Cost Allocation Assessment and Advisory Services

TRS was established in 1917 and has since grown into one of the largest pension systems in the United States, currently serving more than 124,000 in-service members and 87,000 retirees and beneficiaries. [...] TRS seeks quotes from qualified organizations with experience providing cost allocation assessments, advisory services, and methodology evaluation or design for public sector organizations.

The objective of this engagement is to obtain an independent assessment of TRS's current cost allocation process and methodologies and to identify opportunities to improve the accuracy, reasonableness, transparency, governance, efficiency, and consistency of cost allocations.

The consultant shall perform the following services:

Task 1 – Review of Current Cost Allocation Policies and Documentation

• Review TRS’s existing cost allocation policies, procedures, methodologies, calculations and key controls.
• Identify unnecessary complexity, manual processes, redundancies, assumptions and potential sources of error.
• Assess consistency between documented policies and current practices.

Task 2 – Evaluation of Allocation Methodologies and Cost Drivers

• Assess the reasonableness and appropriateness of cost drivers, allocation bases, assumptions, calculations and methodologies used to allocate costs between the pension plan and defined contribution plan
• Assess the reasonableness and appropriateness of cost drivers, allocation bases, assumptions, calculations and methodologies used to allocate costs between fixed return and variable return funds as well as funding and allocations for loan processes.
• Perform a root-cause analysis of significant or unexpected fund-level results, with particular attention to QPP Variable fund allocations, and identify the principal drivers contributing to those results.
• Identify areas such as data inputs, allocation factors, assumptions, or calculation methodologies that may result in inaccurate or unsupported allocations.
• Assess whether the methodology used continues to reasonably reflect TRS's current operations and resource usage and/or provide a report to the Board regarding industry standard alternative methodologies.

Task 3 – Streamlining and Improvement Recommendations

• Provide recommendations to simplify and streamline the cost allocation process while maintaining appropriate accuracy and controls.
• Identify opportunities to reduce manual intervention, duplicate data entry, unnecessary calculation steps, and reliance on outdated assumptions or methodologies.
• Recommend improvements to controls, reconciliations, documentation, and reporting where appropriate.
• Confirm whether recommended methodologies are consistent with generally accepted practices applicable to public retirement systems/governmental entities.

Task 4 – Final Report and Management Presentation

• Provide a final written report summarizing findings, identified root causes, and recommendations.
• Prioritize recommendations based on impact, complexity, and implementation effort.
• Provide high-level implementation considerations for recommended changes.

Deliverables

The consultant shall provide, at a minimum:

• Project work plan and schedule
• Preliminary observations and discussion with management
• Draft assessment report
• Final assessment report incorporating management feedback
• Executive summary suitable for presentation to senior leadership and governing boards

Quotes should be submitted electronically in PDF format to the TRS contact identified below. Quotes must be received by **12/02/2026** Late submissions may not be considered.

The maximum budget for this engagement is **$25,000**. Respondents should submit a cost proposal that does not exceed this amount. [...] All travel, administrative, overhead, and other expenses necessary to perform the engagement must be included within the proposed fee and the $25,000 maximum contract amount.

TRS will review submitted quotes based on factors that may include:

• Demonstrated understanding of the engagement objectives
• Relevant experience with public sector entities, retirement systems, pension plans, employee benefit plans, or governmental organizations
• Knowledge of cost allocation methodologies, governmental accounting, and internal control frameworks
• Quality and practicality of the proposed approach and work plan
• Qualifications and experience of the proposed engagement team
• Reasonableness and completeness of the cost proposal
• Ability to complete the engagement within the requested timeframe and budget

TRS is not obligated to select the lowest-cost quote and reserves the right to select the respondent whose quote is determined to provide the best overall value to TRS.