CBO Data FAQ
FAQ regarding the CBO data template.
Table of Content
1. Purpose of the data collection template & general questions
1.1. What will this information be used for?
The data collected in the Data template will be used for the Cost Benefit Analysis for the establishment of the CBO in the country, and more concretely to establish a baseline and to determine the staffing of the proposed CBO model that will be presented to the UNCT for final decision.
1.2. Clarification to be provided on whether the entities have to report on expense or expenditure, having in mind the IPSAS accounting principals.
The entities have to report on the expense, as the purpose of getting the data is to assess the FTE time spent and the volumes of transactions during the year. This question before did not come up and the entities used their logic when preparing the data template. The way forward is to stress the importance of reporting the expense during the data focal points’ training sessions.
1.3. Does the template allow to provide the operating cost per personnel (computers, desk, etc.)?
No, it is not required to provide operating costs per personnel. Nonetheless, in tab 7 it is requested to provide the total expenditure locally procured for 10 categories of goods and services that are not considered strategic (e.g., Procurement of ICT and network hardware).
1.4. How do we ensure consistency of information provided by different entities if some may have procured office furniture/ICT equipment/other similar expenditures in 2021 and the other entities did not?
The data template aims to understand the magnitude of the businesses of the entities. In order to factor this element in establishing the baseline, the data template had to cover several years (e.g., 5 years) which makes the methodology highly complicated for the data submitters.
1.5. Has there been any discussion on collecting the data from the ERP systems of the entities at HQ level in order to ensure consistency of data provided at least within the same entity?
Answer coming soon.
1.6. Does the data template allow to collect SLA information in the datasheets? Is there any SLA that the outcomes could be compared with?
In Tab 5 is required to select whether there is any legal arrangement in place for the service (e.g., SLA). Detailed information on SLAs will/ can be requested in the second phase during the Proposal evaluation process.
1.7. How do we ensure consistency and comparability of information provided by different entities?
We will foster consistency and alignment among entities in several ways:
We will offer two training sessions dedicated to the data collection template:
Theoretical training session with a general introduction on CBO and a template demonstration
Hands-on training session with a quick theoretical recap and exercises on each tab in addition to a Q&A session
During the data collection period there will be 2 help desk sessions per week (1hr per session) in which all data focal points and any other person who could benefit from it can participate to ask any question.
There will be a data support mission in the country at the end of the data collection period to support final data collection adjustments and start the first level quality assurance.
1.8. What if the expenditure or other data was significantly different in 2021 because of Covid, can we provide data for 2022?
Please provide the data for 2021 but, in case it is significantly different form a usual year, you can provide a comment to explain why it is different and provide the value for 2022 in the comment
2. Tab “3. Overview”
2.1. Shall we consider the total budget in the office, or only “Administrative” (“Operations”), or do we include Programme as well?
In the “General entity information” section, you should consider the total expenditure in the country, including programme and “operations” / “administrative”.
2.2. For the headcount, should we count personnel working at the country office level as well as project/field level personnel?
For the field “Total personnel” in the “General entity information” section you should consider all personnel in the country. In the section below, referring to the main office, only the personnel working in the main office should be counted, including all contract forms.
2.3. Do we only consider the staff in operations (“admin”)? How about Programme staff?
For the ‘personnel’ information in this tab everyone should be counted. In the tabs related to FTE performing support functions, you should consider every person participating in one way or another in any of the steps of these support functions, including those who approve or sign (who may not necessarily be staff fully assigned to support functions), or perform quality assurance tasks.
2.4. We have several personnel based in various government premises. Do we include them in headcount?
Yes, they should be included in the total personnel count.
2.5. In our entity there are “Non-regular/Consultant” staff, that are locally recruited and are full time employees. The engagement of these consultants is in accordance with the functional areas they are covering and the salary scale of the entity which is established for the reporting country. Do we need to include this staff in the total headcount?
Yes. Non-regular/Consultant personnel, that are locally recruited and are full time employees are to be included.
2.6. In the Total personnel expenditure do we have to include also short-term consultants?
Include consultants that were contracted for at least 3 months, don’t include consultants that were contracted for just few days. It is important to note that the personnel expenditure needs to be aligned with the number of personnel requested in row 33.
2.7. In the Total personnel do we have to count consultants that were hired more than one time in the year as one?
Yes, do not double count personnel that was hired multiple times with different contract over the year
2.8. What are the different premises types?
Single premises, common premises, government co-located premises.
2.9. As of which date should the number of personnel provided?
December 31, 2021.
