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here_2_help

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  1. If I'm understanding the article correctly, the Army competed two designs and, prior to finishing the Preliminary Design Review, chose the winning design based on ... actually I'm not sure what the evaluation criteria were. The article talks about prototypes but the initial award seems to clearly indicate that the design didn't even get past PDR and all prototypes were or will be "virtual" so now I'm confused. No one is actually buying anything that flies at this point in time, it appears. Then the article quotes a politician who mentions something about fuel range but how do you measure the range of a "virtual prototype of a potentially model-based system"? I dunno. The Army picked a winner. Somehow. Good for them. I hope the next-gen copter is awesome.
  2. If the contract does not require you to provide notification then you do not have to.
  3. The manufacturer has incentive to estimate life on the low-end, so that it won't be sued if its equipment fails too early. On the other hand, I think it's a reasonable assumption to believe that the Rate Book takes into account actual history.
  4. Does the contractor have any actual equipment life history to support its position?
  5. When you award the CPFF Completion CLIN, what makes you think you will be able to control who charges what contractor hours to the CLIN? Point to a clause in your contract that gives you that authority, please.
  6. Back in the 90's the max value of our ID/IQ was doubled. We still hit the new ceiling, but they wouldn't double it a second time. No, I don't know how the CO justified it. But we were glad to accept it.
  7. Sick burn, bro. To be clear, the quote above did not come from Mr. Edwards.
  8. To Vern's point, I have a hard time thinking about scenarios where government payment's to the prime would not be considered as prime contractor revenue/sales. The subK incurs costs and submits an invoice to the prime. The prime pays the invoice, incurring a cost -- presumably recording the cost as an element of cost of sales. The prime submits an invoice to the government for its costs, which now include the subK's costs that it paid. The government pays the prime's invoice, which is treated as revenue/sales. The difference between the revenue recorded and the cost of sales recorded is the contract's gross margin.
  9. Serious question: Assuming that adequate competition is obtained, the contractor T.O. proposals would not be subject to TINA, correct? Second question: Who pays for the proposal prep costs?
  10. Yes. Yes we can. The system does not appear to require use of expensive attorneys, at least on the front end. I like that.
  11. I apologize if this post is not responsive to Vern's question. I don't work in the government, only ever the private sector (contractors). It used to be the case that a degree inferred some ability to write and to critically think and to perform analysis. Not so much any more. Are those skills important for an 1102 position? Not for me to say. I will say that my first "real" job after completing college with a B.A. -- a liberal arts degree -- was at a large defense contractor. I was immediately interested in the subject of government contracting, and took classes at night in UCLA's Government Contracts Certificate program. One of my first classes was Cost/Price Analysis -- thought to be the hardest class in the series but I didn't know that when I enrolled. My point is: it wasn't hard. Not at all. It was just algebra and analysis. After my college coursework (again: liberal arts) I found the work easy and skated through the class; I didn't understand why my classmates struggled so. Then I found out that several didn't have college degrees and were trying to apply the high school algebra they'd learned years before and had mostly forgotten. Of course, this was decades ago and things have changed since then. I don't think I have any liberal arts folks on my staff; they are almost all Finance/Accounting types. They can run rings around me on a spreadsheet. But critical thinking and analysis? Missing in action.
  12. Well, gentlemen, aren't we chipper today? I'm over here, applauding the folks who manage to get the job done within a system that would make Kafka weep.
  13. I'll add to Vern's informative link with a caution that many contracting officers do not fully understand how to deal with unpopulated JVs. Nor do many contractors that form them! Questions to be answered ahead of time: 1. Which entity will do the accounting for the JV? Is that entity going to be submitting invoices on behalf of the JV? Does that entity have an adequate accounting system? 2. If the "subcontractors" to the JV are going to receive cost-type contracts, do they all have adequate accounting systems? 3. Does each "subcontractor" to the JV have the ability to calculate allowable indirect cost rates and to issue credible cost proposals suitable for negotiation? 4. How will profit be distributed to the JV members? How will any unallowable costs, incurred on behalf of the JV (rather than an individual member), be accounted for? I could go on. These issues, and others, should be sorted ahead of time so that the proposal can clearly explain to the government how it's all going to work.
