OMB Circular A-94 — Federal Benefit-Cost Analysis Guidelines
Source: OMB Circular A-94, revised Nov. 9, 2023 (US Government work, public domain) | Chapters: 6
When to use
Reach for this pack when designing or reviewing federal benefit-cost or cost-effectiveness analyses—especially discount-rate selection, baseline and opportunity-cost measurement, uncertainty/sensitivity, distributional incidence, and OMB-facing documentation quality for program or legislative decisions.
Prerequisites: none — plain Markdown; no MCP server, API key, or licence tier needed at runtime.
How to Use This Skill
- Without arguments — load the core frameworks below.
- With a topic — ask about NPV, real vs nominal rates, opportunity cost, sensitivity, incidence, or CEA vs BCA.
- With a chapter — ask for
ch01 through ch06.
Supporting files: glossary.md, patterns.md, cheatsheet.md.
Core Frameworks & Mental Models
Why A-94 exists
Promote social welfare via well-informed federal decisions. Provides general BCA/CEA guidance and specific discount-rate policy for time-distributed benefits and costs. Revised 2023; rescinds 1992 A-94.
Mandatory vs suggested
| Context |
Force |
| Analyses to OMB under A-11 / A-19 / 1992 Presidential Memo estimates |
Must follow |
| Internal Executive Branch planning |
Suggested |
| Law / EO / other circulars prescribe methods |
Those control |
Analysis spine
- Decision question + alternatives + baseline
- Identify/measure social benefits and costs (opportunity cost; transfers separated)
- Align inflation basis
- Discount with A-94 class-appropriate real/nominal rates
- Characterize uncertainty + sensitivity
- Report distributional incidence
- Document transparently for decision makers/OMB
BCA vs CEA
- BCA: Monetize benefits and costs → discounted net benefits / NPV
- CEA: When benefits fixed or not monetized → compare costs for effect (still discount correctly)
Pack scope note
Built as A-94 only after P7-PRE-2 dual-document gate: Army Cost Benefit Analysis Guide could not be retrieved (ASAFM host 403 from this environment). Do not expect Army CEAC step templates here.
Chapter Index
| # |
Section |
Key content |
| ch01 |
Purpose, Scope, Principles |
Goal, authority, mandatory use, BCA/CEA elements |
| ch02 |
Benefits and Costs |
Baseline, opportunity cost, inflation consistency |
| ch03 |
Discount Rate Policy |
Real/nominal rates, analysis classes, NPV |
| ch04 |
Uncertainty |
Expected values, sensitivity, explicit risk adjustments |
| ch05 |
Distributional Effects |
Groups, weights, economic incidence |
| ch06 |
Reporting and Decision Use |
OMB-grade documentation, limitations |
Topic Index
- Baseline / with-without → ch02
- BCA vs CEA → ch01, ch02
- Decision Analysis → ch04, ch06
- Discount rates (real/nominal) → ch03
- Distributional weights → ch05
- Economic incidence → ch05
- Expected value → ch04
- Inflation treatment → ch02, ch03
- Lease-purchase / asset sales rates → ch03
- Net present value (NPV) → ch03, ch06
- OMB A-11 / A-19 submissions → ch01, ch06
- Opportunity cost → ch02
- Opportunity cost / benefit identification → ch01, ch02, ch06
- Sensitivity analysis → ch04
- Social vs budget cost → ch02
- Transfers → ch02, ch05
- Uncertainty adjustments → ch04
Supporting Files
- glossary.md — BCA/discounting terms
- patterns.md — implementation patterns with When/How/Trade-offs
- cheatsheet.md — decision rules, maps, tells & smells
Scope & Limits
This pack covers OMB Circular A-94, revised November 9, 2023 (28 pages per extraction metadata) as synthesized reference notes on federal BCA/CEA guidelines and discount-rate policy.
Rescope (P7-PRE-2): Planned dual source was A-94 + US Army Cost Benefit Analysis Guide. The Army PDF was not retrievable (ASAFM 403 / Wayback 503 from the build environment). Per hard gate rules, the pack was rescoped to the surviving in-source-clean document (A-94) rather than generating Army content without evidence. Re-expand if the Army guide becomes fetchable.
It does not cover: full OMB Circular A-11 budget formulation; agency-specific statutory BCA regimes; private-sector CFA/WACC practice as a substitute for A-94; or Army CEAC process templates. US Government public domain work. No source-material download link is published.
