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NASA Procedures and Guidelines |
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| | TOC | Preface | Chapter1 | Chapter2 | Chapter3 | Chapter4 | Chapter5 | AppendixA | AppendixB | AppendixC | AppendixD | AppendixE | ALL | | |||||
2.1.1 This chapter issues requirements for administrative financial requirements of all reimbursable agreements.
2.1.2 Limits on Competition with U.S. Commercial Sources. Legal or policy considerations can affect the circumstances under which the Agency can make specific types of facilities or services available to non-Federal entities if commercial services are otherwise available. Centers with questions concerning the offering of specific services that are also available from a U.S. commercial source should contact their Center Chief Counsel.
2.2.1 Reimbursable agreements shall contain the following minimum content, some of which may be provided following agreement approval. Information that may be provided following the agreement approval includes, but is not limited to internal NASA accounting classifications (e.g., the WBS codes(s) and sales order) and supplementary information regarding the contacts (e.g., telephone number and e-mail address). The Center legal office should provide guidance on the minimum information that is needed in advance before the agreement is signed and entered into. The minimum content includes:
a. Legal authority applicable to NASA both for performing the reimbursable work and for crediting reimbursements to NASA appropriations.
b. The name of the customer (in the case of another Federal agency as the customer, the name of the customer agency), a complete description of the work or services to be performed, descriptions of deliverables, and a statement of why the project is being supported.
c. Identification and signature (with signature date) of the NASA official and the official of the customer designated to sign this agreement. The NASA official will ensure that the general terms and conditions are properly defined, including the stated statutory authorities, and that the scope of work can be fulfilled per the agreement. To the extent practicable, the agreement should include for each person the title, telephone number, fax number, and e-mail address.
d. Period of performance, including initiation date, interim milestones, if relevant, and completion dates. The start date will be on or after the date the agreement is signed by both parties. The end date indicates when all orders under the agreement will be completed with delivery of products and/or services and closeout activity.
e. Indication of the funding amount and, where applicable, the amount of an advance. Indication of the billing frequency, if other than monthly.
f. Identification of the NASA performing organization.
g. Identification of the customer payment office, phone number, address, Reimbursable Agreement Number, and any other identifying number (i.e., order number, date of Memorandum of Understanding).
h. For non-Federal customers, the agreement should contain the requirement for advance payment (unless expressly waived).
i. For Federal agency customers, agreements should generally include the information required by FMS Forms 7600A and 7600B, 2 including:
2 http://www.fms.treas.gov/finstandard/forms.html. Form 7600B is the equivalent of a purchase order.
(1) The statutory authority of customer agency to purchase products and/or services from NASA. Indicate whether the order by the customer agency falls under a Franchise Fund, Revolving Fund, Working Capital Fund, Economy Act, or other authority.
(2) The customer agency's Trading Partner code.
(3) The customer agency's fund citation, including the appropriation symbol and expiration date.
(4) The customer agency's Treasury Agency Location Code (ALC) and Dun and Bradstreet Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number.
j. For Federal customers that have approved billing and collection via Treasury's Intergovernmental Payment and Collection (IPAC) system, the signed agreement will contain the customer's financial information required to process the IPAC transactions. That financial information should include the customer's paying ALC, as well as the Treasury Account Symbol (TAS) and the Business Event Type Code (BETC) in order to adhere to the Government-Wide Accounting and (GWA) and Reporting Program.
k. Where multi-order agreements (i.e. umbrella agreement with annexes) are used, individual orders (annexes) will identify the goods and services ordered, prices, delivery terms, initiation date, and completion date, as appropriate. See NAII 1050.1, Space Act Agreements Guide. The legal authority under which each individual order is being conducted and priced will be explicitly stated on the each order. In those cases, executed annexes will comprise funding documents from which reimbursable budget authority is made available to perform work.
l. Descriptions of Interim or Final Financial Status Reporting. It is the responsibility of the reimbursable customer to specify content and frequency of interim or final financial status reports prepared by NASA and furnished to the reimbursable customer. Requirements for financial status reports, if any, should be included in the terms of the reimbursable agreement. Notwithstanding requirements for interim or final financial status reports, support for customer billings can be furnished as needed, as well as descriptions of balances remaining available to continue work under the agreement. If the customer is another Federal agency, in accordance with Treasury Financial Manual Volume 1, Bulletin No. 2011-04, "Intergovernmental Business Rules," such performance reporting shall be provided no later than 30 days after the accountable event, or before the close of the quarterly reporting period, whichever occurs first. Generally, it should be the responsibility of the performing organization subject to oversight from the Center CFO office (in consultation with a Mission Directorate, if applicable) to confirm that such financial status reporting to reimbursable customers is in agreement with and supported by accounting data. Where an agreement involves work by more than one NASA Center/facility, generally the financial status reporting to the reimbursable customer is the responsibility of the lead Center that negotiated the agreement or, if applicable, a Mission Directorate responsible for a multi-Center agreement.
