Competition for US Government funded programs increases every year. To make matters worse, total funding is flat or declining. Organizations which have historically only applied for Assistance Awards, known as Grants or Cooperative Agreements, are now considering US Government "acquisitions" that are awarded in the form of Contracts. Are you ready for this change? There is no reason that NGOs, other Not-for-Profit organizations, and For-Profit companies (e.g, Audit and consulting firms) cannot join the competition and win US Government contracts. Since profit is an accepted element in contract budgets, this could lead to a more sustainable source of funding for your organization. However, submitting winning proposals and successfully performing contracts requires a different framework of knowledge and a different set of skills than it does to take winning Assistance Awards. This deep understanding of the regulatory framework and skills that many NGOs (and some for-profit companies) simply do not have. This two-day, highly-focused, interactive course will quickly get management, technical, marketing, and financial staff up-to-date and up-to-speed on what they need to know to successfully compete in the Contracting environment.
The primary topics will include:
- Overview - US Government contracts under FAR vs assistance awards under 2 CFR200, including Government officials, applicable regulations, contract types, terminology, and standard forms
- Contracts - FAR regulations, USAID regulation, typical Agency procurement process (RFP, proposal, BAFO, negotiation, award, performance, and closeout)
- Overview of the proposal process
- Prime vs Subagreement/ Subcontract - flow down of FAR clauses vs. 2 CFR 200 provisions, practical differences, subagreement types (subaward, subcontract, GUC, CUG)
- Cost accounting basics for NGOs (using 2 CFR 200 cost principle for FAR)
- Cost accounting under FAR for commercial entities
- Cost recovery limitations unique to FAR & AIDAR
- FAR clauses that may impact financial performance
- Audits for Contracts - CPA audit versus Government auditor
- Contract and Subagreement closeout