How Billing Works
Please note that Institutes, Centers, and Offices (ICOs) are not charged directly for NIH ID badges or background investigations, so individual charges will not be shown in the NIH Business System (NBS) for each person sponsored in NED. Instead, funding to cover these costs is collected through an assessment process and constitutes part of the annual operating budget for the NIH ORS Division of Personnel Security. These costs are allocated among the ICOs as follows:
- Costs related to producing and issuing ID badges are allocated among the ICOs based on factors such as Census (number of people) and Space (square footage).
- Costs related to background investigation charges from DCSA is based on historical data by ICO. The Division of Personnel Security uses a 3-year average of total DCSA charges per ICO to complete the assessment.
These assessment are reviewed annually and updated as needed.
Products and Services Reimbursable Billing Rates for FY 2026 and FY 2027 for DCSA Background Investigations
On August 30, 2024, DCSA published the final signed Federal Investigation Notice (FIN) No. 24-01, which introduced new products and services with pricing for FY 2026, effective October 1, 2025. There have been addendums made to FIN 24-01 in December 2024 (FIN 25-01) and February 2025 (FIN 25-02), which can be found on the DCSA's website. Additionally, FIN 25-03 was announced on August 30, 2025 regarding FY 2027. Please read below the announcement from DCSA:
This notice introduces Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 DCSA products and services with pricing effective October 1, 2026.
Notably, we plan to offer continuing products and services in FY 2027 at the same rates as FY 2026. While it was initially anticipated that DCSA would implement a 10% rate increase in 2027, this was not necessary, due to process improvements made through our Tiger Team review efforts. DCSA is able to maintain FY 2026 rates for both Background Investigations (BI) and Continuous Vetting (CV) products and services.
Please pay close attention to the information in the FIN regarding DCSA policy on providing sufficient funding prior to ordering personnel vetting (PV) services (Attachment 1, Page 2). It is critical that agencies ensure funding documents are in place prior to the fiscal year to avoid impacts to your ability to submit requests for PV products and service.
Final approval of these rates will be documented in the annual DOD-wide Working Capital Fund Rates Memorandum, publication is expected in February 2026.
For more information, please refer to the DCSA website. You may visit their Notices for Policies, Systems & Processes page and Billing Rates page. For billing questions, please feel free to contact the Billing Support Team:
- Phone: 878-274-5081, Option 2
- Email: dcsa.quantico.dcsa-hq.mbx.ocfo-billing-support@mail.mil
Please see FIN 25-01 below, as it shares addendums made to FIN 24-01. You may find the original FY 2026 DCSA Billing Rates stated in FIN 24-01 after as well, but please ensure you review FIN 25-01 to find the updated fees for some of the DCSA Products.
Note: RSI and SAC requests include a one-time processing fee in addition to the individual items requested.
The chart below shares the DCSA Billing Rates for Trusted Workforce (TW) Continuous Vetting (CV) Products and Services.
You may read the full Federal Investigation Notice (FIN) No. 24-01 to find the billing rates for the Expedited Screening Protocol (ESP) Products, Investigative Service Provider (ISP) DCSA Systems Access, and Other Products and Services. Please note: FIN 25-02 states that on January 20, 2025, the President revoked Executive Order 14074, which established the NLEAD. With this revocation DCSA is no longer able to offer NLEAD checks to customers, effective immediately.
ALT Card Costs and Information
Institutes, Centers and Offices (ICOs) will be required to reimburse DPS for ALT cards issued to their organization. The current cost per card is $14.37. DPS will coordinate directly with each ICO to provide an upfront cost estimate and will process reimbursement through a Direct CAN Citation to ensure transparency and proper accounting. Before any new ALT card distribution requests can be approved, DPS must receive confirmation that the ICO maintains an active ALT card manifest tracker.
At a minimum, the ALT manifest must include the following information to ensure appropriate oversight and accountability:
- ALT card status (issued/active; lost or stolen and terminated; returned and terminated; returned to DPS; recycled)
- Date ALT cards were collected or returned to the ICO ALT Card Distributor
- Employee status (active or disabled)
Please note the following requirements:
- Lost or stolen ALT cards must be reported to the NIH IT Service Desk within one hour and to the ALT Card Coordinator to ensure the card is promptly disabled in the HHS Smart Card Management System and compliance requirements are met.
- ALT cards must be collected from individuals who separate from NIH, and the ICO ALT manifest must be updated to reflect the change in status.
If you need additional guidance on ALT cardstock distribution requests only, feel free to contact DPS. As a reminder, DPS is NOT involved in the ALT sponsorship or request process. DPS only works with ICO ALT Distributors when ALT cardstock is needed. For more information on ALT Card requests, please visit the "ALT Card: General Information" page and/or our Administrative Sponsorship page.