  14. If you require proposals in order to issue a TO, you should be prepared to pay for them. Having the ktr put the proposal prep costs in G&A shifts the costs to other customers who get no benefit from your ID/IQ. Also see CAS 402, Interpretation No. 1, quoted below: (Emphasis added, obviously.)
  15. A recent COFC opinion offered what I thought to be a rather unique definition of a contractor's standard recordkeeping system for purposes of determining the amount of money owed during a Term for Convenience of a commercial item/service contract. I had always believed that the above bolded phrase was intended to distinguish the systems of commercial entities from the systems of traditional government contractors, who invest in developing government-unique systems (including accounting systems) to meet the myriad of requirements for contracts awarded outside of Part 12 procedures. Silly me. In fact, as the Judge noted, the plaintiff had an accounting system (Quickbooks). Apparently, the plaintiff failed to show the Judge how its system was used to track costs. Anyway, I thought this opinion was ... interesting. I would have thought that Quickbooks would have been sufficient for a commercial item/service contractor.
  16. Thought I would close the loop on this. Upon further discussion, it turns out that "Legal" didn't say. It was a policy position from the Chief. The Chief prefers cost-type contracts because ... why? I don't know. We were willing to go FFP and take the cost risk. Anyway, Legal didn't say. The Chief did.
  17. Yes, I have published many articles in the past. I think I published four on Cost, Price & Accounting Report over the years. I write fewer now, to be honest. Vern is right, I need to do more.
  18. We're not that far apart, Vern. There is a (small) audience for in-depth discussions and analyses, sure. They want what you write but they can't afford to subscribe. (And thank you for often making your articles available to the public.) But it's hard to publish in-depth articles when NCMA's membership covers a wide spectrum of folks, from state/local government buyers to prime contract buyers to commercial buyers. For example, I was just speaking with somebody who's planning to join NCMA in a few weeks or months; she's a buyer for the local school district. She's not looking for--nor is she ready for--a deep dive into, say, FAR Subpart 15.4. In my view, Contract Management aims for a low common denominator that will be of general interest to the majority of its readers. I quote from current Editorial Guidelines below regarding what the Editors are looking for.
  19. True but, in fairness, the audience is not there for in-depth analysis.
  20. First of all, yes. The prime can ask you to bill less than you actually incur. (This assumes that you actually incur $102.31/hour for your employee's labor. See ji20874's post.) You don't have to agree, but the prime can ask. Second, if you were CAS-covered I would say that you have to be consistent in your cost accounting practices. Labor over there must be treated as labor everywhere. But you're not CAS-covered. Are there burdening differences between labor & ODC? I don't know your accounting system so I couldn't say. But if the transformation from labor to ODC changes the burdening, and your are required by 52.216-7 to submit a final billing rate proposal at the end of the year, then you may have an argument as to why that's a bad idea. I would suggest you get a consultant in to assist you with these types of questions ...
  21. If you are a small business then no, you are not subject to CAS. So your prime is asking you to (a) request less reimbursement than actual costs incurred, and (b) to treat the additional labor as an ODC? (And burden the labor as an ODC instead of as labor, I assume.) Is that correct? Back to Vern's question then. What do you want to know?
  22. Contractor500, is your company subject to CAS? Is the subcontract subject to CAS?
  23. I have attended several NCMA conferences in the past, including a few World Congresses, where I was a presenter. I have attended NCMA National Education Symposia--and even instructed at one of them. I don't recall with absolute certainty if I've specifically attended a GCMS -- but I think I have (once). NCMA is a good organization--especially for people new to the field. That being said, I let my membership lapse several years ago (after being a member for ~ 20 years). Consequently, I no longer attend NCMA events. I can't speak for other WIFCONites, but the event may be worthwhile for YOU if you are new(er) to the field. No. I think interaction with decision-makers is limited, especially for attendees. The speakers are there to represent their agencies and the Federal government; they don't really have a lot of space to "let their hair down" and interact, assuming they wanted to. In my experience, the best way to get good one-on-one interaction is to be a speaker yourself and hang out in the green room.
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