m. Reporting of Full Cost to Federal Agency Customers. In accordance with SFFAS No. 30, Inter-Entity Cost Implementation: Amending SFFAS 4, Managerial Cost Accounting Standards and Concepts, NASA (as the performing agency on reimbursable agreements) shall be responsible in certain circumstances for reporting full costs of work being performed to the other agency customer regardless of what portion of the full costs are reimbursed. The customer agency should have already determined that full costs as reported by NASA: (1) are significant to the other agency; (2) form an integral or necessary part of the other agency's output; and (3) can be identified or matched to the reimbursable project with reasonable precision. It is the responsibility of the other agency (i.e., a Federal reimbursable customer) to include applicable reporting requirements in order to comply with SFFAS No. 30 in the reimbursable agreement. Unless the requirement for full-cost reporting is included in the terms of the reimbursable agreement, it will not be policy to report NASA's full costs to reimbursable customers of reimbursable agreements, other than as support for reimbursable billings.
2.2.2 Documentation of reimbursable agreements shall include:
a. Estimated Cost of the Work or Services, with any Revised Estimates. If there are revised cost estimates, document with a revised EPR. A revised EPR is required if the revised total reimbursable cost varies from the original estimated cost by more than $10,000 and will be promptly submitted for review and approval by Center CFOs (for example, when the scope of reimbursable work or services has changed). Center CFOs have the latitude to require EPRs based on more stringent criteria (e.g., lower dollar thresholds). Regardless of whether there is a revised EPR, there should be a corresponding modification to the agreement signed by both parties to reflect an increase in cost to complete the work. Also, regardless of whether there is a revised EPR in the case of a revised cost estimate, there shall be justification(s) and approval for any waived costs. If there is a modification to a proposed funding source(s) for waived costs or indirect costs that are excluded (in accordance with policy or statute, such as CSLA), the agreement requires approval by the Center CFO. If revised estimates will affect the terms of the agreement with the reimbursable customer (i.e., expected total reimbursement from the customer, schedule, or scope of performance), signatures for an agreement modification should include those from an authorized NASA person and the reimbursable customer. If a revised estimate will not involve a change to the terms of the reimbursable agreement, approval of the modified estimate would be internal within NASA and would not require concurrence by the reimbursable customer. Examples of modifications that do not require a signature from the reimbursable customer would include changes to accounts being charged and amounts of alternative sources of funding for waived costs, as long as the amount ultimately due from the customer is not changed.
b. The total cost of the agreement, the price to be borne by the customer and the cost, if any, to be borne by NASA.
c. The funding citation(s) for the NASA portion of the work.
d. For non-Federal customers, an approved waiver of the advance payment requirement, if applicable.
e. The EPR supporting the agreement, which should include descriptions of significant cost components. Rate(s) at which indirect costs are to be applied (i.e., Center Management and Operations rate) may be indicated in the agreement.
2.2.3 Business Rules.
2.2.3.1 Each reimbursable agreement will be assigned a project WBS in accordance with Agency policies and requirements for program and project identification. All reimbursable agreements (or stand-alone orders under multiple order agreements) shall be numbered so that they can be individually identified.
2.2.3.2 If the reimbursable agreement involves segments or portions of work established separately in the Agency accounting system, those shall be classified appropriately so each segment or portion can be associated with the reimbursable agreement. That can include, but is not limited to, accounting classifications to support work at different NASA Centers for portions of work under the agreement or separate accounting classifications set up in a succeeding fiscal year to support continuation of work under the same agreement.
2.2.3.3 Costs are to be recorded in accordance with the cost requirements of NPR 9060.1, Cost Accruals.
2.2.3.4 No commitments or obligations may be established nor costs incurred under a reimbursable agreement until the agreement has been approved and signed by authorized representatives of both NASA and the customer and the following conditions are met:
a. Formal reimbursable funding authority has been issued to the performing Center(s) through the Fund Control Process contained in NPR 9470.1, Budget Execution.
b. If the customer is a non-Federal entity, a cash advance has been received by the Center, except where otherwise authorized by law and approved by the Center CFO.
c. If the customer is a Federal agency, an advance or funds citation has been provided. Advances may be requested from Federal customers via IPAC for agreements greater than $1 million or if determined by the NASA Center CFO to be in the best interests of NASA and the Center in order to maintain cash solvency.
