PNWC’s Government Contracting Update - page 39

Back in 2013, the FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulations) Councils added provisions for enhanced whistleblower protections for contractor employees. The coverage, codified at FAR 3.9 set forth the policy that Government contractors cannot discharge, demote or otherwise discriminate against an employee as a reprisal for disclosing information to a Member of Congress, or an authorized official of an agency or the Department of Justice, relating to a substantial violation of law related to a contract.

Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: Regulations involving Protections for Contractor Employee Whistleblowers Extended

Rep. Mark Meadows (NC) introduced a bill last month that would extend certain prohibitions that now apply to DoD contracts, to all executive agencies. In short, the bill establishes a new policy to avoid using lowest price technically acceptable (LPTA) source selection criteria in circumstances that would deny the Government the benefits of cost and technical trade-offs in the source selection process.

Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: Lowest-Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) Does Not Always Equate to “Best Value”

The House Armed Services Committee (HASC) submitted its markup of the Fiscal Year 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) last week. In the coming days, we will be reporting on some of the procurement related provisions included in the markup.

Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: Transitioning from Government Auditors to Commercial Auditors for Incurred Cost Audits

How do you know whether your purchasing system is good enough for Government contracting? There are guidelines in the FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulations) and various FAR supplements (e.g. the DoD FAR Supplement or DFARS) to help contractors make self-assessments as to whether their purchasing systems are adequate for Government purposes. Often, when people hear about purchasing systems they have subcontracting in mind. However, the term purchasing system can also encompass the full range of material purchases. Ultimately, the Government is most concerned that contractors spend Government funds most efficiently and effectively. To the extent that your purchasing system can provide that assurance, you should be good to go.

Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: Is Your Purchasing System Adequate?

Spinitar was awarded a $165 thousand firm fixed price Army contract to install video conferencing system at Fort Shafter Flats, Hawaii. The solicitation included the clause at FAR 52.212-4 which states in subsection (k) that the contract price includes all applicable Federal, State, and local taxes and duties.

Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: Faceoff: Contract Clause vs Proposal Language

The owner of a defense contractor has pleaded guilty to his role in multiple conspiracies to over bill the Federal government. The over-billing scheme totaled more than $15 million.

Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: $15 Million Fraudulent Billing Scheme

Over the past two days, we’ve discussed the concept of division of duties (also called segregation of duties) as a component of internal controls over labor costs. We discussed the importance of the division of duties between those who review and approve employee time charges and those who prepare the payroll. We discussed the importance of the division of duties between those who review and approve employee time charges and those who are responsible for meeting budgets. The basic premise for internal controls is to reduce the chance that irregularities will occur. If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you know that we comment on the results of fraud investigations quite often. And one thing that many of these fraud cases have in common is that the companies (or the Government organization) either lacked basic internal control systems, had internal controls in name only (they were not in compliance with the controls they had established), were ineffective for what they were intended to accomplish, or were easily circumvented.

Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: The Importance of Internal Controls Over Labor Costs

Internal Controls are a critical component of nearly every financial transaction, practice, or procedure. Yesterday we discussed a control regarding the division of duties between those who have responsibility for meeting budgets and those responsible for approving time and attendance records (see Division of Duties – Responsibility for Meeting Budgets and Approving Employee Time Charges). Today we want to discuss another internal control related to labor costs – creating a division of duties between those approving time and attendance records and those responsible for the preparation and distribution of payroll.

Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: Division of Duties – Payroll Preparation and Approving Employee Time Charges

Once a contractor is awarded a contract, it typically sets up budgets for the work to be performed. At first, budgets are very rough estimates of what the contractor believes it will take to perform the task (or sub-task) but as the work progresses, the budgets become more refined.

Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: Division of Duties – Responsibility for Meeting Budgets and Approving Employee Time Charges

What is “Actionable Acquisition Insight”? If you don’t know, ask your local DCMA (Defense Contract Management Agency) person for a definition. Everyone at DCMA possess it, seemingly. So they must know what it means.

Source: PNWC’s Government Contracting Update: What is Actionable Acquisition Insight?