Indirect Cost Rates 2026: What Nonprofits Must Know to Build NICRA-Proof Proposals
Online
2.00 Credits
Member Price $89.00
Non-Member Price $119.00
Overview
Indirect costs are an important aspect of obtaining full cost recovery on grants and cooperative agreements. An indirect rate is a mechanism for recovering allocable indirect costs. Have you struggled to understand how indirect rates work? We will show you Uniform Guidance theory and the mechanical aspects of how indirect rates are constructed. This session will cover the two of the most widely used indirect cost rate proposal templates to obtain Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreements (NICRA) for both the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and U.S. Department of Interior (DOI).
We will address: • Fringe and indirect rate examples, • The power of an indirect rate multiplier, • What is an ideal indirect rate, • Mandatory requirements for constructing an indirect rate, • The importance of the Statement of Functional Expense, and • Understanding the HHS and DOI model templates.
Objectives
- Understand the fundamentals of direct and indirect cost
- Present basic indirect rate mechanics
- List the items needed to prepare an indirect rate
- Take a deeper dive into the four methods of allocating indirect costs
Highlights
- Impact of Fall 2025 Shutdown and DOGE on HHS Cost Accounting Services
- Maneuvering in the new HHS ICAS Portal
- What to do if your provisional indirect rate expires
- Thinking out of the box
Designed For
Public accountants performing Single Audits; consultants, grant or subaward recipients as nonprofits, hospitals, institutes of higher education, Federal, state, local and tribal units of government, and commercial entities that have awards; grants adminis
Prerequisites
None
Preparation
None
Notice
Your webinar can be accessed via https://ctcpas.acpen.com/. If you do not have an ACPEN account, please sign up for an account using the email address you have on file with CTCPA.
Leader(s):
Leader Bios
Paul Calabrese, GRF CPAs & Advisors
Paul H. Calabrese Principal, Outsourced Accounting & Advisory Services GRF CPAs and Advisors
As a Principal in the firm’s Outsourced Accounting & Advisory Services group, Mr. Calabrese brings a successful track record of working with both government contractors and nonprofit organizations. His remarkable career includes positions with the Air Force Audit Agency, Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA), and three government contractors, in addition to 25+ years in public accounting. Mr. Calabrese’s extensive experience with the Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) and CAS disclosure statements, Federal Acquisition Regulation Cost Principals (FAR), and the Uniform Guidance for federal grants, positions him as a sought-after resource and consultant for all facets of federal government contract and grant cost accounting.
Mr. Calabrese has prepared over 40 incurred cost submissions for DOD and USAID. He has also provided indirect rate development, advance agreements, forward pricing reviews, fixed price, T&M and CPFF/CPAF/CPIF cost proposals, defective pricing, billing systems, contract close-outs, compensation, contract brief preparation, voucher reviews, provisional billing rates, SF 1408 audits and prep, and preparation and reviews of DOD business systems for Accounting, Estimating, and Contractor Purchasing System Reviews. His experience also includes interfacing with DCAA and USAID with respect to audit resolution of questioned cost and findings. Paul has worked with law firms and litigation support on contract Request for Equitable Adjustments, Termination for Convenience, and Delay Claims on the Quantum portion of the Settlement Proposal.
Mr. Calabrese has hands-on experience with the Uniform Guidance for Federal grants recipients including nonprofits, universities, hospitals, and state/local/tribal units of governments. His background and skill set includes grant cost accounting, sub-recipient monitoring, preparation of over 100 indirect rates/NICRA for several Federal agencies, development of policies and procedures, medical management systems invoicing to state Medicaid agencies, and development of a toolkit for unit cost rates for Ryan White HIV AIDS HRSA awards. He has also developed grant and financial statement dashboards and performed outsourced CFO duties, annual budgets, cash flow projections, grant draws, and budget monitoring.
Mr. Calabrese is a prolific speaker on Uniform Guidance topics, making frequent presentations at seminars and conferences for GWSCPA, MACPA, IMA, NGMA as well as video webinars for BPN-ACPEN and webinars for GRF. Topics include indirect cost and rates per the UG, indirect rate development, pre- and post-award standards, overview of the 56 cost principals, time reporting, developing unit cost rates R/W, sub-recipient monitoring, building a nonprofit annual budget, procurement standards, annual budgeting and dashboards, grant budgets and monitoring, and Government Shutdown/Anti-Deficiency Act.
Non-Member Price $119.00
Member Price $89.00