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- Standard Operating Procedure for Crisis Response and Recovery
  - Standard Operating Procedure for Crisis Response and Recovery
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Programme and Project Management
Crisis Response
Financial Resources Management
Human Resources Management
Procurement
Partnerships
Administrative Services
Accountability
Information and Communications Technology
Security

Programme and Project Management

Programming Standards
Design
Implement
Close
- Close and Transition

Crisis Response

Standard Operating Procedure for Crisis Response and Recovery
- Standard Operating Procedure for Crisis Response and Recovery
Financial Resources for Response
- Allocation of TRAC 3 Resources for Crisis Engagements

Financial Resources Management

Inventory Management
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Cash Banking and Investment
Financial Closure of Development Projects and Trust Funds
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Financial Operations Management
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Resource Planning and Cost Recovery
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  - UNDP Legal Framework for Addressing Non-Compliance with UN Standards of Conduct
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  - Harassment, Sexual Harassment, Discrimination, and Abuse of Authority
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Procurement Overview
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Home
Financial Resources Management
Resource Planning and Cost Recovery
Cost Recovery from Programmes funded by Regular and Other Resources
Cost Recovery from Other Resources - GMS

Cost Recovery from Other Resources - GMS

Main navigation

Inventory Management
- Inventory Management
Cash Banking and Investment
Financial Closure of Development Projects and Trust Funds
Financial Management and Implementation Modalities
Financial Operations Management
- Corporate Operations and Information Management
- Statutory Financial Reporting
Pipeline and Revenue Management
Expense Management
Resource Planning and Cost Recovery
Working with External Auditors
- Working with External Auditors

Focal Point

Constance Chitanda

Effective Date

14/06/2022

Planned Review Date

14/06/2025

Version

18.0

Latest updates

December 19, 2024 -

The Guidance Note on GMS (Indirect Costs) for International Financial Institutions (IFIs) has been revised to reflect that the GMS cost recovery rate applied for IFIs is based on the configuration of parties that enter into financing agreements with UNDP (and not on the ‘form’ or agreement template used). The revised guidance note further details that IFI preferential rates (5%) are applicable to financing agreements signed between UNDP and an IFI (or a tripartite agreement concluded by UNDP, IFI and the Government), where both of the following criteria apply:

- UNDP anticipates signing financing agreements of $50m or more in a calendar year with funding provided by the respective IFI, including through respective national governments; and

- The financing agreement

December 19, 2024 -

The Guidance Note on GMS (Indirect Costs) for International Financial Institutions (IFIs) has been revised to reflect that the GMS cost recovery rate applied for IFIs is based on the configuration of parties that enter into financing agreements with UNDP (and not on the ‘form’ or agreement template used). The revised guidance note further details that IFI preferential rates (5%) are applicable to financing agreements signed between UNDP and an IFI (or a tripartite agreement concluded by UNDP, IFI and the Government), where both of the following criteria apply:

- UNDP anticipates signing financing agreements of $50m or more in a calendar year with funding provided by the respective IFI, including through respective national governments; and

- The financing agreement is mainly to support the government’s implementation of sovereign loan or credit guarantees.

January 09, 2023 -

The policy and procedures have been updated to reflect UNDP’s transition to its new cloud-based management platform Quantum in January 2023, replacing its previous ATLAS system.

June 14, 2022 -

The GMS rate table and contents are updated to reflect (i) Executive Board Decision on 5% for Individuals, (ii) OPG approval on applying 7% for Government Cost Sharing where UNDP provides support services to the government in its capacity as a Global Fund grant recipient, (iii) abbreviation changed from GFATM to GF, (iv) approval authority from Chief Finance Officer to BMS Director and (v) the updated table for Direct costs vs. Indirect costs from PPM.

January 14, 2022 -

The GMS rate table is updated to reflect a minimum 7% for UN Secretariat Offices, Funds and Departments identified in the UN System Chart (yellow section) under the section on UN to UN Agency Contribution Agreement.

August 27, 2021 -

Updated the links on the Related Policies section. Updated links on step 2 of the Procedures table. Added template for inter-office memorandum on step 3 of the Procedures table.

June 11, 2020 -

On June 11, the EG approved BMS’ recommendation to change the policy on the application of the GMS rates for International Financial Institutions (IFIs). A GMS rate of 5% is now applicable for all IFIs with an annual volume that exceeds $50M for loan or credit guarantee implementation support. The current GMS rate of 8% will continue to apply for grant financing, and to financing from IFIs below the annual volume threshold.
A Guidance Note on GMS (Indirect Costs) for International Financial Institutions is available as a hyperlink in the table under clause 7 of the Cost Recovery from Other Resources - GMS policy and is available in the POPP library (document ID POPP-11-3262).