2.2.3.5 The performance of reimbursable agreements is subject to all of NASA's normal program management, financial management, and Federal and NASA acquisition regulations, as applicable. In addition, the following requirements apply to reimbursable agreements:
a. Financial records and reports shall be maintained at both the customer order level, as well as the agreement level, to facilitate performance management and financial management.
b. Performance, billings, and closeouts will be executed on a timely basis as specified in the reimbursable agreement and in NPR 9210.1 and 9610.1. A refund to a reimbursable customer in the amount of $100,000 or more requires the review and approval of the Center CFO.
c. Project management practices shall comply with requirements in NPR 7120.5. That includes requirements for Earned Value Management (EVM) flowed down from the reimbursable customer, if needed. In practice, this would apply to reimbursable agreements at NASA only under very limited circumstances, as described in NPR 7120.5 (which would primarily apply to very large agreements to be performed over an extended period).
d. NASA Headquarters and Centers shall comply with the intragovernmental transaction data and reconciliation requirements contained in the Business Rules for Intragovernmental Transactions. The rules are located in the Treasury Financial Manual Volume 1, Bulletin No. 2011-04, "Intragovernmental Business Rules." They are mandatory for all departments and agencies.
2.2.3.6 Before each Reimbursable Agreement is approved, the Center CFO office, Headquarters Office of Budget Management and System Support for Headquarters' agreements, and NMO for work to be performed by JPL shall ensure that all of the following requirements, at a minimum, are satisfied:
a. The reimbursable agreement shall explicitly state the legal authority under which the reimbursable agreement is being conducted.
b. When portions of a reimbursable agreement are conducted under different legal authorities, the work performed under each authority shall be clearly identified as a separate task with a separate EPR that identifies the costs and pricing applicable to that task.
c. The estimated full costs of performing the work are reviewed for each proposed agreement.
d. When market-based pricing is used, the market-based pricing structure established for the Center shall be correctly applied to the agreement. The difference between the full-cost and the market-based price is the waived cost and will be shown in the price adjustment column of the EPR. Amounts billed and collected in excess of the full cost of providing the work shall be deposited into Treasury's Miscellaneous Receipts account, unless NASA has statutory authority to retain such amounts.
e. If the amount of the price adjustment requires waiving any costs that will be incurred because of the agreement, the Center CFO shall verify that an alternative funding source is identified for the waived cost and that the program or project office concurs with the use of their funding. The Center CFO or the Agency CFO may seek concurrence from an applicable Mission Directorate regarding the use of program funding. All cost waivers involving reimbursable agreements in which the price to the customer is less than the direct cost require the approval of the Agency CFO.
f. In the case of a non-Federal reimbursable customer, a cash advance will be obtained before performing work. Where a non-Federal party demonstrates a financial hardship or legal restriction prohibiting advance payments and is requesting that reimbursable work commence in advance of the receipt of funds by NASA, a waiver will be approved by the Center CFO. Such a waiver may only be approved if the work is of a type that NASA could properly fund on its own and funds are certified and allocated to account for costs that may accrue prior to the provision of funds by the non-Federal party. Where an advance is not received from a non-Federal reimbursable customer, ensure that a valid source of direct program funding would be available to fund reimbursable work in case a reimbursement is not realized from the non-Federal customer. A valid source of direct funding should be consistent with the intended purposes of direct program funding in accordance with 31 U.S.C. §1301(a). If NASA makes or authorizes an expenditure or obligation without a valid source of funding, that may constitute a violation of the Antideficiency Act.
g. Multiple Orders Reimbursable Agreements. When a reimbursable Space Act agreement calls for the issuance of multiple individual orders, each order will be treated as a separate agreement for the purposes of costing, pricing, billing, and collection. The requirements of this NPR are to be applied to each order as if it were a single stand-alone agreement.
h. Reimbursable Agreements with Federal Customers. By signing the agreement, the Requesting Agency confirms:
(1) That a bona fide need exists and that funds are for the designated purpose, meet time limitations, and are legally available for the acquisition described in the agreement.
(2) That all unique funding and procurement requirements, including all statutory and regulatory requirements applicable to the funding being provided, have been disclosed to the Servicing Agency (i.e., NASA).
(3) All internal reviews and approvals required by the Requesting Agency prior to transferring funds to NASA have been completed.
2.2.4 Monitoring Controls. Internal controls will be established and enforced to prevent the amount chargeable to the customer from exceeding the reimbursement amount specified in the reimbursable agreement.
2.2.4.1 All levels of management involved in the execution of the reimbursable agreement, including, but not limited to, the reimbursable project manager, the agreements manager, the performing organization, and the Office of the CFO share this responsibility.
