General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation; Information Collection; Industrial Funding Fee and Sales Reporting, 4337-4339 [2017-00687]
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Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 9 / Friday, January 13, 2017 / Notices
Barta, Fremont, Nebraska, and Walter
Hoff, Atlanta, Georgia, as members of
the Barta/Hoff Group acting in concert;
to acquire voting shares of Woodstock
Land and Cattle Company, and thereby
control Fullerton National Bank, both of
Fullerton, Nebraska.
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System, January 10, 2017.
Yao-Chin Chao,
Assistant Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2017–00711 Filed 1–12–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6210–01–P
GENERAL SERVICES
ADMINISTRATION
[OMB Control No. 3090–0121: Docket No.
2017–0001; Sequence 1]
General Services Administration
Acquisition Regulation; Information
Collection; Industrial Funding Fee and
Sales Reporting
Office of Acquisition Policy,
General Services Administration (GSA).
ACTION: Notice of request for comments
regarding an extension to an existing
OMB clearance.
AGENCY:
Under the provisions of the
Paperwork Reduction Act, the
Regulatory Secretariat Division is
submitting a request to the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) to
review and approve an extension of a
previously approved information
collection associated with General
Services Administration Acquisition
Regulation clause 552.238–74,
Industrial Funding Fee and Sales
Reporting. GSA uses this information to
collect the Industrial Funding Fee and
administer the Federal Supply Schedule
(FSS) program.
DATES: Submit comments on or before:
March 14, 2017.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments
identified by Information Collection
3090–0121, Industrial Funding Fee and
Sales Reporting, by any of the following
methods:
• Regulations.gov: https://
www.regulations.gov. Submit comments
via the Federal eRulemaking portal by
searching the OMB control number.
Select the link ‘‘Submit a Comment’’
that corresponds with ‘‘Information
Collection 3090–0121, Industrial
Funding Fee and Sales Reporting.’’
Follow the instructions provided at the
‘‘Submit a Comment’’ screen. Please
include your name, company name (if
any), and ‘‘Information Collection 3090–
0121, Industrial Funding Fee and Sales
Reporting’’ on your attached document.
asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
VerDate Sep<11>2014
19:06 Jan 12, 2017
Jkt 241001
• Mail: General Services
Administration, Regulatory Secretariat
Division (MVCB), 1800 F Street NW.,
Washington, DC 20405. ATTN: Ms.
Flowers/IC 3090–0121, Industrial
Funding Fee and Sales Reporting.
Instructions: Please submit comments
only and cite Information Collection
3090–0121, Industrial Funding Fee and
Sales Reporting, in all correspondence
related to this collection. All comments
received will be posted without change
to https://www.regulations.gov, including
any personal and/or business
confidential information provided.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Matthew McFarland, Senior Policy
Advisor, GSA Acquisition Policy
Division, at 202–690–9232 or
matthew.mcfarland@gsa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Purpose
GSA’s Federal Supply Schedule (FSS)
program, commonly known as the GSA
Schedules program or Multiple Award
Schedule (MAS) program provides
federal agencies with a simplified
process for acquiring commercial
supplies and services. The FSS program
is the Government’s preeminent
contracting vehicle, accounting for
approximately 10 percent of all federal
contract dollars with $33 billion of
purchases made through the program in
fiscal year 2016.
Activities placing orders against a
GSA Schedule contract must pay an
Industrial Funding Fee (IFF) that
reimburses GSA’s Federal Acquisition
Service (FAS) for the costs of operating
the FSS program. FAS recoups its
operating costs from ordering activities
(i.e., customers) as set forth in 40 U.S.C.
321: Acquisition Services Fund. Net
operating revenues generated by the IFF
are also applied to fund initiatives
benefitting other authorized FAS
programs, in accordance with 40 U.S.C.
321. The IFF, currently set at 0.75
percent, is included in the order price,
so when a vendor is paid for an FSS
order, it is also collecting the IFF.
Collection is similar to a state sales tax,
where a customer pays the tax due to a
merchant, and then the merchant remits
the taxes collected to the state
government.
GSA requires vendors to report their
FSS sales each quarter so it can
determine the amount of IFF the
vendors have collected from customers,
and therefore must remit to GSA.
