Cognizant agency for indirect costs means the Federal agency responsible for reviewing, negotiating, and approving cost allocation plans and indirect cost proposals on behalf of all Federal agencies. The cognizant agency for indirect costs for a particular entity may be different than the cognizant agency for audit. The cognizant agency for indirect costs:

(a) For an institution of higher education, nonprofit organization, State, local government, or Indian tribe is assigned as described in the appendices to 2 CFR part 200. See 2 CFR 200.19 for specific citations to those appendices.

(b) For a for-profit entity, normally will be the agency with the largest dollar amount of pertinent business, as described in the Federal Acquisition Regulation at 48 CFR 42.003.