2.2.4.2 Reimbursable project costs shall be closely monitored so that if needed, additional funding can be requested from the customer before costs in excess of the agreed upon amount are incurred. In addition, controls will be in place to ensure that amounts collected from reimbursable customers are credited to the NASA appropriation and program year used to pay for the work.
2.2.4.3 NASA will not provide services or incur costs beyond the available funding amount. Although a good faith effort to accurately estimate costs is expected, NASA provides no assurance to the customer that the proposed effort under the agreement will be accomplished for the estimated amount.
a. Should the effort cost more than the estimate, the customer will be advised by NASA as soon as possible. If there is any uncertainty regarding obtaining sufficient funding to cover the work, it is the responsibility of the Agreement Manager and the project office to stop work until sufficient funding is made available based on a revised estimate.
b. If there is a revised estimate, the reimbursable customer shall pay all costs incurred and have the option of canceling the remaining effort or providing additional funding in order to continue the proposed effort under the revised estimate.
2.2.4.4 In general, in the absence of a signed agreement and distribution of reimbursable budget authority based on that signed agreement, direct (i.e. non-reimbursable) funding sources shall not be used to finance work in connection with the reimbursable project (exceptions are noted below in Section 2.2.4.5). Direct funding sources are not to be used to finance continuation of work by NASA because of insufficient reimbursable funding on the part of the customer.
2.2.4.5 Generally, use of direct funding sources for reimbursable work shall be limited to the following:
a. Costs associated with negotiating the agreement, determining technical specification and scope of work, scheduling of resources, estimating costs, and other costs that are reasonable and normally associated with preparation for reimbursable work.
b. Waived costs under the agreement based on benefits to NASA from the work or excluded (in accordance with policy or statute, such as CSLA), as documented on the EPR and approved by the Center CFO and as described in Section 4.2.4.
c. If an agreement is being negotiated with a reimbursable customer and it is determined that the scope of the work under the agreement is both time-sensitive and critical in the performance of NASA missions, such that NASA programs would be adversely impacted by delays in executing the reimbursable agreement (or delays in obtaining an advance from a non-Federal customer), a Center may authorize use of direct funds pending a signed agreement (with an advance, if applicable) and with an understanding that costs incurred would be eventually covered by reimbursable authority once the signed agreement (with an advance, if applicable) is obtained by the end of the fiscal year. A determination that the agreement is both time-sensitive and critical in the performance of NASA missions should occur only under unusual circumstances and may be proposed by the performing program office, but it will be approved by the Center CFO and Center legal counsel in consultation with the related NASA Mission Directorate (or the Office of International and Interagency Relations (OIIR) in cases of agreements with international partners). If a reimbursable agreement to cover that work is not executed by the end of the fiscal year (with an advance, if applicable), reimbursable budget authority will not be available and direct funds will have been used. By approving use of direct funds under such circumstances, the Center CFO acknowledges both of the following:
(1) The scope of the work is consistent with the purpose of direct funding available to the Center.
(2) Sufficient direct funds are available without impacting other NASA programs.
2.2.4.6 Reimbursable Work for a Non-Federal Customer
a. Generally, reimbursable work for a non-Federal customer is preceded by an advance from the customer to cover the work. In some cases, NASA performs work and does not receive some or all of the reimbursement due from the customer. This occurs primarily in the following situations:
(1) NASA and the customer have a dispute regarding the amount due from the customer under an agreement.
(2) The requirement for an advance has been waived, and the customer fails to pay once work has been done.
(3) NASA incurs costs for work in excess of the estimated price for the agreement, and the customer fails to pay for the additional work.
(4) NASA incurs costs for work before reimbursable authority for the work is made available to the Center, and reimbursable authority is still not available before the end of the fiscal year.
(5) NASA incurs costs for work before an agreement has been signed, and no agreement covering that work is ultimately executed.
(6) NASA closes the agreement and determines that additional costs are chargeable to the agreement after excess funds have been returned to the customer.
b. If, after consultation with legal counsel, it is determined that NASA has a legal claim to recover additional reimbursement from a customer, relevant debt collection procedures shall be followed to recover the amount from the customer. Such debt collection activities would be the responsibility of the NSSC in consultation with the Center CFO office and, if needed, OCFO, in accordance with NPR 9610.1, Accounts Receivable. If it has been determined that the debt is uncollectible, the specific policies for collection and close-out of debt under NPR 9635.1, Billings and Collections, should be followed. The unreimbursed expenditure of appropriated funds should also be reviewed by the Center CFO and Center legal counsel (include OCFO and OGC if expired funds were involved) to determine whether use of such funds meets requirements relating to the purpose and period of availability of the charged appropriation for the work performed to determine if a deficiency situation exists.
