OBLIGATIONS Technically defined as “amount of orders placed, contracts awarded, services received, and similar transactions during a given period which will require payments during the same or a future period.” Also, another term for debt: money, merchandise or service owed to someone.
OFFICE OF HEARINGS & APPEALS (OHA) The Office of Hearings and Appeals, an independent office of the Small Business Administration (SBA or Agency). It is composed of two offices, the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA), and the Freedom of Information/Privacy Acts (FOI/PA) Office. The Small Business Administration established the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) in 1983 to provide an independent, quasi-judicial appeal of certain SBA program decisions. OHA succeeded the SBA Size Appeals Board. Over the years, the SBA has expanded OHA’s mission.
OFFICE OF SMALL & DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS UTILIZATION (OSDBU) Federal Offices of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBUs) offer small business information on procurement opportunities, guidance on procurement procedures, and identification of both prime and subcontracting opportunities.
OMBUDSMAN The National Ombudsman and the Fairness Boards will receive comments about federal compliance and enforcement activities from small businesses, and report these findings to Congress every year. The report will give each agency a kind of “customer satisfaction rating” by evaluating the enforcement activities of regulatory agency personnel and rating the regional and program offices of the regulatory agencies responsiveness to small business.
ORDERING COSTS Administrative costs of placing, tracking, shipping, receiving and paying for an order.
ORDINARY INTEREST Simple interest based on a year of 360 days, contrasting with exact interest having a base year of 365 days.
OSHA (OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY & HEALTH ACT) To assure safe and healthful working conditions for working men and women; by authorizing enforcement of the standards developed under the Act; by assisting and encouraging the States in their efforts to assure safe and healthful working conditions; by providing for research, information, education, and training in the field of occupational safety and health; and for other purposes.
OUTLAYS Net disbursements (cash payments in excess of cash receipts) for administrative expenses and for loans and related costs and expenses (e.g., gross disbursements for loans and expenses minus loan repayments, interest and fee income collected, and reimbursements received for services performed for other agencies).