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B-257823 1 (1998-01-22)

handle is hein.gao/gaobacxzn0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Comptroller General of the United States Washington, D.C. 20548 0Decision Matter of: Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service--Propriety of Financial Management Service Charges Under the Economy Act File: B-257823 Date: January 22, 1998 DIGEST The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) claims that Financial Management Service (FMS) overestimated the amount of time FMS employees spend on administrative and other matters that FMS charges to all customers as an indirect cost for work performed pursuant to the Economy Act, 31 U.S.C. § 1535. As a result, according to FMCS, FMS charges all of its customers for employee time properly chargeable to, and payable by, identifiable customers. GAO's role is not to recompute FMS's standard hourly rate but to assess its general accuracy as a means to recover actual costs consistent with the dictates of the Economy Act. FMS estimates the amount of time its employees spend on administrative and other matters not directly chargeable to any one of its customers using historical data on actual levels of work performed, administrative workload, and lead time between customers, as well as estimates of anticipated workload growth. Based on our review of FMS's methodology, we have no basis to conclude that FMS's estimate is inconsistent with the requirements of the Economy Act. DECISION The Director of Budget and Finance, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS), requested our opinion on the propriety of charges made by the Financial Management Service (FMS), Department of the Treasury, for technical assistance provided in fiscal years 1993 and 1994 under reimbursable agreements entered into pursuant to the Economy Act, 31 U.S.C. § 1535. The Economy Act requires agencies to recover the actual cost of goods and services provided. 31 U.S.C. § 1535(b). FMCS questions the methodology used by FMS to calculate its charges. FMCS asserts that FMS charges were in excess of actual cost because FMS charged FMCS (as indirect costs) costs that were properly chargeable to other FMS customers. For the reasons stated below, we do not object to FMS's methodology for calculating costs. 110121

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