Cheryl Anderson
Cheryl Anderson has been a Director with Redstone Government Consulting, Inc., since 2013. She provides Government Contract Consulting services to our government contractors primarily related to equitable adjustment claims, terminations, CAS Disclosure Statements, and DCAA audit expectations. Prior to joining Redstone Government Consulting, Cheryl served in a number of capacities with DCAA for more than 35 years. Upon her retirement, she was a regional audit manager with DCAA. Professional Experience Cheryl began her DCAA career in 1978 as an auditor-trainee with the Ingalls Resident Office in Pascagoula, Mississippi. After instructing at the Defense Contract Audit Institute for four years, Cheryl returned to the Eastern Region in 1990, holding various audit positions before ultimately becoming a Regional Audit Manager in August, 2005. Cheryl had overall management responsibility for audits performed by approximately 200 employees. During her tenure with DCAA, Cheryl was involved in conducting or managing a variety of compliance audits; to include cost proposals, incurred cost submissions, systems, Cost Accounting Standards, claims, defective pricing, financial capability and agreed-upon procedures. Cheryl directly supported the government litigation team on a contract dispute and has prepared and presented various lectures and seminars to DCAA staff. In addition, Cheryl served as an instructor for the Government Audit Training Institute for more than 20 years. Cheryl currently specializes in preparing clients for more complex DCAA audits, providing advice on FAR cost principles and contracts regulatory provisions, and in assisting clients in anticipating and addressing audit. Education Cheryl earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Auburn University at Montgomery and a Master of Business Administration degree from Wichita State University. Cheryl also has completed courses at OPM’s management and executive development centers, and at the Federal Executive Institute. Certifications State of Georgia Certified Public Accountant State of Alabama Certified Public Accountant
Basic Requirements
This standard vastly expands on the FAR requirements related to direct and indirect costs. FAR 31.202 and FAR 31.203 give a basic definition of each, but little else. CAS 418 provides guidance on accumulating indirect cost pools, including service centers and overhead costs. Furthermore, it requires the costs be allocated on the causal or beneficial relationship between the indirect cost pool and the related cost objective. In addition, CAS 418 requires each business unit to have written policies and practices for classifying costs as direct or indirect.
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Topics:
Contracts & Subcontracts Administration,
DCAA Audit Support,
Government Regulations,
Cost Accounting Standards (CAS)
Comparison to FAR
Like CAS 401, CAS 402, and CAS 405, CAS 406 is part of modified CAS coverage and is one of the first CAS standards a company encounters. It likely will not call for any changes to the company’s cost accounting system if you are compliant with FAR 31.203(g)(2) (Indirect costs). FAR states that for contracts not subject to CAS:
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Topics:
Contracts & Subcontracts Administration,
DCAA Audit Support,
Government Regulations
Comparison to FAR
Like CAS 401 and CAS 402 (see previous blog posts on these CAS Standards), CAS 405 is part of modified CAS coverage and is one of the first CAS standards a company encounters. Compliance with this standard will likely not call for any changes to the company’s cost accounting system if the company is compliant with FAR 31.201-6 (Accounting for Unallowable Costs) because the FAR clause has more requirements than CAS 405.
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Topics:
Contracts & Subcontracts Administration,
DCAA Audit Support,
Government Regulations,
Cost Accounting Standards (CAS),
Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)
Comparison to FAR
Like CAS 401, CAS 402 is part of modified CAS coverage and is one of the first CAS standards a company encounters. It likely will not call for any changes to the company’s cost accounting system because Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) 31.202 (Direct costs) and 31.203 (Indirect costs) give us words very similar to the CAS words.
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Topics:
Contracts & Subcontracts Administration,
DCAA Audit Support,
Government Regulations,
Cost Accounting Standards (CAS),
Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)
Many new government contractors are frustrated by being told they have a CAS 401 noncompliance, especially if they are not CAS covered. This is, of course, wrong terminology for non-CAS covered contractors, but is shorthand for saying the company is not estimating, accumulating, and reporting costs the same way. This is most frequently a difference between how a company estimates cost and then how the company accumulates and reports costs. This is not only important to the government, but to the company itself. A contractor cannot determine whether it is losing money on a contract if there is no way to compare what was bid to what was incurred. This is likely one of the first CAS standards a company encounters because even modified coverage calls this standard into play.
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Topics:
Contracts & Subcontracts Administration,
DCAA Audit Support,
Government Regulations,
Cost Accounting Standards (CAS),
Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)
Importance of Basis of Estimate
The proposal is often the procurement parties’ first introduction to a company. It is important to remember that different readers are looking for different types of content from the proposal. From an auditor’s viewpoint, an important part of a contractor’s cost estimating process is preparing the basis of estimate (BOE).
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Topics:
Proposal Cost Volume Development & Pricing
If your company no longer qualifies as a small business or is a company that wants to move from commercial contracts to negotiated contracts with the Federal Government, then this Vlog is for you. This Vlog explains how to determine when Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) apply and what are the different levels of coverage. It also discusses how to determine your CAS-covered universe and why it is important. There are three significant dollar amounts when dealing with CAS: $7.5M, $2M and $50M. Watch to find out why these are important numbers in the world of negotiated Government contracts.
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Topics:
Vlog,
Cost Accounting Standards (CAS)
In previous blogs, we have recommended preparing a CAS Disclosure Statement (DS) soon after emerging from small business status. We also recommended reviewing your cost accounting practices prior to preparing a Disclosure Statement to prevent having to change afterwards and ending up requiring a cost impact statement. So, by now you are probably wondering what this mythical beast is and what is the big deal about preparing it.
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Topics:
Compliant Accounting Infrastructure,
Cost Accounting Standards (CAS)
Previously, we discussed how a company ends up with CAS covered contracts. This month we are going to talk about some of the further fun with CAS. We recommended preparing a CAS Disclosure Statement soon after emerging from small business status,
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Topics:
Compliant Accounting Infrastructure,
Cost Accounting Standards (CAS)
With a renewed focus on DCAA Estimating System Audits, Cheryl Anderson shares some advice on successfully navigating the process.
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Topics:
DFARS Business Systems,
DCAA Audit Support,
Estimating System Compliance
