ProTracts & CSP Contract Development

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ProTracts & CSP Contract Development

USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer

Training Delivered on the National recorded CSP teleconference

Mary Grande

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Topics

• Generating contract items• Payment Limitations• Field verification and CMT

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Access to CMT

There are now two application statuses that can access CMT:

1. Pre-approved: To check any changes during field verification

2. Eligible: For applications that may be moved to pre-approved if higher ranked applications are withdrawn

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Access to CMT

• Returning to CMT after the contract items are created with the Generate button results in the contract items being deleted.

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Step 1: Find Pre-Approved Application

•Note the application status.

•Note there is no application cost.

•Note there are no contract items.

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Step 2: Open Application

•Note the application status.

•Note there is no application cost.

•Note there are no contract items.

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Step 3 : Land Unit Review

•The estimated acres WILL NOT be used on the NRCS-CPA-1155. Do NOT take on the administrative burden to correct them.

•The Tract Numbers WILL be used on the NRCS-CPA-1155. They will be attached to each contract item for the land use. If you correct them before using the “generate” button in step 4A, editing burden is saved. If you don’t correct before editing, correct on the items as shown in Step 5.

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Step 4A: Generate Contract Items

•Access the Payment Rate screen. Please note that the rates are for training purposes onlytraining purposes only and do not reflect the rates for any specific signup.

•Select Generate

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Step 4B : Generate Contract Items

•Note after items are generated the data is read only and only method to change is to Delete and generate the items again.

•This is a control so items can’t be selectively changed. Changes only come from CMT.

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Generate Contract Items

•Items with zero performance payment points will not have contract items generated.

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Step 4C : Contract Expiration Date

•Un-editable Expiration Date is set when contract items are generated.

•All contracts are five years in length and expire at the end of the fiscal year.

•Last payment will be made after the contract expires. This meets policy since the activities receiving payment were completed while the contract was active (retrospective payments).

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How Payment Rates are Calculated

•Land Use Acres x Performance Payment Points x Payment Rate

•RCCR Acres x Payment Rate for start year forward

•Screen shows total for all scheduled years.

•Payment Limitations are not applied at this step.

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•Land Use Acres x Performance Payment Points x Payment Rate X Years

•Value is rounded up to nearest dollar then multiplied by number of years.

434.0 X 803.01 x .0080 = $2788.05 Round $2789 x 5 YR = $13,945

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•RCCR Acres x Payment Rate for start year forward.

•If RCCR started in year 2012 the payment amount would be $17280

•Screen shows total for all scheduled years.

Reminder, rates are for illustration only.

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Step 5: Review Contract Items

•Look at accounts and verify that NIPF apps are in the appropriate non-ag accounts and the agricultural lands are in the appropriate ag land accounts.

• If incorrect this could potentially result in contracts being cancelled to make the changes after obligation since they were ranked against the wrong applications and potentially with different resource concerns.

Measure twice, cut once.

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•Similar to non-CSP contract items. Draft status until Check Rules is run.

•Units are points and the amounts are payment points.

•Narrative is un-editable for signup CSP 2010-1

• Acres displayed for ease of reviewing payment amounts.

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•Tracts auto-generated from land unit description.

• Field numbers must be added for printing on NRCS-CPA-1155 and to pass Check Rules.

•Items will remain Draft until fields are entered.

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Adding Fields

•Select Land Units green button for item 1.

•Enter the field numbers applicable to that land use.

•Select OK to copy to other contract items for the land use. Cropland land units copy to the RCCR items and then edit as needed.

•Repeat steps with next land use where multiple land uses present.

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•Acres displayed for reference purposes to review that the cost share is acres x unit cost x amount for Annual Payments.

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Supplemental Payment for Resource Conserving Crop Rotation paid per acre instead of conservation performance points Acres x payment rate. . .

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•There is a problem with this item number cost share amount. What is it?

