What is the FIPS Code and why do I need it?
The Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) Code is an alphanumeric code assigned to each agency and/or their division in order to track data. In procurement, it is a critical piece of information that allows the contracting office to assign award credits to the program that funded the project. Returning award credits to the funding agency gives the true picture of how that agency spends its program funds. Although the Acquisition Services Directorate was sent the money to spend, and we in turn spend it on behalf of our clients, we do not take ‘credit’ for another agency’s dollars. As an example, when the Small Business Administration needs to report how individual agencies met or exceeded their small business goals, the FIPS Code is a major component in deriving the data from FPDS-NG (Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation).