c. If, after consultation with legal counsel, it is determined that NASA does not have a legal claim to recover additional reimbursement from a customer or a reimbursable authority is not available for the fiscal year covering the uncollected reimbursement, the unreimbursed expenditure of appropriated funds should be reviewed by the Center CFO and Center legal counsel (include OCFO and OGC if expired funds were involved) to determine whether use of such funds meets requirements relating to the purpose and period of availability of the charged appropriation for the work performed to determine if a deficiency situation exists.
d. If it is determined, either through a dispute with the customer or through an internal review, that NASA has incorrectly charged or retained customer funds, the billing (or liquidation of a customer advance, if applicable) corresponding to the costs in question should be reversed and an appropriate source of direct funding should be identified for any unreimbursed costs remaining after the reversal.
2.2.4.7 If direct funding is used to cover costs for reimbursable work and the work was not consistent with the intended purpose of the direct program funding or relevant direct funds were not available in the same period(s) in which the obligations were incurred, a deficiency situation might exist in accordance with the Antideficiency Act. The Antideficiency Act prohibits making or authorizing an expenditure from, or creating or authorizing an obligation under, any appropriation or fund in excess of the amount available in the appropriation or fund unless authorized by law. However, a deficiency situation might not necessarily arise if unreimbursed costs are non-incremental, i.e., costs are shared with another valid source of funding (e.g., CMO, other indirect costs) and which would be incurred by NASA without the reimbursable agreement that should be part of an analysis by the Center CFO and Center legal counsel (include OCFO and OGC if expired funds were involved) in circumstances as described above in order to determine if a deficiency situation exists 2.2.4.8 Should work under the agreement be terminated prior to completion, or the effort completed at a cost less than the agreed estimated cost, NASA shall account for any unobligated as well as any undisbursed funds within a reasonable period (generally within 30 days, but which may be specified in the agreement) after completion of all work and promptly thereafter, return any unobligated advance funds to the customer. Regarding obligated but undisbursed funds, NASA has incurred binding obligations on behalf of the customer and should retain advance funds pending resolution of the obligations (either deobligation or payment to vendors).
2.3.4 All proposed reimbursable agreements forwarded to the Center CFO or Headquarters, Funds Control and Distribution Branch, for concurrence will be accompanied by an EPR showing the estimated cost-by-cost element (except for umbrella agreements that do not include annexes with funding requirements). All proposed waived costs (or cost exclusions under a CSLA or similar agreement) will be identified in the Price Adjustment column on the EPR. The requirements for determining, approving, and documenting the market-based level of reimbursement are identified in Chapter 4 of this NPR.
2.3.4.1 During the planning for the reimbursable agreement, the lead NASA Center will determine whether some of the work might be performed at other Centers and, as needed, will collaborate with other Centers to ensure that all costs to be incurred by each participating NASA Center and related schedules will be included in support of the agreement.
2.3.4.2 If it has been determined that other Centers will be expected to perform some of the work under the agreement, terms of the agreement affecting the price to the customer (e.g., use of a reduced CMO rate) will apply to work being done at other NASA Centers. The lead NASA Center shall negotiate any planned waived costs with other Centers planning to do that work and will obtain concurrences from the CFO offices at those Centers for the waiving of those costs. If costs other than CMO are waived at the other NASA Centers, that will also be agreed to by the offices at those Centers responsible for providing the alternative source of funding for the waived costs.
2.3.5 A sample of the EPR format is provided as APPENDIX D of this NPR. The items listed on the sample EPR represent the minimum information that will be documented on the EPR. Centers may create worksheets that are reasonable facsimiles of the sample EPR. However, as stated above, the information in the sample EPR represents the minimum information expected. A Center worksheet constituting an EPR shall provide support for full costs of the project, clearly identify the components of the price to be charged to the customer, and account for any costs that are waived or indirect costs that are excluded, in order to arrive at the price to be charged. The total of any details comprising the full cost of the effort, the total of the price adjustments, and the total comprising the price to the customer should be apparent.
2.3.6 If the price to be charged to the customer is greater than the full cost of performing the work, the EPR shall contain sufficient explanatory notes to make it clear that the price is greater than the cost. The amount collected that exceeds the full cost will be deposited to Miscellaneous Receipts at Treasury, unless NASA has statutory authority to retain such amounts.
2.3.7 Generally, the total of the price to the customer on the EPR is to be considered support for the reimbursable order accepted to be posted in the accounting system as the basis for reimbursable budget authority. As discussed in Section 2.2.2, a revised EPR is not required if a revised estimate is insignificant with respect to the agreement.