However, GSA also uses this
information for other purposes,
including budgeting, determining
whether vendors have met the
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4337
minimum sales requirement,1
evaluating the program’s performance,
and monitoring small business
participation.
Vendor reporting and remittance
requirements are set forth in General
Services Administration Acquisition
Regulation (GSAR) clause 552.238–74,
Industrial Funding Fee and Sales
Reporting, or Alternate I of that clause.
While both clause versions govern how
the IFF is calculated and remitted, the
reporting requirements differ between
the basic version and Alternate I:
Clause 552.238–75: Basic Version:
This version requires vendors to report
their FSS contract sales to GSA once a
quarter. GSA then calculates the IFF due
based on the total amount of sales
reported, and the vendor must remit
that amount within 30 days after the
end of the quarter. The basic version of
the clause applies to approximately 72
percent of GSA Schedule contracts.
Clause 552.238–75: Alternate I: While
the basic version requires vendors to
report their total FSS sales each quarter,
Alternate I requires vendors to report
the transactional data generated from
orders each month. GSA then calculates
the IFF due based on the transactional
data reported, and the vendor must
remit that amount within 30 days after
the end of the quarter. Alternate I of the
clause applies to FSS contracts
participating in the Transactional Data
Reporting pilot. The pilot commenced
on June 23, 2016 and will run for at
least a year before substantial changes
are considered. Approximately 28
percent of GSA Schedule contracts are
eligible to participate in the pilot.
Since the reporting requirements vary
by the two versions of clause 552.238–
74, separate Paperwork Reduction Act
information collections have been
established for each version. The
information collection associated with
OMB control number 3090–0306, which
expires on 8/31/2019, applies to
Alternate I. This information collection
(OMB control number 3090–0121)
applies to the basic version of the
clause.
Information Collection Changes and
Updates
• The population of vendors subject
to this information collection is smaller
than the previous version, as FSS
contracts eligible to participate in the
Transactional Data Reporting pilot
1 The FSS Contract Sales Criteria clause requires
vendors to have at least $25,000 in sales over the
first two years of a contract and then $25,000/year
in sales for each year thereafter. Vendors that have
not satisfied the minimum sales requirement are
subject to cancellation in accordance with GSAR
clause 552.238–73 Cancellation.
E:\FR\FM\13JAN1.SGM
13JAN1
4338
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 9 / Friday, January 13, 2017 / Notices
(approximately 28 percent of all GSA
Schedule contracts) are now included
under OMB control number 3090–0306.
• Previous justifications for this
information collection limited the
burden to the amount of time needed for
vendors to input sales data in the 72A
Reporting System and remit IFF
payments. However, GSA now
recognizes recordkeeping, quality
assurance, reporting, and remittance
should be included in the burden
estimates. Since recordkeeping and
quality assurance are the largest burden
drivers for both vendors and the
Government, the burden estimates for
both the public and Government have
increased.
B. Annual Reporting Burden
Population Overview: The basic
version of clause 552.238–74 is
included in 14,306 contracts held by
12,254 vendors. This includes 1,128
new contracts awarded to 819 vendors.2
Cost Estimates: The estimated cost
burden for respondents was calculated
by multiplying the burden hours by an
estimated cost of $68/hour ($50/hour
with a 36% overhead rate).3
Categorization of Vendors by
Quarterly Sales Revenue: Sales
reporting imposes a progressive burden
— one that increases with a vendor’s
sales volume. Quarterly reporting times
will increase with a vendor’s applicable
sales volume, as vendors with lower to
no reportable sales will spend little time
on quarterly reporting, while those with
more reportable sales with face a higher
reporting burden.
GSA separated vendors into categories
based on average quarterly sales
volume 4 in order to account for the
differences in reporting burden. These
categories are:
• Category 1: No sales activity
(average quarterly sales of $0)
• Category 2: Average quarterly sales
between $0 and $60,000
• Category 3: Average quarterly sales
between $60,000 and $600,000
• Category 4: Average quarterly sales
between $600,000 and $3 million
• Category 5: Average quarterly sales
over $3 million
The distribution of vendors by sales
category is as follows:
FSS AND VENDORS BY SALES CATEGORY
FSS vendors (count)
Category
Category
Category
Category
Category
1
2
3
4
5
FSS vendors
(percentage)
...............................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................
