The Standard
Inter-Agency Agreement (IAA)
Association of Government Accountants
DC Chapter Spring Conference
May 4, 2010
Background
• The inability to account for and reconcile
intragovernmental transactions between departments
has been a long-standing audit finding on the US
Government’s financial report*
• Improving intragovernmental reporting is one of OMB’s
Office of Federal Financial Management’s reform
activities **
• FY 2012 is the target to reduce the intragovernmental
transactions material weakness to an immaterial level **
* 2008 Financial Report of the United States Government
** 2009 Federal Financial Management Report
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Progress
• October 2009:
o
o
Financial Management Line of Business (FMLoB) standard
business processes, including Reimbursables published
http://www.fsio.gov/fsio/fsiodata/fmlob_spb.shtml
• Since March 2009:
o
o
o
o
OMB and FMS have been working over the last six months to
develop a standard Inter-Agency Agreement (IAA) template
o Developed a working group
o Analyzed 9 different agency agreements, to include OFPP’s
IAA for assisted acquisitions
o Developed standard IAA form
o Incorporated IAA template into FMLoB Reimbursable Standard
Business Processes, which was vetted by agencies
Creating adobe acrobat template
Improved
Developed proposed implementation
plan
Performance
onstrategy
Key
Developing outreach plan/communication
Indicators
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Proposed IAA
Implementation Strategy
• Goal is to accommodate stakeholders
• Paper Community - agencies processing
IAAs through paper forms
• Automated Community – agencies
processing IAAs through automated
systems
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Next Steps
• OMB and Treasury to work with stakeholders
• Determine Intragov (IG) Transactions Types
• Determine Implementation Strategy
• OMB Implementation Memorandum
• Agency Outreach:
– Communication
– Training
– Implementation
• NSF Pilot
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Standard InterAgency
Agreement (IAA) Form
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Paradigm Shift
z
Developed Standard IAA Form
• Per request from:
• FMLoB Reimbursable Focus Group
• FMLoB
• CFO Council
• Central Reporting Team (CRT)
• Team Included:
• OMB, FMS, FSIO-FMLoB, DoD, GSA, Two Major Grant
Agencies
• Financial and Budget staff
• Requested Governmentwide Comments on IAA
• Vetted 600+ comments
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Paradigm Shift
(cont’d)
The standard IAA form:
z begins a paradigm shift in how the U.S.
Government does reimbursable business,
z facilitates communication between the
Buyer/Requesting Agency and
Seller/Servicing Agency, and
z enables trading partners to agree on the
terms of the transaction before business
begins.
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Paradigm Shift
Program
Program
Acquisition
BUYER
Finance
Acquisition
Seller
Budget
IAA
Finance
Budget
Key:
Initiates
Approves
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Managing Reimbursable (Buy/Sell)
Agreements - the FMLoB Way
IAA
Seller
Buyer
Invoice
Key:
Initiates
Approves
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Reconciling Elimination
Entries
Annual
Department
Financial Report
Trading Partner –
Quarterly Reporting
and Reconciliation
Daily
Reimbursable [Buy/Sell]
Agreements (IAA)
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Contacts
z
Kim Farington – OMB
KFarington@omb.eop.gov (202) 395-3053
z
Robin Gilliam – Treasury, FMS
robin.gilliam@fms.treas.gov (202) 874-9133
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NSF Pilot of Standard Interagency
Agreement (IAA) Forms
May 2010
NSF’s Interest in IAAs
• Participated in government-wide initiative with the
FSIO Reimbursable Focus Group on IAAs
• Developed an internal cross-divisional workgroup on
IAAs under NSF’s CFO office
– To focus on compliance with FY07 business rules on
intragovernmental transactions
– To improve financial business processes within NSF
• Initial efforts addressed Seller agreements
• Current year activities concentrates on Buyer agreements
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Piloting of New IAA Forms
How did NSF become a pilot agency on the use
of the new IAA forms?
•Lacked a well developed business process for our Buyer
agreements
– Needed an IAA form
– Opted to leverage the newly created standard IAA forms rather
than “reinventing the wheel”
•Invited by OMB & Treasury to pilot the forms
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Initiating the Pilot Process
• Held Town Hall session for NSF program and
administrative staff to introduce use of new standard
IAA forms on Buyer agreements
– OMB & Treasury participated in Town Hall session and
emphasized the intragovernmental reconciliation issues
– New forms highlighted need to change NSF’s business
processes on IAAs
• Developed training materials and conducted training
– Prepared pre-populated IAA form for NSF staff
– Distilled detailed standard instructions for NSF-specific use
– Made resources available on NSF’s internal website
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NSF Challenges
• Seller program offices not knowing the financial contacts
especially if the agency has decentralized financial operations
• Implemented use of standard forms on new agreements rather
than existing agreements for smoother transition
• Discovered a wider range of agreements than originally
anticipated that compelled us to figure out how to meet the
broader needs
• Difficulty in introducing financial information and requirements
to non-financial staff
• Highlighted importance of re-educating staff on Appropriation
Law and statutory authorities governing IAAs
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Changes in NSF’s Business Model
• Negotiating agreements with other agencies up front
before any transactions occur
• Front ending all players of the process instead of stovepiping them by their functions
• Changing our view on future business practices and
systems development
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NSF Contact Information
Karin Dasuki, Chief, Financial Systems Branch
NSF Division of Financial Management
703-292-8005 / kdasuki@nsf.gov
Lori Wiley, Staff Associate
NSF Division of Grants and Agreements
703-292-8804 / lwiley@nsf.gov
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