Redstone Government Consulting Blog (25)

At the end of each of the DCAA audit programs for contractor business systems, DCAA discusses what it refers to as “Less Severe Significant Deficiencies.” These are clearly deficiencies which do not meet the DFARS definition of a “Significant deficiency.”[1] As a result, the withhold requirement provided for in DFARS 252.242-7005 cannot be applied.

This video is the first part of a two part series where we provide an overview of some of the expectations that come with completing a Government proposal and their respective realities.

What is it?

The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) Affirmative Action Program Verification Interface (AAP-VI), or “Contractor Portal” is a new platform to be used by covered government contractors (prime and subcontractors) to:

• Annually certify that they are complying with the requirement to develop and maintain annual Affirmative Action Plans (AAP).
• Upload Affirmative Action Plans and other requested materials during an OFCCP compliance evaluation.

Overview

• The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Treasury have jointly released information to help answer common questions relating to the coverage of at-home covid tests by group health plans. 
• President Biden signed an Executive Order (EO) on Use of Project Labor Agreements for Federal Construction Projects for federal construction projects valued at $35 million or more. 
• On February 1, the US DOL announced plans to hire 100 Investigators “to support its Wage and Hour Division’s compliance efforts.”
• A large automotive employer will pay $600,000 to settle a class-action lawsuit due to their issuance of deficient COBRA notices. 
• Congress has passed the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act for sexual assault and harassment cases. 

In my last blog post, I discussed whether you could have a DCAA Approved Accounting System with QuickBooks. If you read it, then you know the answer is definitely – yes. This begs the next question though: QuickBooks Online (QBO) or QuickBooks Desktop? One might think that they’re essentially the same with one just being a cloud version and the other a local install. That could not be further from the truth. The two products are actually very different in terms of functionality and capabilities. A couple of years ago, I would have told you that QBO was just not an option for a government contractor. Appropriate job costing just couldn’t be done. In recent years though, Intuit has focused a lot of their internal development on QBO, and the product has come a long way. In this article we’ll go over some of the key differences between the two QB options, and hopefully help you decide which is right for you. Note that this is NOT a fully comprehensive comparison of all the different features, but rather a focus on some of the primary differences that are most relevant for government contractors.

As more and more companies are acquiring companies or being acquired, a predominant question that arises is can I do work with my new or existing affiliates. The simple answer is yes, but there are specific requirements in the FAR on how transactions are performed between affiliates. The requirements of intercompany transactions are found in two primary cost principles FAR 31.205-26 – Materials Costs and FAR 31.205-36 Rental Costs.

This is the third blog in a three-part series on progress payments for Government contractors. In this blog we will discuss the estimate to complete, and the adjustments needed when there is a projected loss on a contract.

Overview

• The US Supreme Court blocked the OSHA vaccine and testing mandate for large private employers.
• The Federal Contractor mandate established by EO 14042 is still subject to a nationwide injunction entered by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia on December 7, 2021. This injunction has been appealed to the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals by the Biden Administration. This injunction ordered the federal government to temporarily stop enforcement of the COVID vaccine mandate for federal contractors.  
• Effective January 30, 2022, the federal contractor minimum wage will be increased to $15 per hour for covered employees working on covered contracts.
• Contractors will be able to register for the OFCCP’s new Contractor Portal on February 1, 2022.
• The 2021 EEO-1 Data Collection period is tentatively set to open on April 12, 2022.
• Group health plans and insurers must cover or reimburse in full for over-the-counter COVID-19 tests.

I talk with business owners all the time that are either just starting their business, or just getting their existing business into government contracting, and one of the questions we address almost weekly is – Which accounting software built for government contractors should I go with? The answer is, maybe none of them. While the popular govcon accounting software solutions are a really good option for many government contractors, you certainly aren’t limited to those. If you’re a relatively small government contractor, then other products such as QuickBooks might be a better software solution.

This video provides a summary of the status of the various COVID-19 vaccine mandates, with a focus on Executive Order 14042. Although this federal contractor vaccine mandate is subject to an injunction, covered contractors still have some COVID-related obligations for maintaining a safe workplace that should not be overlooked. We also discuss the importance of good faith compliance efforts, including clear communications to employees regarding their right to request accommodation for those contractors that have moved forward with their policies on mandating vaccines. We note that since this recording (January 13, 2022), the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas also blocked the vaccine mandate for Federal workers.