General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation; Submission for OMB Review; Industrial Funding Fee and Sales Reporting, 16211-16214 [2017-06520]
Download as PDF
<![CDATA[
mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 62 / Monday, April 3, 2017 / Notices
Estimated annual burden hours:
75,563.
General Description of Report:
Sections 701, 723, and 741 contain
information collection requirements.
Details of the requirements for each
section are provided below.
Section 701. Section 701(a)(2)(i) and
(b) require banks (or their broker-dealer
partners) that utilize the exemption
provided in this section to make certain
disclosures to high net worth or
institutional customers. Specifically,
these banks must clearly and
conspicuously disclose (i) the name of
the broker-dealer and (ii) that the bank
employee participates in an incentive
compensation program under which the
bank employee may receive a fee of
more than a nominal amount for
referring the customer to the brokerdealer and payment of this fee may be
contingent on whether the referral
results in a transaction with the brokerdealer.
In addition, one of the conditions of
the exemption is that the broker-dealer
and the bank have a contractual or other
written arrangement containing certain
elements, including notification and
information requirements. The bank
must provide its broker-dealer partner
with the name of the bank employee
receiving a referral fee under the
exemption and certain other identifying
information relating to the bank
employee.
Section 723. Section 723(e)(1)
requires a bank that desires to exclude
a trust or fiduciary account in
determining its compliance with the
chiefly compensated test in section 721,
pursuant to a de minimis exclusion, to
maintain records demonstrating that the
securities transactions conducted by or
on behalf of the account were
undertaken by the bank in the exercise
of its trust or fiduciary responsibilities
with respect to the account.
Section 741. Section 741(a)(2)(ii)(A)
requires a bank relying on this
exemption, which permits banks to
effect transactions in the shares of a
money market fund, to provide
customers with a prospectus for the
money market fund securities, not later
than the time the customer authorizes
the bank to effect the transaction in such
securities, if the class or series of
securities are not no-load. In situations
where a bank effects transactions under
the exemption as part of a program for
the investment or reinvestment of
deposit funds of, or collected by,
another bank, the Section permits either
the effecting bank or the deposit-taking
bank to provide the customer a
prospectus for the money market fund
securities.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:32 Mar 31, 2017
Jkt 241001
Legal authorization and
confidentiality: The Board’s Legal
Division has determined that section
3(a)(4)(F) of the Exchange Act (15 U.S.C.
78c(a)(4)(F)) authorizes the Board and
the SEC to require the information
collection. The FR 4025 is required to
obtain a benefit because banks wishing
to utilize exemptions provided by the
rules 701, 723, and 741 are required to
comply with the recordkeeping and
disclosure requirements. If an
institution considers the information to
be trade secrets and/or privileged such
information could be withheld from the
public under the authority of the
Freedom of Information Act (5 U.S.C.
552(b)(4)). Additionally, to the extent
that such information may be contained
in an examination report such
information maybe also be withheld
from the public (5 U.S.C. 552 (b)(8)).
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve
System, March 27, 2017.
Robert deV. Frierson,
Secretary of the Board.
[FR Doc. 2017–06401 Filed 3–31–17; 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; Submission
for OMB Review; 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. A notice was published
in the Federal Register on January 13,
2017. No comments were received.
DATES: Submit comments on or before:
May 3, 2017.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments regarding
this burden estimate or any other aspect
of this collection of information,
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00056
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
16211
including suggestions for reducing this
burden to: Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs of OMB, Attention:
Desk Officer for GSA, Room 10236,
NEOB, Washington, DC 20503.
Additionally submit a copy to GSA 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.
Sosa/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
E:\FR\FM\03APN1.SGM
03APN1
16212
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 62 / Monday, April 3, 2017 / Notices
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.
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
(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)
...............................................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................................
4,217
4,020
2,768
970
279
34
33
23
8
2
Total ..................................................................................................................................................................
mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES
Category
Category
Category
Category
Category
1
2
3
4
5
FSS vendors
(percentage)
12,254
100.00
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.
2 These are approximations based on FY2015
data. The number of vendors equals the number of
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:32 Mar 31, 2017
Jkt 241001
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
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
PO 00000
Frm 00057
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
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.
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\03APN1.SGM
03APN1
16213
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 62 / Monday, April 3, 2017 / Notices
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
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:
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
VENDORS BY REPORTING SYSTEM TYPE
[Manual vs. Automated]
Manual
system
(vendor
percentage)
Category
Category
Category
Category
Category
1
2
3
4
5
Automated
system
(vendor
percentage)
Manual
system
(vendor
count)
Automated
system
(vendor
count)
.......................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................
100
100
90
50
10
0
0
10
50
90
4,217
4,020
2,491
485
28
0
0
277
485
251
Total Vendor Count by System Type .......................................................
Vendor Percentage by System Type .......................................................
........................
........................
........................
........................
11,241
92%
1,013
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
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
mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES
Manual
systems
Category
Category
Category
Category
Category
1
2
3
4
5
...............................................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................................
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:32 Mar 31, 2017
Jkt 241001
PO 00000
Frm 00058
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
E:\FR\FM\03APN1.SGM
03APN1
0.25
1.00
2.00
4.00
8.00
Automated
systems
2.00
2.00
2.00
2.00
2.00
16214
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 62 / Monday, April 3, 2017 / Notices
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
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.
