GSA Vehicle Purchasing - Rules of the Road

General Services Administration
25 March 2016

To: Vehicle Purchasing Customers
From: GSA Office of Fleet Management - Vehicle Purchasing Division
Re: Important Vehicle Ordering Changes - Final FAR Rule, FAR Case 2012-023

Dear Vehicle Purchasing Customer:

Beginning March 31, 2016, all vehicle purchase orders must be executed in accordance with final FAR rule, Unique Procurement Instrument Identifier, FAR Case 2012-023.

In 2011, The President created the Government Accountability and Transparency Board to make recommendations to improve tracking of Federal spending data. The purpose of this rule is to improve data transparency and consistent reporting by using the Activity Address Code (AAC), as a unique identifier to standardize procurement transactions. FAR case 2009-023 provides policy and specific instructions at FAR subpart 4.16 for agencies to follow when conducting procurement transactions. This rule requires vehicle purchasing customer to begin using an Activity Address Code (AAC) in the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS), Funding Office field when making a vehicle purchase. It is important to note that current non-AAC Funding office codes will expire on March 31, 2016 and will not be valid after the transition.

An AAC is a six-position code consisting of combinations of alpha and/or numeric characters that identify agency offices, units, activities, and organizations. Activity Address Codes (AACs), Billed Office Address Code (BOAC), and Department of Defense Activity Address Codes (DoDAACs) are the same. Prior to FAR Case 2012-023, vehicle purchasing customers used an AAC as part of the financial information included in the requisition number for vehicle purchase orders. FAR Case 2012-023 now requires your Agency Funding Office field to be in the form of an AAC for vehicle purchase orders. Therefore, vehicle purchasing customers will have two fields to input their AAC. The first AAC field remains the same, as AutoChoice customers will input the AAC in the requisition number that provides the financial information needed to purchase a vehicle. The second field will require an AAC in the Funding Office field. It is important to understand that the AAC in the Funding Office field may be the same, or may be different than the AAC used in the requisition number. Each agency determines whether or not to use the same or different AAC in this new required field.

While each agency should issue guidance on how to obtain the correct AAC, each agency has a designated point of contact to provide the new AAC information for purchase orders. The Office of Management and Budget uses the MAX Information System that provides a comprehensive explanation of the new AAC requirements. In addition, OMB Max contains a list of designated AAC contacts for each agency. Therefore, if your agency has not issued guidance on the implementation of this new FAR requirement, the following links contain the agency’s internal contact as well as other important information concerning this rule:

1. To access AAC information, please register in OMB MAX
https://max.omb.gov/maxportal/home.do

2. After registration, please use this direct link to access OMB Max to the AAC Community
https://community.max.gov/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=751406679

It is important to prepare for the implementation of this rule. Prior to March 31, 2016, according to the FAR Case 2012-23, each agency is required to upload their AACs into the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS) via the Department of Defense Activity Address Database (DODAAD). After March 31, 2016, GSA is required to validate all AAC Funding Offices against FPDS/DODAAD and reject orders not passing validation. When vehicle purchasing customers are using AutoChoice as the procurement method, AutoChoice will perform this validation before allowing an order to be finalized. Therefore, it is imperative that you obtain your new Funding Office AAC(s) from your agency contact and prepare your ordering community in time for the transition. Please carefully review the information on the AAC Community page on the OMB Max web site, and if you have any additional questions, please contact GSA at 703-605-CARS or by email to: vehicle.buying@gsa.gov.

As always, GSA values your continued business and stands prepared to assist you.

Best regards,

Christopher Davis
Branch Chief, Vehicle Purchasing Division