About Us

The Chief Acquisition Officers Council, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the General Services Administration are conducting this national dialogue to discuss ideas on how to reduce the costs (compliance and other) associated with reporting compliance under Federal awards (contracts, subcontracts, grants, subgrants, and cooperative agreements). This dialogue is part an effort to improve the economy and efficiency of the Federal procurement and grants processes by identifying impactful steps to streamline processes and reduce costs and burden.

This dialogue furthers the goals of the President’s Management Agenda which lays the foundation for creating a 21st century government that delivers better results to the American people and addresses requirements of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 (Public Law 113-101) to gain a better understanding of the costs of compliance with Federal contracting and grants awards as well as recommendations to standardize data, eliminate unnecessary duplication, and reduce compliance costs.

During last year’s Open Dialogue on Federal Procurement, many commenters pointed to the potential reduction of redundant reporting and related processes as one way to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the government’s acquisition practices. This feedback is helping to support ongoing efforts to modernize the IT infrastructure supporting Federal procurement data collection and display, which will include development of a single website for Federal contractors to use for federal contract reporting requirements.

Management of federal contract and grant business arrangements requires multiple layers of reporting across multiple agencies. In some cases, lack of standardization results in slight (or significant) variations in reports that create additional administrative and burdensome requirements for awardees that could be readily rectified.

This dialogue is intended to continue the conversation begun last year in the context of federal procurement and expand it to cover federal grants by identifying opportunities for reducing burden, discussing ideas for standardizing processes and forms, and identifying recommended actions to reduce costs and eliminate duplication for awardees. The open dialogue focuses on three topics (campaigns). Each campaign focuses on a unique aspect of the Federal contracting and grants process for which we welcome your insight, ideas, and feedback.

Campaign 1 – Reporting compliance requirements shared by prime and sub-awardees of Federal procurements and grants
Campaign 2 – Procurement practices, processes, and reporting
Campaign 3 - Grants practices and processes

Note - We are looking for ideas to reduce your burden through data standards and changes to reporting procedures. We are interested in hearing about proposed changes that can be accomplished through executive (regulatory, administrative, or management) action, as well as potential legislative proposals where requirements are based in statute.

Campaigns

All Ideas
Contractors and Grantees
*To participate in the dialogue, you can submit a new idea by clicking "Submit New Idea" to the right, or you can vote and comment on existing ideas below.

Reporting compliance requirements shared by prime and subawardees of Federal procurements and grants
Key Participants: contractors, grantees, cooperative agreement holders, and subawardees
- Question: If you could change one thing that would ease your reporting burden associated with your awards, what would it be (e.g. time, cost, resource, other)?
- Question: If you have reporting requirements to the Federal government, how are those met?
- Question: If you could create a central reporting portal into which you could submit all required reports, what capabilities or functions would you include?
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Contractors
*To participate in the dialogue, you can submit a new idea by clicking "Submit New Idea" to the right, or you can vote and comment on existing ideas below.

Procurement practices, processes, and reporting
Key Participants: Contractors and subcontractors
- Question: If you could change one thing that would ease your reporting burden associated with your awards, what would it be (e.g. time, cost, resource, other)?
- Question: If you have reporting requirements to the Federal government, how are those met?
- Question: If you could create a central reporting portal into which you could submit all required reports, what capabilities or functions would you include?
- Question: Are there any reporting areas in the FAR that are similar in nature to those in Federal agency supplements?
- Question: What other compliance information are you providing to the Federal government outside of the procurement process that could be used in procurement reporting and reduce duplication?
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Grantees
*To participate in the dialogue, you can submit a new idea by clicking "Submit New Idea" to the right, or you can vote and comment on existing ideas below.

Grants practices and processes
Key Participants: grantees, cooperative agreement holders, subgrantees
- Question: If you could change one thing that would ease your reporting burden associated with your grants or subgrants, what would it be (e.g., time, cost, resource burden)?
- Question: If you have reporting requirements to the Federal government, how are those met? (feel free to be specific about what is reported to whom and through what mechanism)
- Question: If you could create a central reporting portal into which you could submit all required reports, what capabilities/functions would you include?
OMB circular A-133:
- Question: If you could make a change to ease your reporting burden for audits under the Single Audit Act (i.e., audits required by OMB Circular A-133 which is being replaced by the Uniform Guidance 2 CFR 200 Subpart F), what one thing would you change about reporting by the auditee?
- Question: If you could make a change to ease your reporting burden for audits under the Single Audit Act (i.e., audits required by OMB Circular A-133 which is being replaced by the Uniform Guidance 2 CFR 200 Subpart F), what one thing would you change about reporting by the auditor?
- Question: If you could make a change to ease your reporting burden for audits under the Single Audit Act (i.e., audits required by OMB Circular A-133 which is being replaced by the Uniform Guidance 2 CFR 200 Subpart F), what one thing would you change about reporting to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse?
Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200):
- Question: Are there requirements in the new 2 CFR 200 that need additional clarification for improved implementation with reduced administrative burden ?
- Question: What are the perceived burdens associated with the new standards such as the documentation of salaries & wages and time & effort (2 CFR 200.430), subrecipient monitoring (2 CFR 200.331), procurement standards (2 CFR 200.317- 2 CFR 200.324)?
- Question: How can the administrative burden associated with standards compliance be lowered?
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