4,217
4,020
2,768
970
279
34
33
23
8
2
Total ..................................................................................................................................
12,254
100.00
Automated vs. Manual Reporting
Systems: Vendors subject to these
clauses must create systems or processes
to produce and report accurate data.
Generally, vendors will use automated
or manual systems to identify the
quarter’s reportable sales. An automated
system is one that relies on information
technology, such as an accounting
system or data management software, to
identify and compile reportable data.
These systems can tremendously
streamline the reporting process but
require upfront configuration to perform
the tasks, such as coding the sales types
to be retrieved. Conversely, a manual
system is one that incorporates little to
no automation and instead relies on
personnel to manually identify and
compile the reportable data. An
example of a manual system would be
an accountant reviewing invoices to
identify the reportable data and then
transferring the findings to a
spreadsheet. In contrast to automation,
a manual system requires relatively
little setup time but the reporting effort
will generally increase with the
vendor’s sales volume.
The likelihood of a vendor adopting
an automated system increases with
their applicable sales volume. Vendors
with little to no reportable data are
unlikely to expend the effort needed to
establish an automated reporting system
since it will be relatively easy to
identify and report a limited amount of
data. In fiscal year 2015, 34 percent of
FSS vendors subject to this collection
reported $0 sales, while another 33
percent reported average quarterly sales
between $1 and $60,000 per quarter.
However, as a vendor’s applicable
average quarterly sales increase, they
will be increasingly likely to establish
an automated system to reduce the
quarterly reporting burden.
Consequently, vendors with higher
reportable sales will likely bear a higher
setup burden to create an automated
system, or absorb a high quarterly
reporting burden if they choose to rely
on manual reporting methods.
The following chart depicts the
likelihood of the population of vendors
adopting manual and automated
reporting systems:
VENDORS BY REPORTING SYSTEM TYPE
(Manual vs. Automated)
asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Manual system
(vendor percentage)
Category 1 .......................................
Category 2 .......................................
100
100
2 These are approximations based on FY2015
data. The number of vendors equals the number of
unique Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS)
numbers, which are assigned to business entities.
3 The 36% overhead rate was used in reference
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular
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19:06 Jan 12, 2017
Jkt 241001
Automated system
(vendor percentage)
Manual system
(vendor count)
0
0
No. A–76. Circular A–76 requires agencies to use
standard cost factors to estimate certain costs of
government performance. These cost factors ensure
that specific government costs are calculated in a
standard and consistent manner to reasonably
reflect the cost of performing commercial activities
with government personnel. The standard cost
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Automated system
(vendor count)
4,217
4,020
factor for fringe benefits is 36.25%; GSA opted to
round to the nearest whole number for the basis of
its burden estimates.
4 Average quarterly sales volume was computed
by taking a vendor’s total annual sales volume and
dividing it by 4. All sales data is from FY2015.
E:\FR\FM\13JAN1.SGM
13JAN1
0
0
4339
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 9 / Friday, January 13, 2017 / Notices
VENDORS BY REPORTING SYSTEM TYPE—Continued
(Manual vs. Automated)
Manual system
(vendor percentage)
Category 3 .......................................
Category 4 .......................................
Category 5 .......................................
Automated system
(vendor percentage)
90
50
10
Manual system
(vendor count)
2,491
485
28
277
485
251
Total Vendor Count by System Type
11,241
1,013
Vendor Percentage by System Type
92
8
Initial Setup: Vendors with active FSS
contracts already have procedures in
place to meet these longstanding
reporting requirements. However, new
FSS vendors will absorb a one-time
setup burden to establish reporting
systems. The estimated setup time
varies between automated and manual
reporting systems. Vendors
implementing a manual system must
acclimate themselves with the new
reporting requirements and train their
staff as accordingly, while those with
automated systems must perform these
tasks in addition to configuring
information technology resources. GSA
is attributing the setup burden by
vendor, not by contracts, because a
10
50
90
Automated system
(vendor count)
vendor holding multiple contracts
subject to this rule will likely use a
single reporting system.
