"He who has nothing to hide, hides nothing." - Dr. Phil The recent National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2013 (NDAA) has me scratching my head. As a former DCAA auditor, I can many times remember getting a little pushback from contractors on what it was that I was "allowed" to ask … [Read more...]
FAR 31 Series (Part 3, Direct and Indirect Costs)
As we close in on the specific examples of allowable and unallowable costs in FAR 31.205, I wanted to discuss FAR 31.202 and FAR 31.203 dealing with Direct and Indirect costs. Direct Costs With direct costs, the regulation goes with an indirect approach: “FAR 31.202(a) No final cost objective … [Read more...]
Small-business goals will go unmet again this FY
A favorite procurement vehicle is the simplified acquisitions because they’re easy to handle and easy to disguise as purchases going to small business. More times than not, however, simplified acquisition awards land in the laps of big business. Oh, sure simplified acquisitions can be as high as … [Read more...]
FAR Cost Principles Series (Part 2, Allowability, Reasonableness, and Allocability)
Posted on February 7, 2013 by Marty Herbert As a former DCAA auditor, it was a primary goal for my position to find and report unallowable costs. Recently, I have been hearing a lot more from the community in terms of making FAR 31.2 easier to understand. This is pat 2 in the series. Part 1 on … [Read more...]
FAR Cost Principles Series (Part 1, Total Cost)
Blog post by Marty Herbert - Government Contracts Blog As a former DCAA auditor, it was a primary goal for my position to find and report unallowable costs. Recently, I have been hearing a lot more from the community in terms of making FAR 31.2 easier to understand. So, a series is … [Read more...]
APMP-NCA Unveils the 2013 Board of Directors
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Association of Proposal Management Professionals, National Capital Area chapter (APMP-NCA) is pleased to unveil its 2013 Board of Directors, as elected by its members. The new board will continue to provide strategic leadership to the largest of all APMP chapters, while … [Read more...]
In With the New?! Seek to Expand ‘Old’ Skills
The New Year will present new horizons – and new turf for small business contracting. The new turf will include twists and bends and much new learning, so stay abreast or become obsolete. GovCon seeks to provide our readers with news, tips and trends. Knowing that each year demands new skills and … [Read more...]
Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn are like three needy children
Maintaining a social presence is a lot like parenting... a set of crying, wet, hungry triplets who never sleep. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn -- they are like three needy children who don't discriminate between your personal life and your work life. Oh, you're in a meeting? Twitter doesn't care, it … [Read more...]
Leveraging Conferences: The Beauty and the Beast
Conference Exhibition Space? $4000 Dollars Airfare to Conference City? $450 Dollars Hotel and Rental Car? $750 Dollars Food and Miscellaneous? $400 Dollars Not hiring pro's to help with your booth and marketing materials? Pricele---- Wait. That's not … [Read more...]
Opportunity to Watch: Health Marketing Communication Services
Let’s start 2013 with something we all love – evaluating federal contracting opportunities! As always, I look at (1) a scope of work has high growth potential or at least very stable demand, (2) strong funding profiles and (3) access to opportunities with reduced competition. Health Marketing … [Read more...]
The Most Important FAR by Far
By far the most important section in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), for these trying times in particular, is FAR 15.201. We need to keep reminding ourselves and everyone in the procurement community about it. Following it is the cornerstone of any successful acquisition. 15.201 … [Read more...]
Social Media: What You Can Learn From the Top Shares of 2012
Happy New Year! Our beloved politicians have all but guaranteed 2013 will be an eventful year by starting us off with a slow motion leap over a cliff. Not sure when we hit the ground or whatever it is we're going to hit, but either way I'll be glad when we stop hearing "fiscal cliff"! Our … [Read more...]