(Blog Post Credit: Duncan Amos, Bloomberg Government) After years of decline, government contracting may increase in fiscal 2017. Relatively flat spending decreases in recent years and increased budgets may translate into a reversal of a years-long slide. While it’s too soon to look at Pentagon [..Read More..]
Where Business Development & Project Management Teams Meet and Work Together Towards a Common Goal
“The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses – behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.” – Muhammad Ali A communication and business systems strategy within an organization can take a [..Read More..]
Updated Cost Allowability Guidance Issued by the DCAA
Original Blog Post by: Cherry Bekaert LLP During late summer, the Defense Contract Audit Agency (“DCAA”) published a “Selected Areas of Cost” guidebook to replace Chapter 7 of the DCAA Contract Audit Manual (“CAM”). The newly refreshed guidebook provides further direction for auditors and contractors [..Read More..]
Federal Acquisition Regulation – Small Business Subcontracting Improvements
By: Craig Stetson, Director, Capital Edge Consulting Final rule issued by the DoD, GSA and NASA July 14, 2016 to amend the FAR to add various improvements related to small business subcontracting. These statutory amendments will affect prime contractor responsibilities on how they deal with subcontractors and [..Read More..]
New Cybersecurity Guidance Regarding Unclassified Information for Government Contractors
If you think the government is only concerned about protecting classified information, you can think again. Recent hacks and breaches have brought on additional executive legislation regarding Controlled Unclassified Information and Improving Critical Infrastructure Security (Executive Order 13556 and 13636 respectively). In response to these [..Read More..]
Getting Project Managers and Contract Administration Personnel on the Same Page is a Winning Formula
“All men can see these tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.” – Sun Tzu Efficient contract management processes are critical to ensure that goods and services are delivered as expected and engagements are [..Read More..]
SBA Reports Record-High Contracting for Women-Owned Firms
For the first time in 20 years of trying, federal agencies met their mandatory goal of steering small business contracts to women-owned firms, the Small Business Administration announced on Wednesday. “What we were able to achieve was because of that big lift across the country,” Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet [..Read More..]
NIST 800-171 Compliance: The 15 Key Requirements
“Defense contractors routinely process, store and transmit sensitive federal information to assist federal agencies in carrying out their core missions and business operations. Federal information is also shared with state and local governments, universities and independent research organizations. To keep this information secure, Executive Order [..Read More..]
Department of Defense Continues to Tinker with the Allowability of IR&D
Beginning in 2011, the Department of Defense (“DoD”) began making changes to the supplemental cost principle on Independent Research and Development (IR&D) found at the Defense Federal Acquisition Supplement (DFARS) 231.205-18. These changes have not affected the definition of IR&D found at Federal Acquisition Regulation [..Read More..]
FISMA Compliance for Government Contractors
Whether you’re an experienced government contractor or just starting out, FISMA compliance can be a daunting task. The Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) is United States legislation that defines a comprehensive framework to protect government information, operations and assets against natural or man-made threats. For [..Read More..]
