Avoid a Hefty Tax Bill with State Sales and Use Tax Exemptions on Government Contracts

Contractors need to understand the laws for applying state sales and use taxes to purchased goods and services on government contracts. It can be a costly mistake that eats away at your profit.

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Topics: Compliant Accounting Infrastructure, Incurred Cost Proposal Submission (ICP/ICE), Small Business Compliance, Contracts & Subcontracts Administration, DFARS Business Systems, Government Regulations, Government Property Management, Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)

Navigating Alabama's New 2024 Overtime Pay Exemption in Deltek Costpoint

Do you have employees in Alabama? There are some changes to the overtime rules you need to be aware of for employers in Alabama.

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Topics: Compliant Accounting Infrastructure, Small Business Compliance, Government Regulations, Deltek Costpoint

Supply Chain Requirements on Covered Articles in Effect Now

The FAR Council issued an interim rule, effective December 4, 2023, which implements the requirements of the Federal Acquisition Supply Chain Security Act (FASCSA). This included three new FAR clauses which prohibit the delivery or use of “covered articles” subject to a FASCSA order in the performance of a government contract.

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Topics: Contracts & Subcontracts Administration, DFARS Business Systems, Contractor Purchasing System Review (CPSR), Government Regulations, Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Manufacturing Operations Consulting

Revision to DCAA’s Mandatory Annual Audit Requirements (MAARs)

Mandatory Annual Audit Requirements (MAARs) 6 (labor) and 13 (material purchases) are two of DCAA’s mandatory annual audit requirements performed for incurred cost audits. These MAARs, established decades ago, have customarily been performed on a “real-time” basis within the year in which the costs were incurred. However, DCAA has recently revised their audit guidance in a Memorandum for Regional Directors (MRD) titled “Revised Procedures for Real-Time Audits of Labor and Purchase Existence and Consumption.”

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Topics: Compliant Accounting Infrastructure, Small Business Compliance, Government Compliance Training, DCAA Audit Support, Government Regulations

Are You Filing 2023 1099s? You Will Need a Transmitter Control Code (TCC).

New Rule for Filing 1099s: The IRS rule TFA 23O1 reduces the electronic filing requirement from a threshold of 250 Information Returns down to 10.

Yes, you read that correctly. If you file more than 10 Information Returns after January 1, 2024, you are now required to submit those forms electronically. Employers must calculate the total number of Information Returns to determine if they meet the threshold, including 1099s, W-2s, 1098s, etc.

This means if you have a total of 4 Form 1098s and a total of 6 Form 1099-NEC, you must file electronically. All forms must be submitted to the appropriate party and through the IRS site utilizing IRIS or the “Information Returns Intake System” by the due date.

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Topics: Compliant Accounting Infrastructure, Government Regulations, Deltek Costpoint

Hold On, My Company Can Submit a Commercial Quote on a Government or Prime Solicitation?

My commercial company wants to increase business with the Federal Government – but not with all those requirements the Government follows when buying under FAR Part 15 rules (Contracting by Negotiation). Is that even possible? The answer is “absolutely”.

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Topics: Proposal Cost Volume Development & Pricing, Contracts & Subcontracts Administration, Government Regulations, Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Commercial Item Determination

What Can We Hope for with the Biden-Harris Better Contracting Initiative?

The FACT SHEET issued by the White House on November 8, 2023 professes the four underlying initiatives “will generate more than an additional 10 billion annually in savings and cost avoidance while improving the performance of Federal contracts.” Seeing as it also states, “[l]ast year alone, the Federal Government purchased $700 billion of goods and services,” – this 1.5% saving would be a good start. So, let’s take a look at these initiatives.

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Topics: Contracts & Subcontracts Administration, Government Regulations, Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)

Department of Energy Issues Class Deviation on System of Award Management (SAM)

Contractors are required to keep their System of Award Management (SAM) registration up to date. FAR 52.204-7(b)(1) requires an offeror to be registered in the System of Award Management (SAM) when submitting an offer/quote, registered until the time of award, during performance, and through final payment. Sounds pretty easy. However, contractors are not always registering or updating their registration, resulting in ineligible awards, as noted in recent court cases (See our blog: SAM Registrations: Check Often and Never Let it Lapse!).

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Topics: Contracts & Subcontracts Administration, System Award Management (SAM), Government Regulations

DCAA Finally Takes a Step in the Right Direction with Cost Impact Guidance

The Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) issued a memorandum to its leadership – and ultimately its auditors in the field – addressing a revision to its audit guidance related to the audit of contractor cost impact calculations for unilateral cost accounting practice changes (23-PAC-009(R) Revised Audit Guidance on the Cost Impact Calculation for a Unilateral Cost Accounting Practice Change – dated October 3, 2023). Well, it is about time.

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Topics: Contracts & Subcontracts Administration, Government Regulations, Cost Accounting Standards (CAS)

What are the Different Types of CAS Accounting Practice Changes?

Most contractors that have contracts/subcontracts subject to full CAS coverage will eventually want to make a change to a cost accounting practice because there is a “better” allocation method or a change is required to remain in compliance with CAS.

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Topics: Compliant Accounting Infrastructure, Government Regulations, Cost Accounting Standards (CAS)