2.3.8 The EPR is to be considered an internal NASA planning document. It is not itself a part of the contractual agreement with the customer but is intended to provide support to the estimates developed for performing the work. The amount eventually due from the customer might differ from the estimates in the EPR depending on the terms of the reimbursable agreement. The information contained in the EPR may be shared with the customer but with an understanding that it is a basis for a planning estimate and the amount that will be eventually due from the customer will be based on terms included in the agreement. In addition, cost breakdowns included in the EPR are to be considered planning estimates and are not binding ceilings in the contractual agreement unless expressly indicated in the agreement.
2.4.1 When advances are received from non-Federal reimbursable customers they will be deposited promptly in accordance with the procedures in NPR 9635.1, Billing and Collection. Advances from Federal reimbursable customers should be requested via IPAC for deposit to the NASA appropriation being used to execute the work. Cash advances should be received from non-Federal entities by the NASA Shared Service Center (NSSC) on behalf of Centers.
2.4.2 Advances Received by NASA. All advances received from reimbursable customers, both Federal and non-Federal, will be credited as Advances from Others to the NASA appropriation that is being used to execute the work and will reference the relevant reimbursable agreement, regardless of whether performance of the requested work is pending. Advances from reimbursable customers are received and deposited by the NSSC. Centers are responsible for recording reimbursable advances in the accounting system. If an advance is received, but a valid signed agreement has not yet been executed or if there is a delay in establishing accounting classifications representing the reimbursable agreement, the advance should credit the account established for Advances without Orders from non-Federal Sources, in accordance with guidance from the Agency OCFO.
2.4.3 If the customer is a non-Federal entity and the requirement for an advance has not been expressly waived, interim/partial advances for the work to be performed under the agreement may be approved by the Center CFO. Such advances cover work to be performed through specific periods (e.g., through a fiscal quarter or through a specific date) or through logical breakpoints or milestones in work so that the next phase or series of tasks proceed only after sufficient advance funding is received. In those circumstances, the Center shall maintain controls to ensure that sufficient funding to continue work and incur obligations will be made available only after a corresponding advance is received from the customer and that obligations could be incurred only up to the amount of the outstanding advance.
2.5.1 Billing.
2.5.1.1 Billing Frequency. Generally, as costs are incurred, the NSSC bills reimbursable customers monthly. Billing frequency might, however, vary from monthly if specified in the reimbursable agreement. The monthly calculation and processing of an amount owed to NASA is required whether or not an advance has been received. In those cases where an advance has been received, the billing triggers a reduction of the balance in the "Advances from Others" general ledger account in the amount of the bill.
2.5.1.2 Cost-Effectiveness of Interim Billings. Unless specified otherwise in the agreement, a regular interim reimbursable billing could be deferred when the amount of a periodic billing would not be cost-effective to process and the Center expects that additional cost will be recorded. That shall be based on an analysis of transaction processing costs by OCFO in collaboration with the NSSC.
a. Generally, there should be a basis for deferring a billing if the amount of the bill is less than the incremental cost of processing the bill and the related collection.
b. Agency collection procedures should provide for periodic comparisons of costs incurred and amounts collected in order to determine cost-effective dollar thresholds at which to process interim reimbursable billings.
c. Reimbursable costs that are considered final will be billed when incurred notwithstanding a dollar threshold for cost-effective billing, as described above. A final bill shall include any unbilled balance brought forward from previous periods.
d. Reimbursable costs shall be billed when incurred, if required by provisions in the reimbursable agreement, or if work has been suspended and it is expected that additional billings will not be forthcoming on a recurring basis.
e. An amount that remains unbilled (because an interim billing has been deferred) would be brought forward in the next billing cycle as a beginning unbilled balance.
f. NASA Centers, including project and resource staffs responsible for performance and financial status reporting to reimbursable customers, shall account for any reimbursable costs that have not yet been billed.
g. Any process for deferring interim billings will provide for the timely recognition of reimbursable revenue and shall be approved by the Director, Financial Management Division, OCFO.
2.5.1.3 Each bill will show the agreement number, provide other information needed by the customer, and reflect the data requirements that were agreed to and included in the reimbursable agreement.
2.5.1.4 Collections for cost incurred will be immediately deposited to NASA appropriations. Amounts billed in excess of full costs incurred by NASA shall be deposited to the Treasury Miscellaneous Receipts account (Account 803220, General Fund Proprietary Receipts) when collected, unless NASA has statutory authority to retain such amounts.
