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Frequently Asked Questions |
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The industrial funding plan was developed by working closely with industry
and customer agencies. The IFF is a fee paid by customers to fund the cost of operating the Schedules program.
Customer agencies pay this fee when they purchase items from a Federal Supply Schedule contractor with a
contract containing industrial funding provisions. The fee is included in the price of the item and is not a
separate line item; therefore, the award prices or discounts that appear in contractors' price lists already
include the fee. Below are some Frequently Asked Questions and answers on the Industrial
Funding Fee.
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If you have additional questions, please click here
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The IFF is a fee paid by customers to cover GSA’s cost of operating the Federal Supply Schedules program. The fee is a percentage of reported sales under Schedules contracts. [Top of Page] 2. Do customers pay the IFF in addition to the price listed by the MAS contractor? No. The IFF is already included in the price of the item because GSA negotiated the fee into the contract price before the award was made. [Top of Page] 3. Do all MAS contracts include the IFF clause? The IFF requirement was introduced to Multiple Award Schedule contracts in April of 1995. It is currently included in all Federal Supply Schedule contracts as 552.238-74, Industrial Funding Fee and Sales Reporting (July 2003). [Top of Page] 4. How do customers pay the IFF? The IFF is included in the price customer agencies pay the contractor when they purchase items from a MAS. The contractor remits the IFF due to GSA, quarterly. [Top of Page] 5. How does GSA receive the IFF from contractors? Schedule contractors remit to GSA a fixed percentage of their quarterly contract sales. Clause 552.238-74, Industrial Funding Fee and Sales Reporting, contains instruction for remitting the IFF. [Top of Page] 6. How do contractors know when to pay the IFF? Contractors must report contract sales to GSA within 30 calendar days following the completion of each reporting quarter. Clause 552.238-74 defines calendar quarters and defines four acceptable points at which contractors may report sales. Additionally, it specifies that GSA will provide the contractor with specific written procedural instructions on remitting the IFF within 60 days of award of a new contract. If no sales occur on a contract during a quarter, the contractor is still responsible for filing the sales report by entering zeroes. [Top of Page] 7. What exactly are 72A reports? The 72a Report is abbreviated reference to “GSA Form 72A, Contractor Report of Sales.” This is the form by which contractors electronically report sales via the Internet on a standard quarterly schedule. Clause 552.238-74 contains instructions for reporting sales. [Top of Page] 8. What are standard calendar quarters? The IFF Clause, 552.238-74, defines the respective calendar quarters as January 1-March 31, April 1-June 30, July 1-September 30, and October 1-December 31. The clause requires that contractors remit the appropriate IFF to GSA within 30 days of the end of the applicable reporting quarter. [Top of Page] 9. How is contract sales reporting accomplished? The contractor must have Internet connectivity and access to a web browser to submit sales reports electronically. The first step is to register with the GSA Vendor Support Center (VSC) at http://vsc.gsa.gov/. This web site provides information and instructions, including an online demo, regarding registration and electronic sales reporting. You may also contact the VSC by telephone at (877) 495-4849 or (703) 605-9992. [Top of Page] 10. Why don't agencies just pay GSA directly? At the inception of the IFF, Government and industry mutually agreed that the current IFF remittance procedure would have the least impact on all parties. [Top of Page] 11. How much is the IFF? The current IFF rate is located at https://72a.gsa.gov/. The rate is set by the Commissioner, Federal Acquisition Service and is reviewed periodically. [Top of Page] 12. How is the IFF calculated? To calculate how much IFF to remit, multiply total Federal Supply Schedule sales reported by the IFF rate in effect. The contractor should direct any questions regarding IFF calculations to the respective Administrative Contracting Officer (ACO). [Top of Page] 13. Can contractors pay the IFF by Electronic Funds Transfer or credit card? Yes. Contractors are encouraged to take advantage of one of our online payment options. Please visit https://72a.gsa.gov/online_iff.cfm for more information. [Top of Page] 14. How should contractors identify payments as IFF if they are paying by check? Contractors should follow the instructions in the IFF Clause, 552.238-74, and must provide the following information with all payments: contract number(s)), report amount(s)), and report period(s)). If the payment is for more than one contract and/or for multiple reporting periods, the specific amount to be allocated to each reporting period and each contract number must be included on any check submitted [Top of Page] 15. Why should agencies use the MAS's and pay the IFF instead of contracting directly? The benefits a customer received are well worth the fee, particularly when compared to the cost of customer staff time required to award a new procurement:
