PNWC’s Government Contracting Update - page 42

The Army issued a solicitation for emergency medical services at Tobyhanna Army Depot in Pennsylvania. The RFP (Request For Proposal) specified that proposals were due by 4:00 p.m. One of the bidders made four tries at submitting its proposal electronically; 2:43 p.m., 2:57 p.m., 3:01 p.m, and 3:06 p.m. The Government servers however logged receipt of those three tries at 6:00 p.m., 6:05 p.m., 6:06 p.m., and 6:09 p.m. Since they were received by the Government after 4:00 p.m., the bidder, Western Star, was eliminated from the bidding.

Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: Proposal Gets Snagged in Email System – Received Late – Tossed

Last Friday, we brought you a provision of the Defense Acquisition Streamlining and Transparency Act that will require the Department of Defense to outsource at least 25 percent of the incurred costs audits to QPA (Qualified Private Auditors). This is going to put DCAA in a head-to-head competition with commercial auditors and it will be interesting to see how it all shakes out.

Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: Defense Acquisition Streamlining and Transparency Act – Part 2

On May 18th, 2007, Chairman Thornberry of the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) introduced The Defense Acquisition Streamlining and Transparency Act, a bill to (i) empower the Defense Department to use “e-commerce” to purchase commercial off-the-shelf items, (ii) reform the defense contract audit process and (iii) a number of other provisions. For purposes of this article, we want to focus on how the bill intends to reform the contract audit process. According to Thornberry,

Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: Defense Acquisition Streamlining and Transparency Act – Commercializing Contract Audits

The Federal Government has established statutory goals for ensuring that small businesses get their fair share of Government contracts. For example, 23 percent of prime contracts must go to small businesses. Three percent of prime and subcontracts must go to service-disable veteran-owned small businesses. Given the size of Government procurement, that represents a lot of money.

Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes *

Last week we discussed GSA’s (General Services Administration) progress toward compliance with the Improper Payments Acts citing a report by the Agency’s Office of Inspector General that identified deficiencies in reporting and evaluating improper payments (see Improper Payment Acts – Government Efforts to Reduce Improper Payments). The Acts require federal agencies to review their programs and identify those that are susceptible to significant improper payments.

Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: Improper Payment Acts – DoD’s Implementation

The purpose of Performance Assessment Reports (PARs) is to provide source selection officials with information on contractor past performance. Government officials prepare PARs in CPARS (Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System). Most Government contractors are familiar with PARs/CPARS, having had the opportunity to review and respond to performance information loaded up on Government databases.

Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: Contractors Getting Shortchanged on Past Performance Ratings

The National Procurement Fraud Task Force (NPFTF) is comprised of representatives from the U.S. Attorney’s Offices, the FBI, the Offices of Inspector Generals and various other federal law enforcement agencies. It was formed eleven years ago to help the early detection, identification, prevention, and prosecution of procurement fraud in Government programs.

Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: Defendant Pleads Guilty in Army Contracting Bribery Case

The Improper Payments Information Act of 2002, the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act of 2010, and the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Improvement Act of 2012 are collectively referred to as the Improper Payments Acts. The purpose of these Acts is to eliminate and recover payments improperly made by federal agencies. The Acts require federal agencies to review their programs and identify those that are susceptible to significant improper payments. Many Government contractors have felt the impact of these efforts, either through the respective finance (payment) offices, contract administration, and contract auditors. Improper payments can take many forms and do not necessarily mean that anything fraudulent, wasteful, or abusive has occurred. Sometimes timing issues result in temporary improper payments because, for example, contractors have not had time to update their billings to reflect final, rather than provisional, indirect expense rates.

Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: Improper Payment Acts – Government Efforts to Reduce Improper Payments

We last wrote about idle facilities and idle capacity back in 2010. As far as the cost principle is concerned (i.e. FAR 31.205-17), nothing has changed. There are limits to how long the Government is going to pay or reimburse a contractor for idle facilities and idle capacity. At some point, those costs will become unallowable.

Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: Idle Facilities/Capacity – Audit Guidance

By now, everyone knows that DCAA (Defense Contract Audit Agency) has “risked away” the preponderance of contractors’ annual incurred cost submissions. By “risked away” we mean that the contractor submissions have been closed without audit and the proposed rates are accepted as final by the Government. By “preponderance” we are referring to quantity, not absolute dollar amounts. Major contractors will not be “risked-away” because there are too many dollars at stake.

Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: Data Collection Efforts by DCAA on Unaudited Incurred Cost Proposals