Redstone Government Consulting Blog | Estimating System Compliance

The FAR Council issued a proposed rule on November 29, 2024 to amend the FAR to increase acquisition related thresholds for inflation.

Topics: Proposal Cost Volume Development & Pricing, DFARS Business Systems, Contractor Purchasing System Review (CPSR), Cost Accounting Standards (CAS), Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Estimating System Compliance

There is no such thing as a risk-free interaction with the Government when it comes to submitting data.

Topics: Proposal Cost Volume Development & Pricing, Contractor Purchasing System Review (CPSR), Government Regulations, Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Estimating System Compliance

If this were only a simple question. The most straightforward answer is that it is a good idea for any company to have policies and procedures. If that company is going to do business with the US Government those policies and procedures are going to have to be expanded as each contract may present additional requirements. To help you understand the complex level of requirements we will address the major business systems and other key areas.

Topics: Compliant Accounting Infrastructure, Contracts & Subcontracts Administration, DFARS Business Systems, Human Resources, Contractor Purchasing System Review (CPSR), Government Regulations, Government Property Management, Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Material Management and Accounting System (MMAS), Estimating System Compliance

If you have an upcoming Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) estimating system audit, you need to plan for it, and the sooner, the better. Don't wait until the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) begins sending you its requests for information. But how do you prepare? Perhaps a place to start is first understanding what this audit entails and knowing what DCAA may cite as common findings.

Topics: DFARS Business Systems, DCAA Audit Support, Estimating System Compliance

Whether you call it “defective pricing” (DP) or Truth in Negotiations Act (TINA) or even the current labeling of Truthful Cost or Pricing Data Act (TCoPD - 41 USC Ch. 35) there is not much new about the impact to Federal Government contractors. The law supporting this goes back to 1962 in an environment where Congress believed contractors were overcharging the Government for negotiated goods or services. My how times have not changed. This could also describe our current Congress and may create worry among government prime and subcontractors.

Topics: Contracts & Subcontracts Administration, DCAA Audit Support, Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Estimating System Compliance

The National Institutes of Health Acquisition and Assessment Center (NITAAC) released its long-awaited Request for Proposal (RFP) for the Chief Information Officer – Solutions and Partners (CIO-SP4) program on May 25, 2021. Phase I of the evaluation of offeror proposals will consist of validation of the offeror’s completed self-scoring sheet and ranking the offerors based on this scoring. Only the highest rated offerors will advance to phase 2 of the evaluation. Accordingly, every point counts!

Topics: Proposal Cost Volume Development & Pricing, DFARS Business Systems, Estimating System Compliance

The FAR establishes that when contracting by negotiation with the Government, the contractor should have an acceptable estimating system.  FAR 15.407-5 provides that due to the benefits to both the Government and the contractor in reducing the scope of individual proposal reviews at contractors with an acceptable estimating system, the auditor (likely DCAA) should survey the system and provide a report to all contracting offices and contract administration offices doing substantial pricing activity with the contractor.  This is a very open-ended requirement/expectation; therefore, DoD established a structure in the DFARS.

Topics: Contracts & Subcontracts Administration, DFARS Business Systems, DCAA Audit Support, Estimating System Compliance

With a renewed focus on DCAA Estimating System Audits, we share some advice on successfully navigating the process.

Topics: DFARS Business Systems, DCAA Audit Support, Estimating System Compliance