[Top of Page] 16. How do contractors know when to record a sale for 72A/IFF reporting purposes? For IFF purposes, GSA recognizes a sale recorded in a manner consistent with the contractor’s accounting system. This method minimizes the administrative burden on contractors. Clause 552.238-74 specifies the following acceptable points at which contractors may report sales: (1) receipt of order; (2) shipment or delivery, as applicable; (3) issuance of an invoice; or (4) payment. Any contractor that changes accounting and reporting practices, however, should notify the applicable ACO. [Top of Page] 17. Is the IFF applicable to additional contractor expenses such as travel on service contracts? If a contractor makes a sale of contract items under a Federal Acquisition Service contract, the IFF applies. However, if the contractor doesn't record compensation for additional expenses as a sale under the GSA contract, then the IFF should not be applied. [Top of Page] 18. Can contractors report sales and remit fees on a contract rather than Special Item Number (SIN) basis? The IFF clause specifies that contractors must report sales separately for each National Stock Number (NSN), Special Item Number (SIN), or sub-item. However, one payment may be made for the entire contract. [Top of Page] 19. What if a SIN is canceled from a schedule? Does the contractor still owe the IFF? Yes. The contractor must report and remit the IFF for all sales that occurred while that SIN was under contract. [Top of Page] 20. Where can contractors obtain information regarding the IFF program? The ACO is the point of contact for questions regarding a specific contract. If the contractor does not know which ACO is assigned the contract, they can use the ACO locator tool at http://vsc.gsa.gov/vsc/pco_aco.cfm. [Top of Page] 21. Should a contractor report sales and remit the fee if sales/fee for a particular contract are zero or some small amount? Yes. Clause 552.238-74 requires contracts to submit sales reports quarterly. If no sales occur, it requires the contractor to show “zero” on the report. Contractors must remit fees quarterly for all amounts greater than zero. [Top of Page] 22. Who is responsible for reporting and paying the IFF in a teaming arrangement? All team members must abide by the terms and conditions of their respective Federal Supply Schedule contracts. All team members must report their own contract sales and submit the resulting IFF obligation. [Top of Page] 23. Is the IFF applicable to sales under a MAS based Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA)? Yes. BPAs are agreements under the Federal Supply Schedule contract. Therefore, all sales on the BPA are contract sales and should be reported as such. [Top of Page] 24. Can a contractor change the method of reporting sales? The IFF Clause, 552.238-74, specifies that the contractor must maintain a consistent accounting method of sales reporting based on the contractor’s established commercial accounting practice. This established accounting practice should be the determining factor on when the contractor reports sales: (1) receipt of order; (2) shipment or delivery, as applicable; (3) issuance of an invoice; or (4) payment. The clause does not limit the number of times a contractor may change the method of sales reporting. However, this doesn’t mean the contractor may change the method of sales reporting each quarter because the contractor must demonstrate “consistent” practices in accordance with this clause. Also see question 16 above. [Top of Page] 25. Does the IFF apply to sales awarded as the result of orders from State and local governments? The IFF clause requires that sales identified as made under Federal Supply Schedules to state and local governments under Cooperative Purchasing authority and under the Disaster Recovery Purchasing program shall be counted as reportable sales for IFF purposes. [Top of Page] 26. Where do I mail my IFF payment? If you are unable to pay online using a Credit Card or Online check, please mail a check payable to:
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