Procurement Rules: Too Good To Be True?

Recently, OMB clarified two other sources of confusion on implementing the NEW procurement standards Procurement Rules .

I had to pinch myself because these seemed too good to be true!

Do Indirect Costs Get a Pass?

First of all, OMB stated that the procurement standards only apply to costs directly charged to award, and NOT to indirect purchases-like getting the furnace fixed at the Headquarters building. Does this mean that you can spend whatever you want on indirect costs? NO…don’t be the next GSA having lavish conventions with clowns and employee-produced videos. BUT…if you take a reasonable approach to indirect costs, have strong internal controls in place and don’t go crazy, you don’t have to run your indirect costs through the same stringent standards as direct purchases. (Of course you are also limited by your indirect costs rate-so…now you see why there has been the constant pressure to drive those indirect costs rates down, down, DOWN.)

Get A Little Grace On The Procurement Rules

The OMB also decided to extend a grace period for implementation of the procurement standards that ended December 26, 2017. Note that this grace period ONLY affected the procurement standards, not the rest of the new grant regulations implementation.

Managing Stress and Expectations

Both of these clarifications should make life less stressful as we head into the full implementation on the new grant regulations 2 CFR Part 200. But there is still lots of ground to cover for full implementation. If you’ve been wondering where things are heading with grant management, I’ll like to share a crystal ball… Click Here to get a copy of our new Special Report: The Future of Grant Management Discover where the Federal government is putting it’s priorities for grant management this year and beyond Procurement Rules . This report is FREE to our grant community Procurement Rules .

Ready to Improve Your Grant Management?

How about you? Would you like to be a better grant manager? We have another grant management training seminar coming soon. Click here to get all the details! Hope to see you there! Author: Lucy Morgan CPA, MBA CEO, Compliance Warrior Author of “Decoding Grant Management-The Ultimate Success Guide to the Federal Grant Regulations in 2 CFR Part 200”  The 2nd Edition is now available on Amazon in Paperback and Kindle versions.