Cost Allocation Plans

Allocating Administrative Functions in Other Departments

During my time as a Finance Director I was happy with hiring the best user fee consultant for the job and letting him or her do all the...

Supporting Your Interfund Transfers

It seems that a number of cities have gotten letters from a law firm asking for the back-up detail for their interfund transfers from...

It’s time to think about updating your Cost Allocation Plan

If you use a Cost Allocation Plan (CAP) to recover General Fund costs from your Enterprise Funds, then it’s time to start thinking about...

Long-Range Financial Plans

I got a call recently from a California city interested in consultants that did long-range financial plans (LRFP). I couldn’t remember...

Cost Allocation Plan vs. Internal Service Fund

In last month’s article I wrote about what happens when you write a Program Budget and no one cares. In other words, you have identified...

To ISF or not to ISF?

Being someone who allocates costs for a living, it has become an axiom that if you can allocate costs then you do it. But is more...

Caltrans A-87 Cost Allocation Plan

Everyone has heard of the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-87. And everyone feels they need an A-87 Cost...

What type of CAP should I use?

The A-87 CAP was created because our profession (Municipal Finance Officers Association, at the time) wanted overhead reimbursement on...