GSA estimates the average one-time
setup burden is 8 hours for vendors
with a manual system and 40 hours for
those with an automated system. GSA
also attributes the same system type
probabilities (manual system 92%,
automated system 8%) to the population
of new vendors. These estimates apply
to the 819 vendors awarded FSS
contracts in fiscal year 2015.
Quarterly Reporting: Vendors are
required to report sales within 30
calendar days after the end of each
quarter. The average reporting times
vary by system type (manual or
automated) and by sales categories. GSA
estimates vendors using a manual
system will have average quarterly
reporting times ranging from 15 minutes
(0.25 hours) per quarter for vendors
with $0 sales, to an average of 8 hours
per quarter for vendors with quarterly
sales over $3 million. On the other
hand, GSA projects vendors with
automated systems will have reporting
times of 2 hours per quarter, irrespective
of quarterly sales volume, as a result of
efficiencies achieved through automated
processes. The following table shows
GSA’s projected quarterly reporting
times per sales category and system
type.
QUARTERLY REPORTING HOURS BY SYSTEM TYPE AND CATEGORY
Manual
systems
Category
Category
Category
Category
Category
1
2
3
4
5
...............................................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................................
Annualized Public Burden Estimates
The burden estimates consist of
quarterly reporting times for all 12,254
participating vendors and a one-time
setup burden for the 819 new vendors:
Quarterly Reporting
Annual Burden (Hours): 56,983.
Annual Burden (Cost): $3,874,817.
asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Initial Setup
Annual Burden (Hours): 8,718.
Annual Burden (Cost): $592,846.
Total Information Collection Burden
Number of Respondents: 12,254.
Response per Respondent: 4.
Total Annual Responses: 49, 016.
Hours Per Response: 1.3404.
Total Burden (Hours): 65,701.
Annual Burden (Cost): $4,467,663.
C. Public Comments
Public comments are particularly
invited on: Whether this collection of
information is necessary and whether it
VerDate Sep<11>2014
19:06 Jan 12, 2017
Jkt 241001
will have practical utility; whether our
estimate of the public burden of this
collection of information is accurate,
and based on valid assumptions and
methodology; ways to enhance the
quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected.
Obtaining Copies of Proposals:
Requesters may obtain a copy of the
information collection documents from
the General Services Administration,
Regulatory Secretariat Division (MVCB),
1800 F Street NW., Washington, DC
20405, telephone 202–501–4755. Please
cite OMB Control No. 3090–0235, Price
Reductions Clause, in all
correspondence.
Jeffrey A. Koses,
Director, Office of Acquisition Policy, Office
of Government-wide Policy.
[FR Doc. 2017–00687 Filed 1–12–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820–61–P
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Automated
systems
0.25
1.00
2.00
4.00
8.00
2.00
2.00
2.00
2.00
2.00
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention
[30Day–17–16BGH]
Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork
Reduction Act Review
The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC) has submitted the
following information collection request
to the Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) for review and approval in
accordance with the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995. The notice for
the proposed information collection is
published to obtain comments from the
public and affected agencies.
Written comments and suggestions
from the public and affected agencies
concerning the proposed collection of
information are encouraged. Your
comments should address any of the
E:\FR\FM\13JAN1.SGM
13JAN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 9 (Friday, January 13, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4337-4339]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-00687]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
[OMB Control No. 3090-0121: Docket No. 2017-0001; Sequence 1]
General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation;
Information Collection; Industrial Funding Fee and Sales Reporting
AGENCY: Office of Acquisition Policy, General Services Administration
(GSA).
ACTION: Notice of request for comments regarding an extension to an
existing OMB clearance.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act, the
Regulatory Secretariat Division is submitting a request to the Office
of Management and Budget (OMB) to review and approve an extension of a
previously approved information collection associated with General
Services Administration Acquisition Regulation clause 552.238-74,
Industrial Funding Fee and Sales Reporting. GSA uses this information
to collect the Industrial Funding Fee and administer the Federal Supply
Schedule (FSS) program.
