CEAR Application - Association of Government Accountants

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION RQ 61000-14-0017 Upon the basis of the following justification, I hereby approve the issuance of the contractual action discussed below using other than full and open competition, pursuant to the authority cited herein. 1. Contracting Activity. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission 100 F Street, NE Washington, DC 20549 2. Nature and Description of Action Being Approved. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission intends to award a sole source contract for an application fee for the Certificate of Excellence in Accountability Reporting (CEAR) to the Association of Government Accounting (AGA), 2208 Mount Vernon Avenue, Alexandria, VA 22301. This is a new contract action. 3. Description of the supplies or services required to meet the needs of the SEC and the estimated value. The requirement is to obtain the AGA's evaluation of the Commission's Performance and Accountability Report. The related documents and filing fee are due to the AGA within 30 days after the Commission's Performance and Accountability Report is due to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Congress. The purchase order consists of one base year, and four additional one year options for future filing fees. The total estimated value of the purchase order, inclusive of all options, is $25,000.00. 4. Statutory Authority for Other than Full and Open Competition. The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C.253(c)(1) / FAR 6.302-1(a) - Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. 5. Demonstration that the proposed contractor's unique qualifications or nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited. The Certificate of Excellence in Accountability Reporting (CEAR) Program has been helping Federal agencies produce high-quality performance and accountability reports since 1997. The program was established in conjunction with the federal Chief Financial Officers Council and OMB to improve financial and program accountability by streamlinig reporting and improving the effectiveness of such reports. The AGA advises agencies on how to prepare integrated and user-friendly performance and accountability reports that clearly show what an agency accomplished with taxpayer dollars and the challenges that remain. The AGA is the only entity able to fill this requirement as it conducts its reviews and recommendations for improvements in the Commission's performance reporting practices. The AGA serves government accountability professionals by providing quality education, fostering professional development and certification, and supporting standards and research to advance government accountability. 6. Efforts to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as possible. There are no efforts being made to solicit offers from sources other than the AGA for the current requirement. AGA is the only association involved in federal agency financial performance reporting that provides evaluation results, detailed technical comments, and recommendations for improvement in agency federal financial reporting. The requirement was transmitted to GPE on March 20, 2014 and, if warranted by the response to such notice, this action will be reviewed. 7. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable. Before awarding a contract, the Contracting Officer will perform a price analysis in accordance with FAR 15.404-1(b) (and a cost analysis, if required) to determine that the price is fair and reasonable. 8. Description of a market survey conducted and results or statement of the reasons a market survey was not conducted. In the field of federal agency Performance and Accountability Reports, the AGA is the only vendor capable of meeting the requirement. 9. Other supporting facts. None 10. A listing of the sources, if any that expressed, in writing an interest in the acquisition. A list of sources that express interest in actions under this J&A will be maintained in the applicable contract file. 11. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required. The Commission's information requirements are ongoing and future acquisitions of similar services will be advertised as appropriate.