Contract costs under commercial contracts are governed by the Cost
Accounting Standards (CAS) and the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR)
The website is back up and working:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/procurement/index_casb.html
This material is also available at http://www.regulations.gov , but that
site is miserable to navigate.
The Cost Accounting Standards address (i) measurement, (ii) assignment
to periods, (iii) adjustment and (iv) allocation to cost objectives (in
particular: Federal based-based contracts) of costs. CAS 412 and 413
address pension plans, CAS 416 addresses insurance and CAS 415 addresses
other deferred compensation.
The ALLOWABILITY of pension cost for reimbursement by the Government is
addressed at Part 31 of the FAR, in particular, pensions are covered at
FAR 31.205-6(j). The FAR is available online at
http://www.arnet.gov/far/
Pension costs reported as part of the Medicare wage index data for
hospitals and providers is governed by Section 1886(d)(3)(E) of the
Social Security Act, 42 CFR Part 413
( http://www.gpoaccess.gov/cfr/index.html ) and Parts I and II of the
Provider Reimbursement Manual (PRM) - See PRM Section 2142
(http://www.cms.hhs.gov/Manuals/PBM/list.asp ). These reports are used
to set the Prospective Payment Rates for provider reimbursement. The
reports have a 3 year lag, i.e., 2006 data is due in 2009. The PRM has
not yet been updated for the PPA of 2006. (That's a work-in-progress.)
For other entities FAR Part 31 essentially defers to OMB Circulars that
govern how pension costs are reimbursed under federal grants to
education institutions (OMB Circular A-21), state, local and Indian
tribal governments (OMB Circular A-87) and non-profit entities (OMB
Circular A-122). These are accessible through
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars_index-ffm/ These Circulars
generally require that costs be computed in accordance with GAAP - SFAS
87/88, 132(R), 158 for educational institution and non-profits and GASB
45 for state and local governments. (I'm not sure what GAAP is for an
Indian tribal government.) I guess we'll have to worry about the
anticipated move to IAS 17 after we recover from PPA 2006.
This page is updated on March 25, 2009.
Government Contractors and the Pension Protection Act