2.5.1.5 Headquarters Negotiated Reimbursable Agreements. In the case of reimbursable agreements negotiated by NASA Headquarters, the NASA Center performing the work is responsible for validating amounts of the customer's proposed billings as costs are incurred in collaboration with the NSSC, which is responsible for the actual billing process. When more than one Center is assigned responsibility for portions of a Headquarters-negotiated agreement, each participating Center will be issued specific reimbursable authority. The Executive Director for Headquarters Operations will be responsible for tracking the financial status of the entire agreement. The Headquarters office that negotiated the agreement will provide the performing Centers copies of the agreement and any applicable supplemental data.
2.5.1.6 In order to ensure validity, cost and billings should be regularly reviewed by persons knowledgeable in resource utilization of the project. Corrections or adjustments to reimbursable billings will be accomplished in a timely manner. If possible, corrections will be accomplished within the same accounting period as that in which discrepancies were identified. Corrections and adjustments shall be associated with the accounting periods in which the corrections were recorded.
2.5.1.7 Payment Methods. NASA Centers should make every effort to have customers submit all payments electronically, including advances. NPR 9050.4 describes the various electronic payment methods that can be used by Federal and non-Federal customers.
2.5.1.8 Prompt payment Interest. Per guidance in the memorandum from the Administrator, Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP-OMB), "Improving the Management and Use of Interagency Acquisitions," June 2008, the customer is responsible for interest owed under the Prompt Payment Act except that the Servicing Agency (i.e., NASA) is responsible for interest owed to the contractor due to delays created by actions of NASA. Consequently, if the delay resulting in Prompt Pay interest is the fault of NASA, the interest should be absorbed by a NASA direct funding source and not billed to the reimbursable customer.
2.5.1.9 Per OMB Circular No. A-11, Preparation, Submission, and Execution of the Budget, transactions authorized by the Economy Act are limited by the statutory requirement that the amount obligated by the ordering appropriation is required to be deobligated to the extent that the agency or unit filling the order has not incurred obligations before the end of the period of availability of the ordering appropriation. Funds should no longer be available to incur new obligations by NASA after the appropriation from the ordering agency has expired. Consequently, NASA should resolve all billing and costing issues with the Federal reimbursable customer as much as possible prior to the expiration of the ordering agency's funds.
2.5.1.10 A preliminary final bill shall be submitted to the reimbursable customer as specified in the agreement or no later than 90 days after the agreement completion date. The final bill will be submitted to the customer by the end of the month in which the final costs are recorded or as soon as possible thereafter.
a. For non-Federal customers, advances which have not been offset by charges in accordance with the reimbursable agreement will be refunded. If actual costs are projected to exceed estimated costs, NASA shall make a reasonable effort to obtain additional funding from the customer to bill and to collect for the actual costs in excess of estimated cost, unless specifically waived by the Center CFO (e.g., where the amounts owed are inconsequential and the cost to collect payment will exceed the amount owed).
b. For Federal customers, any advances which have not been offset by actual costs will be refunded. NASA shall bill and collect for all actual costs in excess of the estimated cost where provided for in the agreement unless specifically waived by the Center CFO (e.g., where the amounts owed are inconsequential).
c. In order to minimize excessive refunds or additional billings, every effort shall be made to ensure that all costs and cost adjustments are recorded in a timely manner.
d. A claim for reimbursement to recover from the customer reimbursable costs that have been incurred by NASA and which cannot be offset against a cash advance can be considered reimbursable debt. Generally, since agreements with non-Federal customers are accompanied by an advance, reimbursable debt should not normally arise. In the case of agreements with Federal customers, since costs are generally reimbursed by IPAC, debts should normally be promptly collected. If reimbursable debts remain outstanding, debt collection efforts are to be pursued by the Agency. If reimbursable debts to recover costs incurred on behalf of the reimbursable customer are determined to be uncollectible, they may not be written off. An alternative source of funding shall be identified to cover costs that have already been incurred. See Section 2.2.4.5.
e. A billing for an appropriation refund, which typically represents an overpayment to a vendor or to an employee, shall not be considered as an equivalent to a reimbursable debt and, accordingly, would not result in earned reimbursable income, regardless of whether reimbursable funds are involved. Budgetary authority for the amount of the debt is restored under the agreement only after the amount is collected. Such debts may be written off if they are determined to be uncollectible after debt collection efforts, in accordance with guidance in OMB Circular A-129, Policies for Federal Credit Programs and Non-Tax Receivables, NPR 9610.1, and NPR 9635.1.
2.5.2 Recording Collections
2.5.2.7 Agreements with Advances. Where money has been collected in advance, the funds should be recorded as advances received from others. The advance account is liquidated as described above in Section 2.5.1.1.