508.95 Payment Limitations A. Person or Legal Entity Limitations (1) Regardless of the number of contracts entered into under the program, a person or legal entity may not receive, directly or indirectly, payments that, in the aggregate, exceed:(i) $40,000 during any fiscal year for all conservation stewardship contracts entered into, and (ii) $200,000 for all conservation stewardship contracts entered into during any 5-year period(2) The above limitations exclude funding arrangements with federally recognized Indian tribes or Alaska Native corporations as described in CPM 440, Part 508, Section 508.95(C). B. Contract Limitation Each conservation stewardship contract will be limited to $200,000 over the life of the contract.

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•Payment limitation rules across contracts are firmly set at Approval and re-checked at Obligation. This is because the capping may also need to take into account additional contracts for the same participant.

•However ‘light’ per contract limitations will be applied during Check Rules.

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Per Contract Payment Limitations

•Do not provide the participant the NRCS-CPA-1155 during field verification if the items exceed the annual payment limitation of $40,000 or $200,000 contract limit per CPM 440 Part 512.91 matrix.

•MUST run check rules to apply those per contract limits.

•However, if the applicant has interest in more than one contract, this is not the full accounting of their potential payment limits.

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Complete Payment Limitations

•Cross contract payment limitations are Implemented at obligation when the last contract for the applicant exceeded their open $200,000 balance limit.

•The challenge is we only know the open balance after the contracts have been approved. The order in which applications are approved for applicants with multiple contracts impacts the open balances.

•Where multiple contracts require payment limitations to be applied to subsequent contracts, the caps will be applied at approval.

•Same ‘challenge’ at payment– order for processing payment may impact limits.

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Fund Manager Reports

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Fund Manager Reports

This report will show projected annual payments for a contract. To see cross contract projected amounts, enter and search based on the participants tax id.

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•Only the first year items are obligated, for payment at beginning of next fiscal year.

•Out years are all ‘planned’ to be obligated. Will be using the same “promote” process that is now being used for the Security Program.

• Hence they display FA2011 to show they will be obligated in 2011.

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Contract Item Functions

•Items were generated in order of land uses on the payment rate screen but can be changed using Reorder Items.

•Delete is never enabled from this menu.

• To Delete, use the Payment Rate screen and use the Delete button.

•It is a global delete for all items. No selective deletes permitted since all the scores and acres are from CMT.

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Step 6: Check Rules

•1-5 indicates missing field numbers

• 6 Detects that a tract number has changed.(T6274 changed toT6275)

•Note scroll bar on right to see more messages when applicable.

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Step 6: Check Rules

APL cap shows the amount that can be paid for that item to keep annual payments at $40,000 per participant.

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Detours: Payment Limitations

•At Pre-approval and Check Rules can only enforce payment limitations at the per contract level. “Light” payment limitations.

•At approval and obligation ProTracts will evaluate the other direct contracts the applicant has payment shares and will cap to maintain annual and contract limits. See slide 46 for an example.

•At payment will evaluate at both the direct and indirect levels for full enforcement of payment limitations and direct attribution.

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Detours: Deleting Items

Where corrections are determined during contract item reviews the items can be deleted.

Deletion clears the payment amount and deletes the contract items.

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Detours: Deleting Items

Application Cost is now zero

Items are removed.

Using the Refresh button above AGI eligible cost will refresh balance to zero..

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Detours: Returning to CMT

“deletion of all contract items” --> Does the same thing as the Delete Button.

Requires items to be generated again from the payment rate screen.

Select Ok to continue to CMT or select Cancel.

Even if CMT is accessed with no changes made, will need to use the generate button again to re-create the contract items.

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Step 7: Send Pre-approval Letter & Field Verification

•The letter that will be distributed by the CSP team is to be used in lieu of the letter in ProTracts.

•Only send the application cost AFTER successful use of Check Rules.

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Anatomy of the NRCS-CPA-1155

•Fields entered for the contract items print with each contract item. Acres of the land use (from CMT) are displayed.

•First line shows capped amount where applicable, and second line the uncapped amount. Note capped footnote.

•Unit Cost is points. Payment amount is per information on slides 15-17 and includes the acres.

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Anatomy of the NRCS-CPA-1155

•Note that contracts with multiple land uses, all items may be capped so that payment limitations are not exceeded.