DATES: Submit comments on or before: March 14, 2017.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments identified by Information Collection 3090-
0121, Industrial Funding Fee and Sales Reporting, by any of the
following methods:
Regulations.gov: https://www.regulations.gov. Submit
comments via the Federal eRulemaking portal by searching the OMB
control number. Select the link ``Submit a Comment'' that corresponds
with ``Information Collection 3090-0121, Industrial Funding Fee and
Sales Reporting.'' Follow the instructions provided at the ``Submit a
Comment'' screen. Please include your name, company name (if any), and
``Information Collection 3090-0121, Industrial Funding Fee and Sales
Reporting'' on your attached document.
Mail: General Services Administration, Regulatory
Secretariat Division (MVCB), 1800 F Street NW., Washington, DC 20405.
ATTN: Ms. Flowers/IC 3090-0121, Industrial Funding Fee and Sales
Reporting.
Instructions: Please submit comments only and cite Information
Collection 3090-0121, Industrial Funding Fee and Sales Reporting, in
all correspondence related to this collection. All comments received
will be posted without change to https://www.regulations.gov, including
any personal and/or business confidential information provided.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Matthew McFarland, Senior Policy
Advisor, GSA Acquisition Policy Division, at 202-690-9232 or
matthew.mcfarland@gsa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
A. Purpose
GSA's Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) program, commonly known as the
GSA Schedules program or Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) program provides
federal agencies with a simplified process for acquiring commercial
supplies and services. The FSS program is the Government's preeminent
contracting vehicle, accounting for approximately 10 percent of all
federal contract dollars with $33 billion of purchases made through the
program in fiscal year 2016.
Activities placing orders against a GSA Schedule contract must pay
an Industrial Funding Fee (IFF) that reimburses GSA's Federal
Acquisition Service (FAS) for the costs of operating the FSS program.
FAS recoups its operating costs from ordering activities (i.e.,
customers) as set forth in 40 U.S.C. 321: Acquisition Services Fund.
Net operating revenues generated by the IFF are also applied to fund
initiatives benefitting other authorized FAS programs, in accordance
with 40 U.S.C. 321. The IFF, currently set at 0.75 percent, is included
in the order price, so when a vendor is paid for an FSS order, it is
also collecting the IFF. Collection is similar to a state sales tax,
where a customer pays the tax due to a merchant, and then the merchant
remits the taxes collected to the state government.
GSA requires vendors to report their FSS sales each quarter so it
can determine the amount of IFF the vendors have collected from
customers, and therefore must remit to GSA. However, GSA also uses this
information for other purposes, including budgeting, determining
whether vendors have met the minimum sales requirement,\1\ evaluating
the program's performance, and monitoring small business participation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ The FSS Contract Sales Criteria clause requires vendors to
have at least $25,000 in sales over the first two years of a
contract and then $25,000/year in sales for each year thereafter.
Vendors that have not satisfied the minimum sales requirement are
subject to cancellation in accordance with GSAR clause 552.238-73
Cancellation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vendor reporting and remittance requirements are set forth in
General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation (GSAR) clause
552.238-74, Industrial Funding Fee and Sales Reporting, or Alternate I
of that clause. While both clause versions govern how the IFF is
calculated and remitted, the reporting requirements differ between the
basic version and Alternate I:
Clause 552.238-75: Basic Version: This version requires vendors to
report their FSS contract sales to GSA once a quarter. GSA then
calculates the IFF due based on the total amount of sales reported, and
the vendor must remit that amount within 30 days after the end of the
quarter. The basic version of the clause applies to approximately 72
percent of GSA Schedule contracts.
Clause 552.238-75: Alternate I: While the basic version requires
vendors to report their total FSS sales each quarter, Alternate I
requires vendors to report the transactional data generated from orders
each month. GSA then calculates the IFF due based on the transactional
data reported, and the vendor must remit that amount within 30 days
after the end of the quarter. Alternate I of the clause applies to FSS
contracts participating in the Transactional Data Reporting pilot. The
pilot commenced on June 23, 2016 and will run for at least a year
before substantial changes are considered. Approximately 28 percent of
GSA Schedule contracts are eligible to participate in the pilot.
Since the reporting requirements vary by the two versions of clause
552.238-74, separate Paperwork Reduction Act information collections
have been established for each version. The information collection
associated with OMB control number 3090-0306, which expires on 8/31/
2019, applies to Alternate I. This information collection (OMB control
number 3090-0121) applies to the basic version of the clause.
