Redstone Government Consulting Blog (60)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

We’ve previously released a few blogs on the topic to make our clients and friends aware of the emerging requirement for registration at SAM.gov.  While the Government has not been entirely forthcoming on why this requirement has emerged, there has been a lot of speculation from a data breach to fictitious registrations stemming from a few unscrupulous “consultants” that charge to register entities in SAM.  

Quite often, in practice, we see contractors classifying too much cost as IR&D or more commonly, B&P expense.  In a proposal setting, experts from across your company support the development of a compliant proposal.  The question we see frequently is: “Who should be charging to B&P Projects?”  While a business may want to capture the total cost of a proposal effort, including administrative support from G&A staff, it is not wise to have these personnel charge to a B&P project where their labor will absorb overhead. 

In late 2013, the BBA (Bipartisan Budget Act) significantly changed the FAR 31.205-6(p) regulatory cap for allowable contractor employee compensation.   In a highly politicized action, the Obama Administration convinced Congress to reduce allowable compensation to $487,000 for any contractor employee effective for contracts on or after June 24, 2014.  Additionally, Section 702 of the BBA prescribed the method for annual increases to the statutory cap (based upon the change in the Employment Cost Index for all workers as calculated by the BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics).

With summer just around the corner, now is the perfect time for your company to advertise internship opportunities. Internships are often a “win-win” opportunity, providing valuable education and training for students while improving workflow for employers.

This blog was first published on the Deltek Government Contracting Blog as a guest post by Redstone Government Consulting.

The incurred cost submission is required for all federal contractors holding cost-type or time and materials (T&M) contracts and is a universal requirement regardless of agency customer.  All contracts requiring the incurred cost submission will include the Federal Acquisition Regulations “Allowable Cost & Payment Clause” (FAR 52.216-7) and/or the “T&M Payment Clause” (FAR 52.232-7). Following are answers to frequently asked questions and pointers to resources to help you.

The GSA Office of Inspector General (OIG) is actively investigating alleged fraudulent third-party activity in GSA’s System for Award Management (SAM). At this time, a limited number of entities registered in SAM are suspected of being impacted by this illegal activity. GSA has taken proactive steps to address this issue and has notified the affected entities.

The Department of Labor’s Wage & Hour Division has announced a new pilot program expected to launch next month. This initiative, referred to as the Payroll Audit Independent Determination (PAID) program, will allow employers the opportunity to voluntarily correct employee pay and accounting errors which violate the requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  Though an official launch date has not been announced, the program is set to run for an initial 6 months and is open to all FLSA-covered employers who have not already been sued and/or who are not currently being audited by the Department of Labor (DOL). Eligible employers may enroll online shortly after the launch date (see “How to Enroll” below) and participate in the PAID program through the end of the pilot.

Timekeeping compliance is a combination of several critical pieces, involving everyone within an organization. With specific requirements for government contracts, it is crucial to develop a structure and process for timekeeping and compensation in government contracts. Here are some considerations when reviewing your company’s timekeeping compliance:

How does one ensure the financial success of one’s government contracts? If we were to poll twenty-five different government contractors, we would likely get 25 different responses, and most wouldn’t be wrong. Some would say it takes a great program manager, while some would say it takes executive management committed to providing the necessary resources. Others might say it depends on the type of contract being worked or the type of fee being earned. All of these would be correct.

As incurred cost audits are becoming more prevalent and voucher audits are taking off like wildfire, there is emphasis placed on the use of work authorizations by government contractors.  There is no specific regulatory authority that can be cited which requires work authorizations as a part of a contractor’s Labor/Timekeeping System.  This argument, although accurate, is not the rationale which will be used by a DCAA auditor when “disclosing” deficiencies in a contractor’s labor system and ultimately rendering an inadequate opinion with respect to the accounting system, when the work authorization process is absent.