Fees, billing, and funding

The statutory authorities that permit PBS to provide reimbursable services require GSA to recoup all indirect costs.

The RWA Management Fee is to cover PBS’s indirect costs which includes the costs of managing the reimbursable program nationwide.

For nonseverable services:

• If the acceptance date is before August 1st, 2020, the old fee structure will apply.
• If the acceptance date is August 1st, 2020 or later, the current fee structure will apply.

No. The RWA will keep whichever fee structure was associated with it when the RWA was originally accepted, based on the RWA acceptance date.

No. Customers only get charged a fee based on the actual amount of cost expensed. If the original RWA was for $10,000, but PBS only expensed $8,000, the fee will be assessed and charged based upon the $8,000. Any remaining value on the RWA, including any remainder originally estimated for the fee, will be returned to the customer via the RWA Closeout Letter.

The current fee structure for nonrecurring RWAs is a stepped fee. A stepped fee means that the fee rate decreases as the project costs increase. The fee structure for recurring RWAs is a flat $500 per child estimate (e.g. overtime utilities in GSA-owned space). All RWAs (recurring and nonrecurring) will be charged a minimum of $500. You can find the table showing the different fee rates for each dollar range at www.gsa.gov/rwa on the Policy and Guidance page.

In an effort to ensure PBS is recovering the appropriate amount for management of all Reimbursable work, PBS reviews and updates our PBS fee every 3-5 years. The fee most recently changed on August 1, 2020.

The fee is charged on the new total value of the RWA, not on the additional cost. For example, if $5,000 is added to a $20,000 RWA, the fee will be calculated based on $25,000.

Yes - all RWAs will be charged a minimum of $500 to cover GSA’s cost to establish and maintain the RWA. Customers have the option to NOT create an RWA, and instead use Micro-Purchase Authority, which can be delegated within your agency. You can visit the Facilities Management page for more information.

No, F-type RWAs follow the stepped fee structure, so the fee applied is based on the estimated total project costs associated with the RWA. There is not a separate fee assessed on top of each task ordered against the RWA.

More information is available at www.gsa.gov/rwa under Policy and Guidance, or you can reach out to AskRWA@gsa.gov for questions if you have additional questions.

Direct Costs are not the fee. They are the expenses that are directly linked to the goods or services by contract awards or direct labor if applicable.

PBS provides a base level of service to manage reimbursable work, and that base service is covered in our RWA Management Fee. Costs which exceed that base level of service or self-perform work that PBS would otherwise contract for (e.g. completing a design) is required to be “directly charged”. For direct charges, PBS estimates how much additional labor or travel will be required in excess of the base service, and invoices labor and travel as it is utilized. A detailed list of PBS base services and services which are in excess of that base are outlined with the PBS Pricing Desk Guide.

No, as it considered the cost of doing business.

RWAs are billed on the 19th of the month (or the first business day after). RWA billing statements are available to view in VCSS within a day or two after RWA billing has completed.

Bills are no longer sent to customers, but can be accessed on approximately the 25th of each month on the Vendor & Customer Self Service (VCSS) website:https://vcss.ocfo.gsa.gov/

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a list of five FAQs regarding IPAC transactions along with several real-life situations and the GAO decision on each of those instances. This 2008 FAQ publication can be found on the GAO Appropriations Law Forum website by scrolling down to the “2008 Appropriations Law Forum” section and downloading the “Interagency Transactions” PDF.

No, those items impact financial closeout, but should not delay substantial completion being entered into RETA by PBS.

Yes, but GSA discourages IPAC customers from using purchase cards because it costs the government unnecessary purchase card fees. In order to use a purchase card, a federal customer must FIRST complete an RWA and cite the financial information (TAS) associated with the purchase card, and select “non-IPAC” as the billing method. Once the RWA is accepted, the customer must use pay.gov to pay the invoice.

If you have already used the “BOAC Search” on the “Billing Information” tab of the RWA in eRETA/RETA and still can’t find your BOAC, reach out to eRETA@gsa.gov with the following information:

1. The five digit Agency Bureau Code:
2. The eight digit Agency Location Code (ALC) (If non-IPAC, then this is blank):
3. The billing Address:
4. The Street address:
5. The primary POC requesting this new BOAC (likely you) - we need name, phone number, and email address

Please see our “Contact Us” page at www.gsa.gov/rwa for contacts for various issues.

Vendor and Customer Self-Service. It allows customers to view their bills from GSA.

G-Invoicing is the government’s long-term sustainable solution for Buy/Sell transactions and will manage the receipt and acceptance of General Terms and Conditions (GT&C) Agreements, Orders, and Performance. It also will initiate fund settlement. Although Treasury has required G-invoicing to be used beginning in fiscal year (FY)23, GSA will not begin use until FY25. Customer eRETA users will still continue to use eRETA to submit all WR/RWA information just as they would have before the requirement. More information about G-invoicing, and GSA’s implementation plan is available at G-Invoicing | GSA.

Customers must cite funding which is available for obligation during the fiscal year (FY) of bona fide need of the work. GSA uses the supporting information and the Treasury Account Symbol on the RWA to verify the correct funding year is being used. Note that RETA/eRETA will give validation errors if there are mismatches between the fund year/type/etc. For more information about the bona fide need rule, appropriation law, and fund types, please see the RWA Policy Manual available at www.gsa.gov/rwa on the Policy and Guidance page.

That depends. How long funds are good for is defined by the “funding appropriation availability” from Appropriation law dictates how long funds are valid for (5 years after the expiration of obligational authority). For more information on Appropriation law and how it dictates fund availability, please see the RWA Policy Manual available at www.gsa.gov/rwa on the Policy and Guidance page.