J&A_(Contract_50310218P0039).pdf

UNITED STATES

SECURITI ES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

100 F STREET, NE

WASHINGTON, DC 20549

ACQUISITIONS

JUSTIFICATION FOR SOLE SOURCE ACQUISITION

RQ 65000-18-0042

J&A Number: 2018-0052

Upon the basis of the following justification, I, as the Contracting Officer, hereby approve the use of limited competition of tt~e proposed contractual action pursuant the authority of FAR Part

13.5 in accordance with 41 U.S.C. 1901, only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency Requirements.

1. Tdenti~cation of the agency and the contracting activity, and specific identification of the document as a "Justification for other than full and open competition."

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

100 F Street, NE Washington, DC 20549

This document serves a Justification for a sole source justification.

2. Nature and Description of Action Being Approved:

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) intends to award a contract on a sole source basis to CCH Incorporated for online subscription to the CCH Accounting Research

Manager (ARM}, an extensive collection of U.S. and international accounting and auditing publications.

The SEC intends to award the contract for a Base Period of 12-months, and four 12-month

Option Periods. The total estimated value of the Base Period is~, which will use FY

18 funds. The total estimated value of the contract is~.

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency's needs (including the estimated value).

The requirement is for an online subscription to CCH ARM. The content includes the publications of accounting standards boards and regulators, as well as interpretive guidance, proposal stage publications, and practice aid materials.

Required content includes publications by the following organizations: American Institute of

Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Emerging Issues Task Force (EITF), Financial

Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and its predecessors, FASB Derivative Implementation

Group (DIG), International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and its predecessor, Public

Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) and Committee of Sponsoring Organizations

(COSO)—Internal Control Integrated.

Specific publications proprietary to CCH are required such as: Public Accounting Report;

Revenue Recognition Guide by Scott Taub; Financial Instruments: A Comprehensive Guide to

Accounting &Reporting by Scott Taub, Rosennarie Sangiuolo, and Leslie Seidman; and comprehensive and up-to-date accounting guides covering the subjects of revenue recognition and financial instruments written by technical experts.

4. An Identification of the statutory Authority for Other Than Full and Open Competition:

FAR Part 13.5 in accordance with 41 U.S.C. 1901, only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

5. Demonstration that the proposed contractor's unique qualifications or nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited:

CCH ARM is a comprehensive, interpretive, and objective financial reporting knowledge base. It provides access to U.S. and international authoritative and proposal stage literature with direct links to interpretations and guidance. It offers explanations and interpretive guidance related to the application of the requirements of the AICPA, TASB, FASB, EITF, FASB Derivative

Implementation Group, PCAOB, COSO, SEC and topical guides, and is written and/or reviewed by technical experts in accounting.

The SEC requires access to publications authored by technical experts in accounting as defined below:

• Accountants who have worked as an Associate Chief Accountant, Deputy Chief

Accountant or Chief Accountant in the Division of Corporation Finance's Office of Chief

Accountant or the SEC's Office of the Chief Accountant.

• Existing and former members or accounting staff of the IASB, IFRIC, FASB, or EITF or any technical accounting body or committee thereof.

• Partners or former partners of the National Offices (or its equivalent) of the: Big 4 accounting firms (i.e., Deloitte, Ernst &Young, KPMG, Pricewaterhouse Coopers), Arthur Andersen, BDO Seidman, or Grant Thornton.

• Accountants with a minimum of 15 years of relevant experience related to the application of the requirements of the IASB, IFRIC, FASB, EITF, or SEC to public companies.

• For auditing matters: the experts above as well as existing and former members or staff of the PCAOB.

Additionally, the SEC requires access to specific content proprietary to CCH such as:

• Revenue Recob ition Guide — by Scott Taub

• Public Accounting Report

• Financial Instruments: A Comprehensive Guide to Accounting &Reporting — by

Rosemarie Sangiuolo, Scott Taub, and Leslie Seidman

• GAAP Financial Statement Disclosures Guide — by George Georgiades

• Accounting for Income Taxes Guide — by Richard Petersen

CCH ARM is the only source that can provide interpretations and accounting guides written by authors with the experience necessary for the SEC's mission and the only source that can provide access to the specific publications listed above.

6. A description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under 5.202 applies.

The SEC Office of Acquisitions (OA) posted a Synopsis on FedBizOpps on 12 April 2018 with notice of the SEC's intent to award a sole source procurement to CCH Incorporated in accordance with FAR 5201. Two (2) responses were received and reviewed and will be maintained in the contract file.

7. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The anticipated cost to the government is determined to be fair and reasonable. The prices are based on the contractor's commercial prices and the prices are comparable to other government contracts for similar nature legal print publications.

8. A description of the market research conducted and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted:

OSI and the Division of Corporation Finance compared the content and functionality of this product to the main competitors' products and determined that the competitors lacked the required proprietary content and lacked commentary authored by adequate technical experts.

9. Any other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition:

None.

10. A listing of the sources, if any that expressed, in writing an interest in the acquisition:

11. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required:

The SEC will continue to perform market research for future acquisitions for the purpose of verifying the sole source nature of this requirement.

12. Required Signatures:

TECHNICAL &REQUIREMENTS CERTIFICATIONS

I certify that the facts and representations which form the basis for this justification are accurate and complete.

CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Since this effort exceeds $150K but does not exceed $700K, this certification serves as

APPROVAL.