•ProTracts sums the capped amounts for all the items scheduled in the same fiscal year to determine the annual payment amounts.

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Step 7: Send Pre-approval Letter & Field Verification

•Field verification is required before setting the application to Approved.

• Date of verification must be entered on the application screen.

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Step 8: Approve ApplicationChecks in Manage Applications:• All conventional eligibility criteria are met for FTE,

AGI, and payment limits.• Participant info indicates eligible participant

including “other”.• Verify that minimum of one farm associated with

the decision-maker as the operator of record.• Vendor code is accepted.• Ranking score, total eligible acres, and tie-breaker

are present .Field verification date is entered.• Contract items and payment rate has been

generated and at least one item is present in the practice schedule for each of the 5 year contract duration.

• Warning if Participant has prior year Active CSP2002 contracts.

• Warning if Participant has other CSP 2008 applications.

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Step 8: Approve Application

Selecting “Yes” reserves the dollars in the ProTracts ledger and debits the acres from the statewide allocation. States must have received the fund allocation in ProTracts, and reallocated funds prior to setting applications to approved.

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Detours: Payment Limitations

•In this illustration one application was approved for $148,290.

•The second application was preapproved for $187,800

•When second application was set to approved, warning is displayed that caps will be applied. Second contract now approved for only $51,701.

•$148,290 + $51,701 =$200,000

•Note, the order of approval dictates level of payment caps.

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Upload from Toolkit

Application Approval

Contract Obligation

Payment Approval

Modification Approval

CSP2008

No upload from Toolkit.

Blocked for AD-1026, HEL/WC, AGI, or Payment Limitations or Farm Records Farms Operated



Blocked for AD-1026, HEL/WC, AGI, or Payment Limitations and tbd if Farm Records Farms Operated

Eligibility Controls by Business Process

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Step 9: Prepare to Obligate

See CPM 440 Part 512.42 to review the sequencing

• Participant signature on NRCS-CPA-1202, appendix, NRCS-CPA-1155

• Enter date documents signed on participant info for each participant > zero shares.

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Step 9: Prepare to Obligate

Manage Contracts obligation status set to pending.

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Step 10: Second level obligation review

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Step 10: Second level obligation review

Manage Contracts obligation status set to Accepted following successful obligation review.

Note: For CSP the Regional Conservationists do not Sign Contracts that exceed $150,000

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Step 11: Obligate Contract

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Step 11: Obligate ContractEach obligated contract will debit two items:1) Fund Allocations for the specific sub-account2) Acre Allocations for the entire state

Contract amount is for the life of contract. Item cost is the amount for the first year that is being obligated.

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Step 12: Monitoring Acres Reports

• Can search by signup or specific fund code.

• Options to manage state acre allocation: 1) Search by Ag Land or NIPF applications 2) Cumulative Acre column on far left

• Acres button for status of state acre allocation

• Use in combination with Export features

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•Will be read only view of acres in each of the application statuses and obligated contracts in the current active signup.

•Cannot exceed total acres for approved and obligated, only at pre-approved since this is tentative funding.

•Acre values will be updated as NHQ provides changes.

Step 12: Monitoring Acres Reports

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Managing Contracts

•Modifications are disabled until changes can be made to implement the CSP 2008 specific rules.

•CMT access will be allowed at a future date.•Training will be provided when the next group of features is ready.

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Contract History

•History information includes CMT acres and points for applicable land uses.

•Proposed enhancement to CMT is to store which CMT run was archived at obligation for comparison during contract maintenance.

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Review• Generating contract items• Payment Limitations• Field verification and CMT• Quality Assurance before Obligations• Follow CPM 440 Part 512 for signatures

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Support• Slides will be available on ProTracts

Home Page• Sixty day recording link will be

available from my.nrcs/CSP section• Send business questions to NRCS-

[email protected]• Send details of software errors to

ProTracts support.

ProTracts & CSP Contract Development

Documents

payment rates

contract itemsnote

contract itemsitems

contract itemsaccess

payment rate screen

review contract itemslook

csp contract development

application cost