Coordinate Budget

Competitive Sourcing Buddy Coordinate Budget Coordinate Budget Revision Date: October 5, 2007 Introduction/Background The Team, in close coordination with the Competitive Sourcing Official (CSO) in charge of program budget management and the executives overseeing the impacted function, are responsible for developing and overseeing project team resources. It is important that the CSO and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) representatives are involved in budget development and monitoring. Team responsibilities include appropriate planning and tracking of travel, time, reimbursable expenses, and identifying budget impacts. Plan and report travel expenses    Make travel projections as early as possible in the development process. Reconcile the travel budget on a regular and frequent basis, ensuring all vouchers are filed timely, and with the correct accounting codes. Contact the Competitive Sourcing Budget Program Manager for budget questions related to travel projections, travel codes, and travel budget revisions. See Reimburse Travel for additional guidance. Track time   Team members must use the appropriate time codes to ensure human resources dedicated to the Team effort are accurately tracked. See sample, Time Reporting for Competitive Sourcing Studies. Contact the Competitive Sourcing Budget Program Manager for budget questions regarding time codes. Plan and manage reimbursable and non-reimbursable expenses  The Team must submit estimates of planned expenses to the CSO. These expenses include travel, training, support staff travel, Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA) and Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment (VSIP) and severance expenses, contractor support, reference materials, letter of obligation or contract administration and surveillance. See Reimburse Travel for additional guidance. Develop and submit a revised budget request if required. The CSO Program Manager in charge of the budget should note any required background investigations for support contractors. The Implementation Team will obtain funding and prepare requisitions for background investigations for any contractors after award.   Page 1 of 3 Competitive Sourcing Buddy Coordinate Budget     The Business Unit is responsible for the costs of the contract or letter of obligation. The Team should alert the Business Unit to any solicitation modifications that could impact that cost. The Business Unit and the CSO are both responsible for some of the costs of staffing the GPMO. Agreement should be reached shortly after the performance decision is announced. Performance Work Statement (PWS) Team Members and later the Implementation Team must coordinate with the CSO and Human Resources to estimate costs of terminal leave. The Business Unit is responsible for these costs. Look for creative ways to help fund employee career transition assistance. (One project used money from an employee recycling program to fund career counselors on-site.) Be sure to consult the CFO staff and possibly a legal service provider to determine any limitations on how funds can be used. Keep the CSO, CFO, and impacted Business Unit executives informed of budget impacts.    The Team should meet early on with impacted executives, the CSO, and CFO staff to alert them to potential budget impacts. New budget and time codes may be needed to track Team and Government Program Management Office (GPMO) activities. In the case of the Most Efficient Organization (MEO), different budget codes are likely to be used in MEO versus contractor win. In MEO wins, some costs allocated to other organizations must be tracked (For example, real estate and information systems). In the case of the MEO and the Business Case Analysis (BCA), Imprest funds, lock boxes, voucher payments, bill payments and other financial system impacts should be anticipated. Changes to budget tracking systems and codes may be required. In the case of the MEO, Automated Financial Systems routings and financial codes may require revision, particularly if some office locations may change or be eliminated. Actual changes required will be determined by the winning proposal and executed by the Implementation Team, CFO, and the CSO. Training budgets will likely be impacted.    Plan for changes to financial codes, plans, and reporting  The Team should alert the CFO and the CSO to any anticipated barriers they may see to setting up or modifying accounting systems for operations. The Team will work with the CFO and the CSO to set up or modify accounting systems to track and monitor all costs (travel, supplies, training, moves, overtime, salaries, awards, etc). Page 2 of 3 Competitive Sourcing Buddy Coordinate Budget        Because of their expert knowledge of the solicitation, the PWS Team should provide particularly significant input to the CSO and Implementation Team on financial impacts. The PWS Team should provide a listing of financial tasks/impacts anticipated to the CSO and Implementation Team. For example, based on the PWS scope, there may be anticipated impacts on direct and indirect costs such as leases, contracts, postage, printing, and staffing. Your PWS may allow for and you may be projecting increased automation. As a result, you may anticipate certain costs will change or be eliminated entirely. You may wish to list any anticipated tasks in a Microsoft Project Schedule to assist the Implementation Team with their planning. Any delays may impact money available for reimbursable expenses. “No year” funds have not been available for Competitive Sourcing projects. Contact the Competitive Sourcing Budget Program Manager for assistance if you feel changes are required. In the case of the MEO and the BCA, coordinate with the business unit to ensure emergency salary payment capability is readily available to assist employees during VERA/VSIP, particularly if you have revocable VERA/VSIP offered. Staffing for Procurement to oversee contract administration should be coordinated through the Competitive Sourcing Program Manager for budget. OMB CircularA-76, Attachment C, contains staffing guidelines for contract administration based on the MEO staffing. The PWS Team is normally responsible for coordination of solicitation amendments through Procurement until contract award and for analysis and coordination of any budget impacts. The MEO and Implementation Teams will work with the CFO and the CSO to set up methods to request and track funds for modifications to contract requirements after award and will analyze and coordinate budget impacts. Savings (budget, staffing) are projected during the BCA. The PWS Team must update those projections and coordinate with OCS, CFO, and impacted executives. Changes may be required because of changes in the original scope of work, significant workload changes (increase or decrease), or delays in award of the solicitation. References: Reimburse Travel Time Reporting for Competitive Sourcing Studies OMB CircularA-76, Attachment C http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a076/a76_incl_tech_corre ction.html#c Page 3 of 3