PCG’s proprietary web-based cost allocation tool, AlloCAP™ imports agency financial and statistical information and performs cost allocations in accordance with an agency cost allocation plan. It allocates costs to benefiting programs and produces reports that show the true costs of operating programs and are used to claim administrative costs. It has been implemented by agencies across the country.
AlloCAP begins with the import of agency costs. These costs are assigned to initial cost pools, each of which has a method of allocation assigned to it. Each allocation method consists of statistics (e.g., direct allocation, full time equivalent count, time study results, etc.) that determine how the cost will be allocated to its benefiting objective or final receiver. After the AlloCAP allocation process is completed, reports are generated to show the amount of cost allocated to all benefiting objectives.
AlloCAP uses what is called the “four-step-down method” to allocate costs. In this method, each step-down is performed at once for all accounts, taking full advantage of the relational database querying abilities in the system application. The four-step-down method allocates costs from each account by its designated statistic to receiving accounts through a series of four identical iterations, before allocating any remaining costs in a final or fifth step-down.