2.5.2.2 Agreements without Advances. Where money has not been collected in advance, Centers should bill as described above or as specified in the agreement based on costs incurred. Each bill will identify the specific agreement number and be forwarded to the customer in accordance with the instructions contained in the agreement. For costs incurred at the Center level, collections shall be credited to the NASA appropriation that was used to fund the reimbursable work.
2.6.1 The financial status of each reimbursable agreement should be available to the NASA Project Manager, as well as the participating service pool managers, within seven business days after the end of the month, so that all needed information is available to support proper management of reimbursable agreements.
2.6.2 The Center CFO office is responsible for trading partner reporting information on the status of revenue earned to Federal reimbursable customers on a monthly basis, as required by Treasury Financial Manual Volume 1, Bulletin No. 2011-04, "Intergovernmental Business Rules."
2.6.3 Application of Reimbursements Received.
2.6.3.1 Receipts from reimbursable work may be credited to NASA appropriations, based on the principle that actual costs have increased, directly or indirectly to NASA as a result of the reimbursable work unless a statutory exception permits their retention. Receipts from reimbursable work may only be credited to the fiscal year appropriation from which the cost of providing the service was paid. Otherwise, receipts should be credited to the Treasury Miscellaneous Receipts Account. The following will be considered in making this determination:
a. NASA shall ensure that funds received represent reasonable compensation for costs incurred. An amount received in excess of the amount billed under the agreement (which typically represents actual full cost incurred) will be returned to the customer. The only exceptions are agreements where NASA charges market price and the market price exceeds NASA's full cost or if there is a variance when standard cost rates are used resulting in amounts charged in excess of actual costs incurred. In those situations, the amount billed and received that exceeds full cost will be deposited to the Treasury Miscellaneous Receipts Account, unless specific legislative authority, such as the EUL authority, permits retention by the Agency.
2.6.3.2 Budgetary Resources and Appropriation Augmentation.
a. Reimbursements credited to NASA appropriations may not exceed the costs incurred in the performance of the associated reimbursable agreement, unless specific legislative authority permits retention by the Agency. Depositing amounts in excess of costs incurred to NASA appropriations would represent an unauthorized augmentation of NASA's appropriations. Amounts collected that exceed costs incurred will be deposited as Miscellaneous Receipts.
b. NASA's reimbursable budget authority is provided by OMB incident to the Agency's request in the President's annual budget. This reimbursable authority is not the same as direct budget authority. Reimbursable budget authority is authority to enter into reimbursable agreements with other entities and accept funding from other entities as reimbursement for the cost of services rendered or goods provided. Budgetary resources become available to incur obligations only after reimbursable agreements are entered into and remain available as long as the fund under which the reimbursable work remains available or the customer's funds remain available (if the customer is another Federal agency), whichever is shorter. If the customer's funds remain available into a new fiscal year after NASA's reimbursable authority has expired, continuation of work by NASA under the agreement will be set up with authority made available in the new fiscal year and offsetting anticipated reimbursements apportioned by OMB in the new fiscal year. Reimbursable work involves the receipt of funds from sources other than NASA's direct appropriations and crediting them to NASA appropriations.
2.6.4 Budgetary resources available to perform work for a reimbursable customer are limited to only what is realized as a consequence of the specific agreement involved. Budgetary resources associated with a particular reimbursable agreement or customer shall not be made available for performing work for a different agreement or customer.
2.6.5 Recognition of Earned Reimbursements. In accordance with SFFAS No. 7, Accounting for Revenue and Other Financing Sources and Concepts for Reconciling Budgetary and Financial Accounting, "earned" or "exchange" revenues are earned when a Government entity provides goods and services to the public or to another Government entity for a price. In practice, that would correspond to costs incurred by NASA in performance of work associated with a reimbursable agreement.
2.6.6 Indirect costs will be recognized as reimbursable services are rendered and reimbursements earned. That should not, however, affect contractual arrangements or billing provisions in reimbursable agreements. In cases where amounts to cover indirect costs are collected but not yet earned, those amounts shall be recorded as advances to be applied as costs, as services are rendered and revenue is earned.
2.6.7 Because of the discretion available to each Center concerning the selection of the legal authority under which a reimbursable agreement is conducted and decisions to waive costs, Center CFO's shall collect information on and monitor all reimbursable agreements priced at less than full cost to ensure consistency of pricing and fairness across all customers.
2.6.8 Center CFOs shall submit a reimbursable activity report annually to the Agency OCFO. The report will include the number and dollar value of reimbursable agreements and data on waived and excluded costs. The report format will be issued annually to Center CFOs by the OCFO.
| TOC | Preface | Chapter1 | Chapter2 | Chapter3 | Chapter4 | Chapter5 | AppendixA | AppendixB | AppendixC | AppendixD | AppendixE | ALL | |
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