Information Collection Changes and Updates
The population of vendors subject to this information
collection is smaller than the previous version, as FSS contracts
eligible to participate in the Transactional Data Reporting pilot
[[Page 4338]]
(approximately 28 percent of all GSA Schedule contracts) are now
included under OMB control number 3090-0306.
Previous justifications for this information collection
limited the burden to the amount of time needed for vendors to input
sales data in the 72A Reporting System and remit IFF payments. However,
GSA now recognizes recordkeeping, quality assurance, reporting, and
remittance should be included in the burden estimates. Since
recordkeeping and quality assurance are the largest burden drivers for
both vendors and the Government, the burden estimates for both the
public and Government have increased.
B. Annual Reporting Burden
Population Overview: The basic version of clause 552.238-74 is
included in 14,306 contracts held by 12,254 vendors. This includes
1,128 new contracts awarded to 819 vendors.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ These are approximations based on FY2015 data. The number of
vendors equals the number of unique Data Universal Numbering System
(DUNS) numbers, which are assigned to business entities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cost Estimates: The estimated cost burden for respondents was
calculated by multiplying the burden hours by an estimated cost of $68/
hour ($50/hour with a 36% overhead rate).\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ The 36% overhead rate was used in reference Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) Circular No. A-76. Circular A-76
requires agencies to use standard cost factors to estimate certain
costs of government performance. These cost factors ensure that
specific government costs are calculated in a standard and
consistent manner to reasonably reflect the cost of performing
commercial activities with government personnel. The standard cost
factor for fringe benefits is 36.25%; GSA opted to round to the
nearest whole number for the basis of its burden estimates.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Categorization of Vendors by Quarterly Sales Revenue: Sales
reporting imposes a progressive burden -- one that increases with a
vendor's sales volume. Quarterly reporting times will increase with a
vendor's applicable sales volume, as vendors with lower to no
reportable sales will spend little time on quarterly reporting, while
those with more reportable sales with face a higher reporting burden.
GSA separated vendors into categories based on average quarterly
sales volume \4\ in order to account for the differences in reporting
burden. These categories are:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ Average quarterly sales volume was computed by taking a
vendor's total annual sales volume and dividing it by 4. All sales
data is from FY2015.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Category 1: No sales activity (average quarterly sales of
$0)
Category 2: Average quarterly sales between $0 and $60,000
Category 3: Average quarterly sales between $60,000 and
$600,000
Category 4: Average quarterly sales between $600,000 and $3
million
Category 5: Average quarterly sales over $3 million
The distribution of vendors by sales category is as follows:
FSS and Vendors by Sales Category
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FSS vendors
FSS vendors (count) (percentage)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Category 1.................................................... 4,217 34
Category 2.................................................... 4,020 33
Category 3.................................................... 2,768 23
Category 4.................................................... 970 8
Category 5.................................................... 279 2
-------------------------------------------------
Total..................................................... 12,254 100.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Automated vs. Manual Reporting Systems: Vendors subject to these
clauses must create systems or processes to produce and report accurate
data. Generally, vendors will use automated or manual systems to
identify the quarter's reportable sales. An automated system is one
that relies on information technology, such as an accounting system or
data management software, to identify and compile reportable data.
These systems can tremendously streamline the reporting process but
require upfront configuration to perform the tasks, such as coding the
sales types to be retrieved. Conversely, a manual system is one that
incorporates little to no automation and instead relies on personnel to
manually identify and compile the reportable data. An example of a
manual system would be an accountant reviewing invoices to identify the
reportable data and then transferring the findings to a spreadsheet. In
contrast to automation, a manual system requires relatively little
setup time but the reporting effort will generally increase with the
vendor's sales volume.
The likelihood of a vendor adopting an automated system increases
with their applicable sales volume. Vendors with little to no
reportable data are unlikely to expend the effort needed to establish
an automated reporting system since it will be relatively easy to
identify and report a limited amount of data. In fiscal year 2015, 34
percent of FSS vendors subject to this collection reported $0 sales,
while another 33 percent reported average quarterly sales between $1
and $60,000 per quarter. However, as a vendor's applicable average
quarterly sales increase, they will be increasingly likely to establish
an automated system to reduce the quarterly reporting burden.