3. Allocation of personnel as FTEs (Tabs 4 and 5)
3.1. Where do we record cost-shared common services personnel providing services to the entities located in the same premises?
The portion of the FTEs that are devoted to providing services to other entities are included in the total FTEs informed in tab “5. Service (L3)”.
3.2. How can we split the time in different services for same person? For instance, the head of office supervises the 6 main functional areas. How can we split his/her time?
You can split it based on the percentage of the time this person devotes to each, this is the reference that the FTE concept allows us to do. It doesn’t necessarily have to be the same portion of time for each service line.
3.3. How should we define the cost of regular service contractor as special service contract (SSA) under personnel costs?
You have a proforma cost of non-regular staff at the end of the template, with ranges, to help you identify the levels that will correspond.
3.4. Does the FTE relate to the number of hours each one works?
A full-time equivalent is a unit to measure employed persons in a way that makes them comparable although they may work a different number of hours per week. For instance, someone who works 100% of her/his time in Human Resources will be counted as 1 FTE in Human Resources while someone who splits 40% in Administration and 60% in Human Resources would be count as 0,4 and 0,6 respectively.
3.5. What about agencies whose staff do not perform tasks related to the 6 main functional areas; HR, Procurement, Finance, etc.? For example, some agencies have bilateral agreements with other agencies to do some services on their behalf. So how can we calculate the time spent on services by staff in a specific level?
If a given service is fully outsourced, either to an external company or to another agency, then for this service line you shall indicate “Outsourced” in the tab “5. Service (L3)” and no FTE equivalent is to be reported here.
3.6. To indicate the FTE per service area, do we need to enter only Admin, HR, Finance, Logistics, Procurement, and IT staff? What should we do with Programme staff? They are not in the list.
If your Programme staff is performing any activities related to the support services, they should be accounted for, including their FTE equivalent in the tabs.
3.7. How shall we handle the Drivers? In some agencies they are considered as part of the “Programme” staff, while in other agencies they are considered as “Administration”, and yet other include them in “Logistics”.
If the drivers also participate in support activities such as managing the pouch, or fuel management, or the preparation of the vehicles (“outfitting”), etc., the portion of their time devoted to these support activities shall be indicated in the respective lines. The portion of their time spent in “administrative driving” (for example: driving the Representative or Head of mission, driving for office errands, etc.) should be also included.
3.8. For some Human Resources services, we manage them differently for the national and international staff. For national staff, we outsource from another agency but for international staff we manage in house. How can we enter the information?
You select “partially outsourced”, then enter the outsourcing expenditure and the service provider, and to the right of the tab indicate the FTE equivalents for the portion executed in-house.
3.9. In our organization we only have LICA contracts; can we change the heading to LICA contract instead of NOA, NOB, etc.?
You don’t need to modify the headings. Use the column that reflects the level of LICA contracts that you have in your entity. To see what the corresponding level would be, you can refer to the table in the Appendix, where you have the proforma costs for each.
3.10. Should the value for all functional areas be 1, or can we use values such as 0.2 or 0.3? For instance, for one full time employed consultant working on all 6 functional areas, each FTE would be 1/6 of full-time amount, or 0.17 (sample below).
Yes, you can use “portions”. In your example, the one (1) consultant is equivalent to 1 FTE. Splitting the consultant proportionally over the 6 functional areas would be equal to 0.17. Moreover, if the consultant spends more time (let’s say 50% of the time in HR) then for HR it would be 0.5; and then the rest of the 0.5 segregated across the other 5 functional areas.
3.11. Is it possible to select only few functional areas applicable to some personnel?
Yes, it is possible. Few functional areas applicable to some staff members or consultants in Administration field are to be selected if these personnel only participate in those. Not everyone in “Administration” or in “HR”, for example, does participate in all the services within these service lines.
3.12. Senior management participating in some activities for quality assurance should be included?
Yes, that is correct.
3.13. How should the FTE expenditure and future cost be calculated having in mind that the standard cost of some entities is different?
The FTE cost is calculated based on the UNDP standard proforma cost that can be found at the end of the template. It will be differentiated by country, but not by entity.
3.14. Is there any guideline on the FTE expenditure reporting? Does it factor in the overtime element? Does it take into consideration the vacant positions?
Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) is a unit that indicates the workload of an employed person in a way that makes workloads comparable across various contexts. The calculation of full-time equivalent is an employee's scheduled hours divided by the employer's hours for a full-time workweek. When an employer has a 40-hour workweek, employees who are scheduled to work 40 hours per week are 1.0 FTEs. Employees scheduled to work 20 hours per week are 0.5 FTEs. For instance, someone who works full-time (e.g., 40 hrs. a week) is 1 FTE and if he/she works 100% of her/his time in Human Resources will be counted as 1 FTE in Human Resources while someone who splits 40% in Administration and 60% in Human Resources would be count as 0,4 and 0,6 respectively. It does not factor in the overtime element, please distribute the time spent on the different services over a 100%. As such the vacant positions have not been factored in. However, normally the entities cover the long gaps through other types of assignments, such as Tas and consultancy arrangements, which have been factored in the data template.
3.15. Do we include the oversight FTE costs?
Yes, in case the service is done in-house, time spent on supervision should also be included. In case the service is outsourced and only the oversight is done internally, please select fully outsourced and, in this case, there is no need to provide the time spent on supervising the work.
3.16. I can’t find the right contract type for our personnel, what do I have to select?
If it is not a regular contract you can select “Non-regular/consultant”, go to tab “Proforma cost” and choose the right level based on the yearly cost. In case the yearly cost is higher than the level 8, you can choose the contract type and level that best represent the yearly cost within the regular contracts and provide a comment with the correct contract type and level (e.g., ICA contract with a yearly cost of a Regular International P4).
3.17. In 2021 one of our back-office personnel left in September and the position was not replaced, can we put 1 FTE?
If it is usually a full-time job, you can put 1 FTE and write in the comment box that in 2021 there was a vacancy for x months.
3.18. In 2021 one of our back-office personnel left in the middle of the year and we replaced it with someone with a different contract, do I have to split it in 2 rows?
You can either split it in 2 rows with 0.5FTEs each or leave it in 1 row with the contract that best fits the total cost (please check tab “Proforma cost” to choose the contract type and level)
3.19. How do I know what is included in each service line?
You can refer to the “Service Catalogue” tab in the annex where you can find all the services included in each service line
3.20. General suggestions on how to fill tab 5:
Start filling the first 4 columns (from H to N) either per service line (if you are working in only one of the service lines) or for all the services (if you are a generalist)
-> If you have a legal arrangement in place, please provide the detail in the comment box (e.g., we use the LTA managed by Entity A, or we have an MoU in place with Entity B)
Then go to the right part and allocate the time for each contract type selected in tab 4:
-> Start by estimating the time spent on “Other” for each service line on which the person is working:
1. The list is a selection of services (115 out of 198)
2. In the “Service Catalogue” tab you can filter column H selecting only “Non selected”
3. For each service line, read the non-selected services and estimate how much time that contract type is spending on them (e.g., overall spending 5% on Non-selected services for Administration)
4. Go back to tab 5 and put the estimated % on the row Other for each service line (e.g., 5% on Other Administration services)
-> Then allocate the remaining time over the services listed in tab 5
-> If allocating the time to the different services you realize that person is actually spending more time on a service line vs what you provided in tab 4, please change tab 4 accordingly
3.21. How can we have a legal arrangement if the service is done in-house?
Some services include also just the management of the contract with an external provider (e.g., cleaning service) and in that case you could have a legal arrangement in please (e.g., an LTA)
4. Outsourced services (Tab “5. Service (L3)”)
4.1. How do we enter the cost of the service lines that are outsourced to another agency? Does each agency have to enter them or only one on behalf of all those who are receiving the services?
The cost should be recorded by each entity receiving a service. You select “outsourced (UN entity) and then indicate the name of the entity that provides the service as well as the total annual expenditure.
4.2. When a given service is provided partly by the Regional Office or by its Headquarters and partially by another agency, how do we indicate? For example, for Entity X, it is HQ who prepares the voucher, but it is another entity in the country who pays the vouchers.
You select “partially outsourced”, enter the entity providing part of the service, the expenditure, and in the comments you indicate that the rest of the service is provided globally.
4.3. For some service lines we have both in-house and outsourced processes. For instance, for "Domestic / international ticketing". Which modality should we select?
You select “partially outsourced” and you enter the FTE equivalents as well as the outsourcing expenditure. In the comments, you should indicate the part of the process which is outsourced.
4.4. Although a particular service line is outsourced, the staff still needs to manage the service. How it can be accounted for?
Answer coming soon.
4.5. My agency pays no rent because the government provides free office space. How can we indicate this?
When informing the cost of the renting, you can add a comment explaining that the cost is zero because the premise is provided by the government free of payment.
