TBP- Statement of Work-Grant Accrual Final.doc

FTA Office of Budget and Policy Grant Accrual Support Statement of Work

STATEMENT OF WORK

1.0

BACKGROUND

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is one of the eleven modals of the United States (U.S.) Department of Transportation (DOT) which has a mission to serve the United States by ensuring a fast, safe, efficient, accessible, and convenient transportation system that meets our vital national interests and enhances the quality of life of the American people, today and into the future.

The FTA Office of Budget and Policy (TBP) administers all audit and internal controls, overall strategic planning and program review, performance management, policy, budget, program development, and financial and accounting control matters. This includes providing policy direction on legislation and regulations that relate to public transportation programs. TBP is also responsible for the formulation and execution of the FTA’s $22 billion annual budget and ensures that appropriated funds are obligated and expended in accordance with Executive Branch and congressional intent. TBP is also responsible for managing the development and implementation of the FTA strategic and program planning process, including the review and evaluation of programs to determine their effectiveness in meeting the U.S. Department of Transportation’s and FTA’s strategic goals and objectives.

The Chief Financial Officers’ (CFO) Act of 1990, as amended requires all Federal government agencies to submit financial statements on an annual and quarterly basis. The Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST) required all Operating Administrations (OA) to submit financial statements monthly. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) mandated all Federal agencies to submit their audited financial statements by November 15th of each year. In addition, the departmental CFO mandated the requirement for the development and maintenance of procedures to establish an accrual process for FTA grant awards for monthly financial statements beginning May 2003.

2.0

PURPOSE

The purpose of this effort is to provide assistance with financial statement preparation and support services for the grant accrual estimation and validation process. This will assist FTA to comply with policies mandated by the CFO and support the accelerated due dates for agency submission of unaudited financial statements and related packages imposed by U.S. DOT Office of the Secretary (OST), OMB, and U.S. Treasury. This effort will assist in ensuring that FTA can submit all required financial statements in a timely manner.

3.0

DESCRIPTION OF SERVICES

The Contractor shall provide assessment assistance services by performing the following tasks below:

TASK 1 – Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) 0001: Assessment of Financial Date for Determining Monthly Grant Accrual

a) Review the current methodology and standard operating procedure for developing estimated accrual for grant liabilities and expenditures, and make changes, if necessary.

b) Obtain the necessary cumulative grant obligations and disbursements reports as of the end of the period. Using the existing grant accrual methodology and standard operating procedure, calculate the monthly grant accrual estimates and prepare adjusting journal entries to be recorded in the general ledger for each appropriation account for financial statements and other monthly reporting.

c) Perform revalidation of the Grant Accrual Methodology every three years or when there is an addition of significant new program or funding, by surveying a representative sample of grantees to obtain information about changes to grantees’ billing pattern and other information needed to enhance the methodology.

TASK 2 - CLIN 0002: Validation of Grant Accrual Liabilities Estimate

a) FTA has over 6000 active grants and cooperative agreement projects. Grantees are mandated by OMB guideline to submit quarterly Standard Form (SF) 425 Federal Financial Reports (FFR) within 30 days after the end of the quarter. One of the key information that the grantees provide on the FFR for each grant project is the cumulative federal expenditures which grantees reports using the accrual basis of accounting (combination of paid and unpaid expenses). Additionally, FTA maintains a report with shows cumulative payments to the grantees by projects.

b) Perform a look-back analysis on a quarterly basis, utilizing the expenditure information on the grantees’ quarterly FFR and the cumulative grants payments report to calculate FTA’s grants liabilities and compare it the estimated grant accrual liabilities presented in the financial statements to validate its reasonableness. Research and provide explanation for variances greater than 10 percent and make changes to the grant accrual methodology if necessary.

TASK 3 - CLIN 0003: Report to DOT OST on FTA’s Portion of the DOT Consolidated Financial Statements:

a) Assist with performing quarterly financial statements fluctuation (flux) analysis after all quarter-end adjustments and journal entries have been posted in the general ledger and financial statements has been generated.

b) Assist with preparation of ad-hoc financial reports and presentations for FTA management from the accounting system.

c) Assist with researching other federal accounting issues that may arise during the financial accounting and reporting cycle related to grant accrual in the preparation of the monthly financial statements.

TASK 4 - CLIN 0004: Assistance in Coordinating Financial Audits and Reviews within the Office of Financial Management.

a) Work with Office of Inspector General (OIG) contractor or FTA internal control review contractor to provide all documentation requests relating to the grant accrual process in a timely manner.

b) Develop corrective action plan to resolve audit or review findings relating to the grant accrual process.

4.0 DELIVERIES and DELIVERY SCHEDULE Throughout the process, the contractor will interface with the FTA Office of Financial Management staff, the OST, and the OIG auditors to address their questions and concerns about the financial data and audit related issues.

Deliverables and work products:

· Prepare grant accruals for review and approval by the designated Office of Financial Management staff prior to final month-end trial balance.

· Assist the Office of Financial Management with coordination of the annual CFO Financial Statements audit due by November 15th.

5.0

INSPECTION AND ACCEPTANCE

The contractor will be required to comply with the requirements contained in description of tasks above. In addition, the contractor will be required to meet all schedules contained under “Deliveries or Performance” below. The Contracting Officer’s Representative (COR) will inspect the grant accrual methodology, monthly grant accrual calculations, and financial reports. If approved by the COR, acceptance will occur.

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PLACE OF PERFORMANCE

The contractor will perform the work onsite at the FTA headquarters located at 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington DC 20590.

7.0

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE:

The anticipated period of performance will be one (1) 12-month base period and four (4) 12-month option periods.

8.0

GOVERNMENT FURNISHED PROPERTY

The Government will provide access to Government controlled facilities, equipment, and materials for daily business use of contractor personnel called for under this contract. This shall include office space, desk, telephone, chair, computer, shared printer, and requisite consumable materials.

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