April 15, 2020 -

A table in clause 7 of the Cost Recovery from Other Resources - GMS policy was updated to include an additional line to clarify applicable cost recovery rates for the resources for Engagement facilities.

June 21, 2019 -

The Cost Recovery from Other Resources - GMS policy was amended as follows in order to provide greater clarity. The various costs that are funded from projects and GMS are now presented in paragraph 17 instead of hyperlinks.

March 22, 2019 -

The Cost Recovery from Other Resources - GMS policy is now available in French. To access the document, click on the French language tab.

January 17, 2019 -

Section 7 of the Cost Recovery from Other Resources - General Management Support (GMS) policy was updated to reflect that regarding agencies’ contribution to RCO activities, GMS should be applied in line with the corporate cost recovery policy, since the 2016 Advisory note for the UNDG Cost Sharing Funds for the RC system no longer applies and is hereby revoked as of 1 January 2019.

September 11, 2018 -

The following disclaimer was added to the Spanish translation of the Cost Recovery from other sources GMS policy: “This document was translated from English into Spanish. In the event of any discrepancy between this translation and the original English document, the original English document shall prevail. / Descargo de responsabilidad: esta es una traducción de un documento original en Inglés. En caso de discrepancias entre esta traducción y el documento original en inglés, prevalecerá el documento original en inglés.”

June 12, 2018 -

The latest Cost Recovery policy update reflects the recent change in the Green Climate Fund (GCF) Fee for Accredited Entities (AE). The revised GCF policy on AE fees continues to institute a fee cap up to a certain fixed percentage based on the total size of the project/program (i.e. the total of GCF funding and co-finance).

April 16, 2018 -

The Cost Recovery from Other Resources - GMS main policy is now available in Spanish. To access the document, click the Spanish language tab.

January 01, 2017 -

Adjustments to the POPP content on GMS income to reflect the changes arising from the 2017 enhanced planning exercise, including: a. A discontinuation of internal distribution of GMS income for all funds except those from Vertical Funds; b. A revised GMS rate calculator for UNDP, GEF, GFATM and MP projects c. Recording of DPC in relation to GMS exceptions.

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Visual Guides

General Management Support (GMS) charges cover the costs to the organization that are not directly attributable to specific projects or services, but are necessary to fund the corporate structures, management and oversight costs of the organization.

Visual Guide to UNDP Cost Recovery Business Process: General Management Support (GMS)

PDF (160.96 KB)

View Download

Relevant Regulations and Rules

Executive Board Decision 2013/9
Roadmap to the integrated budget: Joint UNDP, UNFPA and UNICEF review on the impact of cost definitions and classification of activities on harmonized cost-recovery rates
UNDP Financial Regulations and Rules

Reg. 5.7
Joint Comprehensive Proposal on the Cost-Recovery Policy

DP/FPA-ICEF-UNW/2020/1: Executive Board of UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS; Executive Board of UNICEF; Executive Board of UN-Women

Policies

Main Policy

Cost Recovery from Other Resources - GMS

DOCX (98.67 KB)

View Download

Related Policies

Harmonized Conceptual Funding Framework and Cost Recovery Methodology
GMS Fee Set-up and Collection
Universal Price List (UPL) and Local Price List (LPL)
UN Agency Services

Procedures

Main Procedures

1	Step Ensure all agreements (new and renewed agreements eod 1 January 2014 ) in accordance with new cost recovery policy	Responsible Party UNDP Office and Fund Managers	Template/Guideline Financing Agreements and Templates	Explanatory Notes A renewal of existing agreements with additional contributions should be amended with new cost recovery rates; please see Financing Agreements and Templates.
2	Step Regularly review average GMS charged to projects to ensure that correct and latest rates are entered in Quantum	Responsible Party UNDP Office and Fund Managers	Template/Guideline OFM Reports -GMS exceptions report	Explanatory Notes OFM report: Cost Recovery - Average GMS rates
3	Step Seek an approval for any deviations, exceptions and special GMS rate prior to signing donor agreement	Responsible Party	Template/Guideline Template: Action Memorandum for the Assistant Administrator and Director Bureau of Management Services Download	Explanatory Notes Refer to Template: Action Memorandum for the Assistant Administrator and Director Bureau of Management Services with relevant justifications to BMS director. The requesting bureau needs to obtain a clearance from BMS/OFM prior to its submission.
4	Step Review requests on exceptions on GMS rates	Responsible Party	Template/Guideline	Explanatory Notes Non-standard GMS rates are reported to the Executive Board
5	Step Endorse GMS internal distributions such as Vertical Funds.	Responsible Party Executive Office	Template/Guideline	Explanatory Notes
6	Step Report on average GMS by funding source and budget departments	Responsible Party	Template/Guideline	Explanatory Notes
7	Step Report to the EB on all waiver cases	Responsible Party	Template/Guideline	Explanatory Notes

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