Indirect Cost Rate Principles: Contract Support Costs

January 17 - 19, 2023

This course will explain classification of costs, treatment and application of costs to federal awards. The course also covers the contract support costs policies of the BIA and IHS and how the policies impact PL 93-638 awards. Special focus will be placed on how indirect cost rates, when applies to the Federal Emergency Relief Funds, will impact the recovery of indirect costs on other federal awards.

Tribes and tribal organizations must have a good understanding of how Indirect Costs work, learn how to negotiate these funds for their federal contracts and discretionary grants, and find ways to leverage contract or grant funds to meet their indirect cost needs. Federal officials like federal awarding officials and grant management specialists, also need to learn how indirect cost rates work.

A U. S. Supreme Court decision in Salazar vs. Ramah Navajo Chapter, required that the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Indian Health Service provide full funding but it falls short of requiring other federal funding agencies to provide full funding. Both agencies recently revised their Contract Support Costs policies to cover rules on paying tribal overhead costs for awards under the Indian Self-Determination Act. These policies are meant to implement statutory provisions of the Indian Self-Determination Act, favor tribes and tribal organizations. It is incumbent on tribes to understand these policies.

Who Should Attend?

Tribal council members, chartered organizations school boards, health boards, tribal, program directors and managers; tribal grants/contracts staff, finance, and accounting staff; tribal attorneys, tribal consultants. Federal officials and federal awarding officials, federal contracting officers and their subordinates should also attend.

What Will I Learn?

• Funding provisions in the Indian Self-Determination Act regarding Direct Costs and Contract Support Costs (Direct Contract Support Costs, Pre-Award Costs, Start-Up Costs)
• Principles of indirect costs and indirect cost rates
• How indirect cost rates work
• Types of indirect cost rates, including fixed with-carry forward, final rates and provisional rates
• What happens when funding agencies do not pay indirect costs
• What happens when tribal councils waive indirect cost rates
• Differences between Indian Self-Determination Act contracts and discretionary grants
• Special Presentation: Detailed instruction on the new BIA & IHS Contract Support Cost Policies; and How to calculate Direct Contract Support Costs to add new funds to Self-Determination awards
• Overview of new OMB regulations (2 CFR Part 200) with special focus on cost principles and single audits