- Availability. The concept of an appropriation’s “availability” in terms of purpose, time, and amount.
- Obligations. The seminal event of the contractual obligation. This includes the distinction between making and recording an obligation, “placing money on the contract,” and obligating the United States in contract for a definite amount.
- Selected Purpose Issues. The availability of appropriated funds for certain purposes. These include food, clothing, “give-aways,” contracting for functions that might be “inherently governmental,” fiscal issues surrounding conferences and other occasions where an agency might seek to “augment” its appropriation - and if we have a Defense audience, using O&M for construction, the DoD “investment threshold,” and DoD “capital lease” restrictions, and other DoD-unique fiscal issues.
- The “Life Cycle” of Appropriations and the “Bona Fide Needs Rule.” The availability of appropriations according to their three stages, and the “Bona Fide Needs Rule” - and its exceptions.
PART TWO: Selected Contracting Fiscal Issues
- Types of Contracts. The “type” of every Government contract in terms of what contractual obligations occur by virtue of an award, and also the fiscal obligations for each type (they are not necessary parallel or simultaneous!)
- Protests. Funding availability as it is affected by pre-award and post-award bid protests.
- Contract Modifications. Funding contract modifications with current and expired funds (including determining the “scope” of contract modifications)
- Service Contracting. The distinction between severable and nonseverable service contracts; “crossing fiscal years” to fund severable service contracts; and various service contract issues, such as the extension of service contracts.
- Personal Services Contracts. A thorough explanation of a true “personal services” contract with respect to the FAR, court decisions, and GAO opinions – as well as the call for the end of the Antideficiency Act’s prohibition against personal services contracts.
- Multiple Year and Multiyear Contracting. The legal authorities and applications of the laws and rules for contracting over a one-year period.
- Incremental Funding. The legal authorities and applications of incremental funding, including how the concept and term is used in various contexts. We will remove the mysteries around multiyear contracting and incremental funding – and show how is correctly (and incorrectly) done!
- Contracting Under the Economy Act. Contracting and funding under the Economy Act, to include the fiscal responsibilities of the ordering and servicing agencies, and the rules of obligation - and deobligation - for Economy Act orders. The common errors of contracting under the Economy Act will be explained.
- Contracting With Revolving Funds. Contracting with “revolving funds” (stock funds, franchise funds, etc.); the application of the bona fide needs rule, the rules of obligation, and the problems agencies have encountered with revolving fund contracting. The common errors of contracting by revolving funds will be explained.
- Contracting Under Continuibg Resolution Authority and During “Funding Gaps.” The scenarios and practices of contracting under a continuing resolution and in a “funding gap.”
- Prompt Payment. The rules on invoicing and Prompt Payment Act interest, to include the circumstances when Prompt Payment Act interest does not accure.
- Funding Ratifications. Whether an “unauthorized commitment” can be ratified and how.
- Funding Settlements, and Judgments. What year’s funds to charge, and the availability of the Judgment Fund.
- Paying “Voluntary Creditors.” How people who pay the Government’s tab in a pinch can be reimbursed.
- Contract Terminations for Convenience and Default. Funding issues and rules with terminations for convenience and default.
PART THREE Contract-Related Antideficiency Act Violations
- The basic scenarios of contract-related ADA violations, to include possible corrective actions, that would avoid an ADA violation.
- The dispute between the Attorney General and the Comptroller General as to whether certain “Purpose Statute” violations are also violations of the Anti-Deficiency Act.
- The Agency’s treatment (i.e., investigation) of ADA violations, and the employee’s rights and protections.
- A synopsis of all the reported contract-related ADA violations for the last six years (based on the GAO homepage of ADA reports)
PART FOUR Liabilities for Fiscal Errors
- For Government Personnel. When a fiscal error occurs, be it an antideficiency act violation, a “Purpose Statute” violation, charging the wrong year’s funds, or other funding error, what are the liabilities – in terms of disciplinary action, collection/withholding action, or other government action, for Government personnel, to include “accountable officials” (and what is an “accountable official”), resource management, supervisory and program personnel, contracting staffs (to include CORs/COTRs) and other personnel.
- For Contractors. What are the Contractor’s risks, legal and contractual, for funding errors by their government customer.
REVIEW EXERCISES. The seminar will conclude with a comprehensive multiple choice review exercises and discussion problems that will reinforce the key points with real world problems.
