rounded to next thousand dollars) | $3,000 |
[Personnel Detail Overhead Rate Application Example ]
OICD Agreements
In consultation with USDA agencies and the Agency for International Development, the OICD
determines the overhead rate used on all OICD agreements. The rate is 18.0 percent.
Direct Salaries | $50,000 | |||
Fringe Benefits (20.4% x Direct Salaries) | 10,200 | |||
Subtotal | $60,200 | |||
Leave Burden (19.2% x Subtotal) | 11,558 | |||
$71,758 | ||||
Other Direct Costs | 25,000 | |||
Total Direct Costs | $96,758 | |||
OICD Overhead (18.0% x Total Direct Costs) | 17,416 | |||
Total | $114,174 | |||
Total Amount of Agreement (Rounded to next thousand dollars | $115,000 |
[OICD Overhead Rate Application Example ]
The standard fringe benefits rate, 20.4 percent, calculated from prior fiscal year
NFC Payroll system reports, is applied to all direct salaries for reimbursable agreements.
Here is the formula for computing the fringe benefits rate:
Fringe Benefits Rate = Employment Benefits . Direct Salaries
The fringe benefits rate includes employment benefits, such as pensions and insurance coverage granted by the Federal Government, that involve a monetary cost to the agency without affecting the salary levels. Fringe benefits include, but are not limited to, Civil Service Retirement System, Federal Employees Retirement System, Federal Employees Group Life Insurance Program, Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan Program, and Medicare coverage.
The leave burden rate, 19.2 percent, applies to all reimbursable interagency
agreements, except OICD agreements, that include direct salaries. To ensure the recovery
of full employee costs, the branch chief or designated project leader must multiply all
direct salaries and fringe benefits chargeable to a reimbursable project by the standard
leave burden rate. To avoid double billing, all leave taken must be charged to
appropriated funds.
An OICD agreement may or may not include the leave burden factor, depending on the type
of agreement. For various types of OICD agreements, the branch chief or designated project
leader determines the leave burden as follows:
Not Charged | Long-term assignments, usually a minimum of 1 year in duration, since all annual leave earned, holiday leave taken, sick leave used, and administrative leave granted during the period of the agreement will more than likely be used during the period of, and charged directly to, the agreement. |
---|---|
The project is mutually beneficial to OICD and ERS, since OICD provides limited funds, and ERS also would provide funds for the work. | |
Charged | Short-term assignments, since it is assumed that, under normal circumstances, the employee will work full-time and not use leave. |
After obtaining the ERS's leave averages for the prior calendar year from the NFC Payroll
system, FMS calculates the standard leave burden rate that the branch chiefs or designated
project leaders must apply to the direct salaries and fringe benefits for all employees
assigned to the agreement. Here is the computation for the leave burden factor:
Non-Productive Days (per employee)
Holidays per year
10
Average annual leave earned
21
Average sick leave used
9
Average administrative leave granted
2
Non-productive days
42
Productive Days (per employee)
Work days per year
261
Less: Non-productive days
42
Productive days
219
Leave Burden = Non-productive days/Productive days
Branch chiefs or designated project coordinators must use the established rates for
overhead, leave burden, and fringe benefits for interagency reimbursable agreements,
unless they initiate and obtain written waivers to apply alternative rates to a specific
agreement.
Branch Chief (or Designated Project Coordinator)
Division Director
Administrator
Division Administrative Officer
Administrator, ERS
Division Directors, ERS
Branch Chiefs or Designated Project Coordinators
Administrative Officers
FMS Staff
AD-757. Miscellaneous Payments System form.
Contract and Agreement (Pass-Through) Overhead Rate. Rate applied to the contracted-out portion of a reimbursable agreement.
Direct Costs. Costs incurred in support of a specific project; e.g., salaries, travel costs, and ADP time identifiable to a specific project.
FMS. EMS's Financial Management Section.
Fringe Benefits. Employment benefits, such as pensions and insurance coverage, granted by the Government, that involve a monetary cost to the agency without affecting salary levels.
ID. EMS's Information Division.
Indirect Costs. See Overhead Costs.
Leave Burden. Cost of annual leave earned and sick leave, Federal holidays, and administrative leave used (based on average agency usage).
NFC. National Finance Center, Office of Finance and Management, USDA.
OICD. Office of International Cooperation and Development, USDA.
OICD Overhead Rate. Rate determined by OICD in consultation with the USDA agencies. This rate applies to all OICD agreements.
Overhead Costs. Costs, not incurred in support of a specific project, that must be divided proportionately among all projects by applying a standard percentage rate. Examples include space, telephones, and administrative support (budget, personnel, administrative service, etc.). The method of calculation and costs included in the overhead rate varies according to the type of work performed. Also termed Indirect Costs.
Personnel Detail Overhead Rate. Rate used in agreements when ERS details employees to other Federal agencies.
Standard Overhead Rate. Rate applied to direct costs associated with all agency reimbursable activities other than contract and cooperative (pass-through) agreements, personnel details, and OICD reimbursements.
Footnote: 1 Costs, other than direct, funded out of the agency's available appropriations that have a significant relationship to providing the goods or services are considered overhead. The branch chiefs or designated project coordinators allocate overhead as a percentage of direct project costs.
Footnote: 2 If a reimbursable agreement recovers less than the direct costs and applicable overhead, the performing agency, in effect, is supplementing the appropriations of the ordering agency. However, in the event that ERS will perform work that is mutually beneficial, the ERS Administrator may waive full recovery of costs. If a reimbursable agreement recovers more than reasonable direct costs and overhead, the ordering agency supplements the appropriations of the performing agency. To supplement the appropriations of the performing agency is a violation of the Antideficiency Act.
Footnote: 3 The standard overhead rate is applied to all costs incurred on the part of the agreement that is not contracted-out.