Consequently, vendors with higher reportable sales will likely bear a
higher setup burden to create an automated system, or absorb a high
quarterly reporting burden if they choose to rely on manual reporting
methods.
The following chart depicts the likelihood of the population of
vendors adopting manual and automated reporting systems:
Vendors by Reporting System Type
(Manual vs. Automated)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Manual system (vendor Automated system Manual system (vendor Automated system
percentage) (vendor percentage) count) (vendor count)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Category 1.......................................... 100 0 4,217 0
Category 2.......................................... 100 0 4,020 0
[[Page 4339]]
Category 3.......................................... 90 10 2,491 277
Category 4.......................................... 50 50 485 485
Category 5.......................................... 10 90 28 251
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Total Vendor Count by System Type 11,241 1,013
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Vendor Percentage by System Type 92 8
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Initial Setup: Vendors with active FSS contracts already have
procedures in place to meet these longstanding reporting requirements.
However, new FSS vendors will absorb a one-time setup burden to
establish reporting systems. The estimated setup time varies between
automated and manual reporting systems. Vendors implementing a manual
system must acclimate themselves with the new reporting requirements
and train their staff as accordingly, while those with automated
systems must perform these tasks in addition to configuring information
technology resources. GSA is attributing the setup burden by vendor,
not by contracts, because a vendor holding multiple contracts subject
to this rule will likely use a single reporting system.
GSA estimates the average one-time setup burden is 8 hours for
vendors with a manual system and 40 hours for those with an automated
system. GSA also attributes the same system type probabilities (manual
system 92%, automated system 8%) to the population of new vendors.
These estimates apply to the 819 vendors awarded FSS contracts in
fiscal year 2015.
Quarterly Reporting: Vendors are required to report sales within 30
calendar days after the end of each quarter. The average reporting
times vary by system type (manual or automated) and by sales
categories. GSA estimates vendors using a manual system will have
average quarterly reporting times ranging from 15 minutes (0.25 hours)
per quarter for vendors with $0 sales, to an average of 8 hours per
quarter for vendors with quarterly sales over $3 million. On the other
hand, GSA projects vendors with automated systems will have reporting
times of 2 hours per quarter, irrespective of quarterly sales volume,
as a result of efficiencies achieved through automated processes. The
following table shows GSA's projected quarterly reporting times per
sales category and system type.
Quarterly Reporting Hours by System Type and Category
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Manual Automated
systems systems
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Category 1.............................. 0.25 2.00
Category 2.............................. 1.00 2.00
Category 3.............................. 2.00 2.00
Category 4.............................. 4.00 2.00
Category 5.............................. 8.00 2.00
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Annualized Public Burden Estimates
The burden estimates consist of quarterly reporting times for all
12,254 participating vendors and a one-time setup burden for the 819
new vendors:
Quarterly Reporting
Annual Burden (Hours): 56,983.
Annual Burden (Cost): $3,874,817.
Initial Setup
Annual Burden (Hours): 8,718.
Annual Burden (Cost): $592,846.
Total Information Collection Burden
Number of Respondents: 12,254.
Response per Respondent: 4.
Total Annual Responses: 49, 016.
Hours Per Response: 1.3404.
Total Burden (Hours): 65,701.
Annual Burden (Cost): $4,467,663.
C. Public Comments
Public comments are particularly invited on: Whether this
collection of information is necessary and whether it will have
practical utility; whether our estimate of the public burden of this
collection of information is accurate, and based on valid assumptions
and methodology; ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of
the information to be collected.
Obtaining Copies of Proposals: Requesters may obtain a copy of the
information collection documents from the General Services
Administration, Regulatory Secretariat Division (MVCB), 1800 F Street
NW., Washington, DC 20405, telephone 202-501-4755. Please cite OMB
Control No. 3090-0235, Price Reductions Clause, in all correspondence.
Jeffrey A. Koses,
Director, Office of Acquisition Policy, Office of Government-wide
Policy.
[FR Doc. 2017-00687 Filed 1-12-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-61-P
