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Department
of Finance
915 L Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 445-3878
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- What is the Statewide Cost Allocation Plan (SWCAP)?
 answer
- What is the difference between SWCAP and Pro Rata?
answer
- What are Section I and Section II costs? What are the
differences? answer
- Who is responsible for preparing the Statewide Cost Allocation
Plan? answer
- How is a central service (SWCAP) plan used?
answer
- What is the difference between the SWCAP amounts in the
Detail by Agency report, the agreement with federal Department
of Health and Human Services (DHHS), and the amount
budgeted? answer
- When must a federally funded state department write to
the State Controller’s Office to transfer the SWCAP recoveries
from the federal funds to the General Fund?
answer
- For the state department's SWCAP cost (as used in the
ICRP calculations), should I use the revised 2004-05 statewide
cost allocation plan or the 2005-06? I was reviewing last
year’s submission, and the 2003-04 SWCAP amount was used;
therefore, I should use the 2004-05. However, I am confused.
The expenditures are for the State's fiscal year of 2005-06
and I don’t know what SWCAP amount to use for the 2005-06
plan. What amount should I use? answer
- My state department wants to use the past year actual
2005-06 amount in the 2007-08 SWCAP Detail by Agency report
in our Final 2005-06 ICRP. Is this correct?
answer
- How and when will my state department be notified of a
revision to my SWCAP assessment? answer
- What
is the Statewide Cost Allocation Plan (SWCAP)?
SWCAP is prepared annually
by the Department of Finance, Fiscal Systems and Consulting
Unit. The State of California
provides certain services such as budgeting, accounting, auditing,
payroll, etc., to operating
agencies on a centralized basis. Since federally supported
awards are performed within the individual operating agencies,
a process is necessary to identify these central service
costs and assign them to benefited activities on a reasonable
and consistent basis. The federally reviewed and approved,
statewide central service cost allocation plan provides
that process.
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- What
is the difference between SWCAP and Pro Rata?
SWCAP and Pro Rata are developed from the same database
of statewide central service cost allocations distributed
by workload. SWCAP captures the distributed costs allowable
by the federal government. Pro Rata captures the distributed
costs recoverable from state special funds. Examples of
central service costs not allowable in SWCAP but included
in Pro Rata include the Legislature, State Treasurer’s Investments
and Cash Management and Trust Services, and State Retirement
Warrants. The Attorney General’s costs are included in SWCAP
but not in Pro Rata because the Attorney General directly
bills special funds for legal services provided.
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- What
are Section I and Section II costs? What are the differences?
Section I costs are Allocated Central Services where
services benefit operating departments and/or programs are
not billed on a fee for service or similar basis but allowable
costs are allocated to benefited state departments on some
reasonable basis.
Section II costs are Billed Central Services where
allowable costs are billed to benefited departments and/or
programs on an individual fee for service or similar basis.
Self-insurance and fringe benefit activities are other central
service activities that bill customers for services or benefits
provided.
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- Who
is responsible for preparing the SWCAP?
It is the responsibility of the Department of Finance to
prepare the Statewide Cost Allocation Plan, commonly known
as SWCAP.
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- How is
a central service (SWCAP) plan used?
The central service (SWCAP) plan is used to distribute allowable
central service costs to each of the individual
state department benefited, in order that they might include
them in their indirect cost rate proposal (ICRP).
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- What
is the difference between the SWCAP amounts in the Detail
by Agency report, the agreement with Department of Health
and Human Services (DHHS), and the amount budgeted?
The SWCAP apportionments in the original Detail by Agency
reports are subject to negotiation between the Department
of Finance (Finance) and the DHHS. The negotiated SWCAP
replaces the original proposed SWCAP. A state department
may have approved ICRP that includes the original proposed
SWCAP rather than the negotiated SWCAP. Such a state department
will consider submitting an amended ICRP if the difference
between the original and the negotiated SWCAP is material.
The SWCAP amount budgeted is a portion of the total SWCAP
apportioned to the state department. The budgeted amount
was calculated by the state department’s budget office in
consultation with their Finance budget analyst. It typically
represents the state department’s federal support as a percentage
of its total state operations. The amount calculated and
budgeted is what the state department will recover from
its federal funding sources as statewide indirect costs.
It is included in the state department’s billing rate through
an approved ICRP.
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- When
must a federally funded state department write to the State
Controller’s Office to transfer the SWCAP recoveries from
the federal funds to the General Fund?
SWCAP recoveries must be transferred to the General Fund
within 30 days after the end of the quarter in which they
were recovered. See the State
Administrative Manual Section 8755.2
(paragraph 2).
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- For the state department's SWCAP cost (as used in the ICRP calculations),
should I use the revised 2004-05 statewide cost allocation
plan or the 2005-06? I was reviewing last year’s submission,
and the 2003-04 SWCAP amount was used; therefore, I should
use the 2004-05. However, I am confused. The expenditures
are for the State's fiscal year of 2005-06 and I don’t know
what SWCAP amount to use for the 2005-06 plan. What amount
should I use?
If you are preparing the 2005-06 ICRP, you should
use your state department's SWCAP 2005-06 cost
or the state department's SWCAP 2005-06
revised cost if the SWCAP plan was revised.
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- My
state department wants to use the past year actual 2005-06
amount in the 2007-08 SWCAP Detail by Agency report in our
Final 2005-06 ICRP. Is this correct?
No. For 2005-06 or for any year, the SWCAP
amount to be displayed in any ICRP is the Total Allocated
for that year. State departments must not use the past year
actual amount. This amount is included in the report only
as part of the computation formula:
Past Year Actual – Budget Year Estimate = Roll Forward Adjust-
ment + Budget Year Estimate = Total Allocated
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- How
and when will my state department be notified of a revision
to my SWCAP assessment?
State departments will be notified by e-mail after the SWCAP has been negotiated between Finance and the DHHS and the revised SWCAP apportionments have been added to the SWCAP Library
on the SWCAP website.
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