The auditor identified in an expenditure-based TIA to perform periodic and award-specific audits of a for-profit participant depends on the circumstances, as follows:

(a) The Federal cognizant agency or an IPA will be the auditor for a for-profit participant that does not meet the criteria in paragraph (b) of this section. Note that the allocable portion of the costs of the IPA's audit may be reimbursable under the TIA, as described in § 603.660(b). The IPA should be the one that the participant uses to perform other audits (e.g., of its financial statement), to minimize added burdens and costs.

(b) Except as provided in paragraph (c) of this section, the Federal cognizant agency (e.g., DCAA) must be identified as the auditor for a GOCO or FFRDC and for any for-profit participant that is subject to Federal audits because it is currently performing under a Federal award that is subject to the:

(1) Cost principles in 48 CFR part 31 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR); or

(2) Cost Accounting Standards in 48 CFR Chapter 99.

(c) If there are programmatic or business reasons that justify the use of an auditor other than the Federal cognizant agency for a for-profit participant that meets the criteria in paragraph (b) of this section, the contracting officer may provide that an IPA will be the auditor for that participant in which case the reasons for this decision must be documented in the award file.