4.6. Agencies in the UN House are paying expenses such as IT (licenses, servers, etc.), data and telecommunication infrastructure (equipment, storage/hosting devices, etc.), and utilities, among other, through “running costs” or “administration” invoices, but the expenses are not clearly separated. Once the leading agency (managing the UN House) calculates own indirect costs, the entities occupying UN house should receive the amounts for above mentioned services?
Correct, ideally the breakdown should be provided by the leading Agency and the entities in the UN House should record their apportioned costs.
4.7. We outsource a service to the regional office of an entity located outside the country that is not in the list, what do I select?
You can select service provided globally, but please specify in the comment box who is providing this service.
4.8. The service is provided partially in-house and partially by HQ, what do we select?
You can select partially outsourced and select your own entity in the service provider column. Please specify in the comment box that the outsourced part is done by HQ
4.9. The service is part of the common services, how can I provide the outsourcing cost for that specific service?
Please ask the service provider to give you an estimation of what is the cost for that service. In case the service provider is not able to give you the split, please use your best judgement to split the cost among the services and if the cost for that service is irrelevant you can put 0$ (it is important to always provide a value, even if it’s 0$). Please add comments to provide an explanation.
4.10. If we are using an LTA from another entity, do we need to say that the service is outsourced?
No, if you are managing the contract in-house you need to select “in-house” and select that you have a legal arrangement in please. Please add in the comment box the information about the legal arrangement (e.g., we piggyback from the LTA managed by entity A)No, if you are managing the contract in-house you need to select “in-house” and select that you have a legal arrangement in please. Please add in the comment box the information about the legal arrangement (e.g., we piggyback from the LTA managed by entity A)
5. Workload drivers (Tab "6. Workload driver")
5.1. What is the difference between the 2 columns J and L?
In column J we ask to provide the total amount that is either provided or received from another entity. In column L we ask to provide a value only in 2 cases:
· Service provided in-house:
o If you don’t provide the service also to other entities, then the values in the 2 columns will be the same
o If you provide the service also to other entities (e.g. entity A provides visa also for entity b, and in 2021 entity A provided 100 visas of which 60 for themselves and 40 for entity B)
-> In column J you need to provide the total amount (e.g. 100 visas)
-> In column L you need to provide only the amount provided to your entity (e.g. 60 visas)
· Service partially outsourced:
o If you outsource part of your capacity (e.g., you needed to recruit 20 consultants, but you had the capacity to recruit 15 and you outsourced 5 to another entity/3rd party)
-> In column J you need to put the total amount provided + received (e.g., 20 consultants)
-> In column L you need to put only the amount that you are providing (e.g., 15 consultants)
o If you outsource part of the process (e.g., you outsourced to another entity part of the process to issue visas, and out of the whole process you do ~50% in-house and ~50% outsourced)
-> In column J you need to provide the total amount of visas processed in 2021 (e.g. 10 visas)
-> In column L you need to provide the % of process managed internally* the total amount (e.g., if you manage internally 50% of the process, it’s like if you managed 5 visas. In this case, please explain in the comment that you did not process 5 visas entirely, but you managed half of the process)
5.2. How can I provide the amount that I am doing internally in column L if I am outsourcing part of the process?
If you outsource part of the process (e.g., you outsourced to another entity part of the process to issue visas, and out of the whole process you do ~50% in-house and ~50% outsourced)
· In column J you need to provide the total amount of visas processed in 2021 (e.g. 100 visas)
· In column L you need to provide the % of process managed internally* the total amount (e.g., if you manage internally 50% of the process, it’s like if you managed 5 visas). In this case please explain in the comment that you did not process 5 visas entirely but you managed half of the process
5.3. Why are some workload drivers reported multiple times?
Because each row is referring to a different service and the value provided could vary based on the service to which it refers to. For example:
· Entity A is providing Resident cards for international staff & dependents also to entity B while is providing Customs exemption only to entity A.
· For both services the workload driver is “Number of international staff” (row 16 and 17):
o Row 16 is referring to Resident cards for international staff & dependents and in this case, Entity A will need to provide in column J both the international staff of entity A and Entity B
o Row 17 is referring to Customs exemption and in this case, Entity A will need to provide in column J only international staff of entity A
5.4. If in 2021 we provided visas also to people outside of the organization as part of our mandate (e.g., to women in need or to refugees), do we need to include them?
If it was part of the workload of the personnel allocated to this service, you should include them put please provide the detail in the comment box (e.g., out of the 10 visas issued in 2021, 6 visas were issued for refugees as part of our mandate)
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