Other audit requirements.

§ 603.660 Other audit requirements. If an expenditure-based TIA provides for audits of a for-profit participant by an IPA, the contracting officer also must specify: (a) What periodic audits are to cover. It is important to specify audit coverage that is only as broad as needed to provide reasonable assurance of the participant's compliance with award terms that have a direct and material effect on the RD&D project. (b) Who will pay for periodic and award-specific audits. The allocable portion of the costs of any audits by IPAs may be reimbursable under the TIA. The costs may be direct charges or allocated indirect costs, consistent with the participant's accounting system and practices. (c) The auditing standards that the IPA will use. The contracting officer must provide that the IPA will perform the audits in accordance with the Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards. (d) The available remedies for noncompliance. The agreement must provide that the participant may not charge costs to the award for any audit that the contracting officer determines was not performed in accordance with the Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards or other terms of the agreement. It also must provide that the Government has the right to require the participant to have the IPA take corrective action and, if corrective action is not taken, that the agreements officer has recourse to any of the remedies for noncompliance identified in 10 CFR 600.352(a). (e) Where the IPA is to send audit reports. The agreement must provide that the IPA is to submit audit reports to the contracting officer. It also must require that the IPA report instances of fraud directly to the Office of Inspector General (OIG), DOE. (f) The retention period for the IPA's working papers. The contracting officer must specify that the IPA is to retain working papers for a period of at least three years after the final payment, unless the working papers relate to an audit whose findings are not fully resolved within that period or to an unresolved claim or dispute (in which case, the IPA must keep the working papers until the matter is resolved and final action taken). (g) Who will have access to the IPA's working papers. The agreement must provide for Government access to working papers.