Government Contract Accounting System Approval

An important milestone for government contractors and particularly to negotiated contracts is an adequate cost accounting system. Further, in today’s contracting environment having an adequate accounting system can be a pre-requisite for contracts. Today many Requests For Proposals (RFP) require it. The need for a compliant accounting system depends on the contractor’s circumstances and contract […]

DCMA Jobs For You

There are many reasons why working for the federal government can be appealing, whether it is the benefits, the pay or simply because you wish to give something back to your country. But what branch of the government is best for you? If you are thinking of working for the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA), […]

How to prepare an Incurred Cost Submission

If you have a federal contract or grant, you will probably be creating an Incurred Cost Submission. That is to say, a submission to the federal government to account for the costs you have incurred during a specific project. These include both direct and indirect costs and are usually due within six (6) months of […]

Indirect Cost Rates when dealing with federal contracts in general

Direct cost rates are rates that can easily be quantified within a contract. They include the cost of materials, wages of workers directly assigned to a project, subcontractors, etc. while indirect rates are rates that cannot be calculated without great effort. You may need to calculate an indirect rate if you are awarded a federal […]

How are Federal Contracts awarded?

In the private sector, contracts can vary greatly and are regulated only as far as they relate to the legality of the services or products being offered, and in that both parties consent to the contract. Otherwise, technically, two private individuals have virtually no restrictions on the content of their contracts. When dealing with the […]

Cost Accounting and the Cost Accounting Standards

Cost accounting is the practice of anticipating for the costs associated to running a business or producing a product.  Since many costs can be flexible, it is not an exact science but when dealing with large volumes, the price distortions were generally not very big. Since cost accounting relates directly to a business and its […]

How to be DCAA Compliant

If you or your company has been fortunate enough to win a government contract you will have to be able to remain compliant with the Defense Contract Audit Agency. There are some important steps that you can take to ensure that you and your company will not have any problems if and when you face […]

DCAA Preaward Surveys

When you are in the running to win a government contract the DCAA will perform a preaward survey of your business to determine if it is capable of perform all the duties that the contract entails. Their main focus will be on two categories. First, they will want to ensure that if your company is […]

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Senate Subcommittee Hears Arguments to Disband DCAA

In his State of the Union address, President Obama talked of the need to overhaul the way that the government does business in order to make it more efficient. He said, “We live and do business in the information age, but the last major reorganization of the government happened in the age of black and […]