Dated: March 29, 2017.
Jeffrey A. Koses,
Director, Office of Acquisition Policy, Office
of Government-wide Policy.
Annual Burden (Hours): 8,718.
Annual Burden (Cost): $592,846.
Total Information Collection Burden
[FR Doc. 2017–06520 Filed 3–31–17; 8:45 am]
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.
BILLING CODE 6820–61–P
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
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.
Administration for Children and
Families
Proposed Information Collection
Activity; Comment Request
Proposed Projects:
Title: Application Requirements for
the Low Income Home Energy
Assistance Program (LIHEAP) Model
Plan.
OMB No.: 0970–0075.
Description: States, including the
District of Columbia, tribes, tribal
organizations, and U.S. territories
applying for LIHEAP block grant funds
must, prior to receiving federal funds,
submit an annual application (Model
Plan, ACF–122) that meets the LIHEAP
statutory and regulatory requirements.
In addition to the Model Plan, grantees
are also required to complete the
Mandatory Grant Application SF–424Mandatory, which is the first section of
the Model Plan.
The LIHEAP Model Plan is an
electronic form and is submitted to the
Administration for Children and
Families (ACF), Office of Community
Services (OCS) through the On-line Data
Collection (OLDC) system within
GrantSolutions, which is currently
being used by all LIHEAP grantees to
submit other required LIHEAP reporting
forms. In order to reduce the reporting
burden, all data entries from each
grantee’s prior year’s submission of the
Model Plan in OLDC is saved and repopulated (cloned) into the form for the
following fiscal year’s application. OCS
seeks renewal of this form without any
changes.
Respondents: State, the District of
Columbia, U.S. Territories and Tribal
governments.
ANNUAL BURDEN ESTIMATES
Number of
respondents
Number of
responses per
respondent
Average
burden hours
per response
Total burden
hours
LIHEAP Detailed Model Plan ..................................................................
mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES
Instrument
210
1
0.50
105
Estimated Total Annual Burden
Hours (all respondents): 105.
In compliance with the requirements
of Section 506(c)(2)(A) of the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995, the
Administration for Children and
Families is soliciting public comment
on the specific aspects of the
information collection described above.
Copies of the proposed collection of
information can be obtained and
comments may be forwarded by writing
to the Administration for Children and
Families, Office of Planning, Research
and Evaluation, 330 C Street SW.,
Washington, DC 20201. Attn: ACF
Reports Clearance Officer. Email
address: infocollection@acf.hhs.gov. All
requests should be identified by the title
of the information collection.
The Department specifically requests
comments on: (a) Whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary
for the proper performance of the
functions of the agency, including
whether the information shall have
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:32 Mar 31, 2017
Jkt 241001
practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the
agency’s estimate of the burden of the
proposed collection of information; (c)
the quality, utility, and clarity of the
information to be collected; and (d)
ways to minimize the burden of the
collection of information on
respondents, including through the use
of automated collection techniques or
other forms of information technology.
Consideration will be given to
comments and suggestions submitted
within 60 days of this publication.
Robert Sargis,
Reports Clearance Officer.
[FR Doc. 2017–06521 Filed 3–31–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4184–01–P
PO 00000
Frm 00059
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND
HUMAN SERVICES
Health Resources and Services
Administration
National Vaccine Injury Compensation
Program; List of Petitions Received
Health Resources and Services
Administration (HRSA), Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS).
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
HRSA is publishing this
notice of petitions received under the
National Vaccine Injury Compensation
Program (the program), as required by
the Public Health Service (PHS) Act, as
amended. While the Secretary of HHS is
named as the respondent in all
proceedings brought by the filing of
petitions for compensation under the
program, the United States Court of
Federal Claims is charged by statute
with responsibility for considering and
acting upon the petitions.
SUMMARY:
E:\FR\FM\03APN1.SGM
03APN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 62 (Monday, April 3, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16211-16214]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-06520]
=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
[OMB Control No. 3090-0121; Docket No. 2017-0001; Sequence 1]
General Services Administration Acquisition Regulation;
Submission for OMB Review; 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. A notice was published in the Federal Register
on January 13, 2017. No comments were received.
DATES: Submit comments on or before: May 3, 2017.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments regarding this burden estimate or any other
aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for
reducing this burden to: Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
of OMB, Attention: Desk Officer for GSA, Room 10236, NEOB, Washington,
DC 20503. Additionally submit a copy to GSA 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. Sosa/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
[[Page 16212]]
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
(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
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 16213]]
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 Automated Automated
(vendor system (vendor Manual system system (vendor
percentage) percentage) (vendor count) count)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Category 1...................................... 100 0 4,217 0
Category 2...................................... 100 0 4,020 0
Category 3...................................... 90 10 2,491 277
Category 4...................................... 50 50 485 485
Category 5...................................... 10 90 28 251
---------------------------------------------------------------
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 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
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Automated
Manual 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
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 16214]]
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.
Dated: March 29, 2017.
Jeffrey A. Koses,
Director, Office of Acquisition Policy, Office of Government-wide
Policy.
[FR Doc. 2017-06520 Filed 3-31-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-61-P