1---2name: federal-bca3description: Knowledge base from OMB Circular A-94 (revised 2023-11-09) on guidelines and discount rates for benefit-cost and cost-effectiveness analysis of federal programs. Use for BCA principles, benefit/cost measurement, discount-rate policy, uncertainty/sensitivity, distributional incidence, and decision reporting. Rescoped at build to A-94 only (Army CBA Guide unreachable). Does not replace A-11 budget preparation detail, agency-specific statutory BCA rules, or Army CEAC process templates.4---56<!-- argument-hint: [BCA, discount rate, uncertainty, incidence, CEA, or chapter number] -->78# OMB Circular A-94 — Federal Benefit-Cost Analysis Guidelines9**Source**: OMB Circular A-94, revised Nov. 9, 2023 (US Government work, public domain) | **Chapters**: 61011## When to use12Reach for this pack when designing or reviewing **federal benefit-cost or cost-effectiveness analyses**—especially discount-rate selection, baseline and opportunity-cost measurement, uncertainty/sensitivity, distributional incidence, and OMB-facing documentation quality for program or legislative decisions.1314**Prerequisites:** none — plain Markdown; no MCP server, API key, or licence tier needed at runtime.1516## How to Use This Skill17- **Without arguments** — load the core frameworks below.18- **With a topic** — ask about NPV, real vs nominal rates, opportunity cost, sensitivity, incidence, or CEA vs BCA.19- **With a chapter** — ask for `ch01` through `ch06`.2021Supporting files: `glossary.md`, `patterns.md`, `cheatsheet.md`.2223## Core Frameworks & Mental Models2425### Why A-94 exists26Promote social welfare via well-informed federal decisions. Provides general BCA/CEA guidance and **specific discount-rate policy** for time-distributed benefits and costs. Revised 2023; rescinds 1992 A-94.2728### Mandatory vs suggested29| Context | Force |30|---------|-------|31| Analyses to OMB under A-11 / A-19 / 1992 Presidential Memo estimates | Must follow |32| Internal Executive Branch planning | Suggested |33| Law / EO / other circulars prescribe methods | Those control |3435### Analysis spine361. Decision question + alternatives + baseline 372. Identify/measure social benefits and costs (opportunity cost; transfers separated) 383. Align inflation basis 394. Discount with A-94 class-appropriate real/nominal rates 405. Characterize uncertainty + sensitivity 416. Report distributional incidence 427. Document transparently for decision makers/OMB 4344### BCA vs CEA45- **BCA**: Monetize benefits and costs → discounted net benefits / NPV 46- **CEA**: When benefits fixed or not monetized → compare costs for effect (still discount correctly)4748### Pack scope note49Built as **A-94 only** after P7-PRE-2 dual-document gate: Army Cost Benefit Analysis Guide could not be retrieved (ASAFM host 403 from this environment). Do not expect Army CEAC step templates here.5051## Chapter Index52| # | Section | Key content |53|---|---------|-------------|54| [ch01](chapters/ch01-purpose-scope-and-principles.md) | Purpose, Scope, Principles | Goal, authority, mandatory use, BCA/CEA elements |55| [ch02](chapters/ch02-identifying-measuring-benefits-costs.md) | Benefits and Costs | Baseline, opportunity cost, inflation consistency |56| [ch03](chapters/ch03-discounting-and-time.md) | Discount Rate Policy | Real/nominal rates, analysis classes, NPV |57| [ch04](chapters/ch04-uncertainty-and-sensitivity.md) | Uncertainty | Expected values, sensitivity, explicit risk adjustments |58| [ch05](chapters/ch05-distributional-effects-and-incidence.md) | Distributional Effects | Groups, weights, economic incidence |59| [ch06](chapters/ch06-reporting-and-decision-use.md) | Reporting and Decision Use | OMB-grade documentation, limitations |6061## Topic Index62- **Baseline / with-without** → ch0263- **BCA vs CEA** → ch01, ch0264- **Decision Analysis** → ch04, ch0665- **Discount rates (real/nominal)** → ch0366- **Distributional weights** → ch0567- **Economic incidence** → ch0568- **Expected value** → ch0469- **Inflation treatment** → ch02, ch0370- **Lease-purchase / asset sales rates** → ch0371- **Net present value (NPV)** → ch03, ch0672- **OMB A-11 / A-19 submissions** → ch01, ch0673- **Opportunity cost** → ch0274- **Opportunity cost / benefit identification** → ch01, ch02, ch0675- **Sensitivity analysis** → ch0476- **Social vs budget cost** → ch0277- **Transfers** → ch02, ch0578- **Uncertainty adjustments** → ch047980## Supporting Files81- [glossary.md](glossary.md) — BCA/discounting terms82- [patterns.md](patterns.md) — implementation patterns with When/How/Trade-offs83- [cheatsheet.md](cheatsheet.md) — decision rules, maps, tells & smells8485---8687## Scope & Limits88This pack covers **OMB Circular A-94, revised November 9, 2023** (28 pages per extraction metadata) as synthesized reference notes on federal BCA/CEA guidelines and discount-rate policy.8990**Rescope (P7-PRE-2):** Planned dual source was A-94 + US Army Cost Benefit Analysis Guide. The Army PDF was not retrievable (ASAFM 403 / Wayback 503 from the build environment). Per hard gate rules, the pack was rescoped to the surviving in-source-clean document (A-94) rather than generating Army content without evidence. Re-expand if the Army guide becomes fetchable.9192It does **not** cover: full OMB Circular A-11 budget formulation; agency-specific statutory BCA regimes; private-sector CFA/WACC practice as a substitute for A-94; or Army CEAC process templates. US Government public domain work. No source-material download link is published.
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