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List of Government Contracting Terms and Their True Meaning

Term	Acronym	Definition	True Meaning
Acqusition Resource Center	ARC	The ARC was established to provide industry with a one-stop source for acquisition information and to increase competition in contracting.	The ARC is physically located in Hanover, Maryland. Vendors with appropriate security clearances may visit the ARC to review acquisition related announcements, business forecasts, requests for information (RFI), and requests for proposals (RFP), as well as search on the "Business Registry" or access documents in the "Contractors Bidders Library."
Award Date	n/a	The date the Client expects to notify the winning bidder.	Based on FY2009 and FY2010 trends, add 6 months to 1 year on to the award date to get the more realistic award date.
Best and Final Offer	BAFO	A customer request for a document that describes your organization's final price. It also may include other contractual issues.	There may be more than one request for a BAFO. The customer will request after the proposal has been submitted and to select the final companies to negotiate with.
Black Hat Review	n/a	Review of competitors’ likely strategies and solutions by people who are independent of the pursuit team and are experts on the customer and competitors.	The black hat review determines the competitive landscape and is a critical event for determining whether or not you can win the bid. The black hat review is one of the corners that many contractors cut in the proposal process, much to their own peril. A properly conducted and facilitated black hat review is critical for a winning bid.
Central Contract Registration	CCR	Central Contractor Registration (CCR) is the primary registrant database for the U.S. Federal Government. CCR collects, validates, stores, and disseminates data in support of agency acquisition missions, including Federal agency contract and assistance awards.	CCR is a database designed to hold information relevant to procurement and financial transactions. CCR affords you the opportunity for fast electronic payment of invoices. You must be registered in the CCR to be awarded a contract from DoD. Visit www.ccr.gov for more information or to register your company. You must also be registered in the CCR to register at MPO's ARC.
Commercial Solutions Center	NCSC	The NCSC maintains a Vendor Capabilities Presentation Program for vendors with secuirty enhancing products in the areas of information technology, signals intelligence (SIGINT), or Information Assurance (IA).	If you have a security enhancing product that is new and unique and you would like to be considered to brief NSA's technical directors in IA, IT and/or SIGINT, contact the NCSC at IST@nsa.gov.
Contract Data Requirements List	CDRL	The Contract Data Requirements List (CDRL) is a list of authorized data requirements for a specific procurement that forms a part of the contract. It is comprised of either a single DD Form 1423, or a series of DD Forms 1423 (individual CDRL forms) containing data requirements and delivery information. The CDRL is the standard format for identifying potential data requirements in a solicitation, and deliverable data requirements in a contract.	The purpose of the CDRL is to provide a standardized method of clearly and unambiguously delineating the Government's minimum essential data needs. The CDRL groups all of the data requirements in a single place rather than have them scattered throughout the solicitation or contract.
Contracting Officer’s (Technical) Representative	COR / COTR	An individual designated and authorized in writing by the contracting officer to perform specific technical or administrative functions.	Often confused as being common deities, COR's and COTR's are in fact human and it is well worth developing constructive (as opposed to adversarial) relationship with them.
Contractor Position Roster Log	CPRL	A listing of a company's pre-adjudicated and cleared personnel including key management personnel (KMP), business development personnel, and employees ----- A CPRL is actually generated PER PROGRAM. There is a separate CPRL kept for KMP's, BD and certain administrative staff.
Data Universal Numbering System	DUNS Number	The Data Universal Numbering System, abbreviated as DUNS or D-U-N-S is a system developed and regulated by Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) which assigns a unique numeric identifier to a single business entity. It is recognized, recommended and/or required by more companies and agencies than any other tracking system.	U.S. government agencies require that a vendor have a DUNS number as well as a U.S. employer identification number. The federal government requires organizations to provide a DUNS number as part of their grant applications and proposals. There is no charge to obtain a DUNS number. Visit http://www.dnb.com/US/duns_update/ for more information.
DCAA Approved	n/a	The Defense Contracts Audit Agency has reviewed and approved the contractor's government rates. ------- In terms of an "approved" accounting system, a company can use QUICKBOOKS amongst others - many "acceptable" - approving the rates, however, is quite another matter.	Many contractors think that having a DCAA approved accounting system in place means their rates are DCAA Approved. This is incorrect. While a DCAA Approved accounting system is necessary, it is not sufficient. To be DCAA Approved, a contractor OFTEN - but not always if they are a subcontractor - must undergo a DCAA audit that will review all the contractor's underlying cost, overhead, and profit components. Once the audit is complete and the rates approved by DCAA, then the contractor is DCAA Approved.
Defense Contract Audit Agency	DCAA	For contractors other than educational institutions and nonprofit organizations, the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) is normally the agency responsible for performing Government contract audits. (FAR 42.101(b))	DCAA needs to be treated with respect and a sense of urgency as they can make your life extremely difficult if disrespected.
Earned Value Management System / Standard	EVMS	Industry developed set of 32 standards adopted for use by DoD in 1996 for evaluation of contractor management systems. A listing of the standards is contained in DoD 5000.2-R. The EVMS replaced the Cost/Schedule Control Systems Criteria (C/SCSC), which co	EVMS is the latest trendy requirement in most Federal RFP's. The contractor needs to have a program manager with EVMS experience to generate the numerous periodic reports required by EVMS.
Federal Acqusition Regulations	FAR	The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) is the principal set of rules in the Federal Acquisition Regulation System. This system consists of sets of regulations issued by agencies of the Federal government of the United States to govern what is called the Federal Acquisition Process.	The purpose of the FAR is to provide "uniform policies and procedures for acquisition." When a government agency issues a contract or a proposal, it will specify a list of FAR provisions that apply to that contract, which may be numerous. In order to be awarded a contract, a bidder must either comply with the provisions, demonstrate that it will be able to comply with them at the time of award, and/or claim an exemption from them.
Firm Fixed Price	FFP	A price that is not subject to any adjustment on the basis of the contractor’s cost experience in performing the contract. This type of contract places upon the contractor maximum risk and full responsibility for all costs and resulting profit or loss.	The executive who agrees to bid an FFP contract has already lost all his own money in Las Vegas and now he wants to lose his company's money. --- As we see them coming out today, however, they are often FFP/LOE or Level of Effort……a totally different animal. Even with FFP alone, a good PM can get new work with new labor categories with higher rates to recover from the initial rates adjustment.
Government Property Contracting Officer's Representative	GP COR	The primary responsibility of the Government Property COR will be to monitor Contractor performance related to asset management, to ensure full property accountability. Government property includes both Government Furnished Property (GFP) and contractor-acquired property.	The Agency individual appointed for a contract to monitor Contractor performance directly regarding GFP/CAP processes, equipment disposition, as well as inventory management, reconciliation, and reporting
Incumbent	n/a	The contractor or contractor team performing the duties for an existing contract.	If you are not the incumbent, then you need to know what the Client likes or dislikes about the incumbent and whether or not the new RFP will allow the incumbent to bid. Can the incumbent bid directly as a prime, or will they have to be a sub-contractor to one or several qualified primes. If you are an incumbent, then you are at severe risk if you asssume you will win merely by being the incumbent.
Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity Contract	IDIQ	An indefinite delivery contract that provides for an indefinite quantity, within stated limits (minimum and maximum), of supplies or services to be furnished during a fixed period, with deliveries or performance to be scheduled by placing orders with the contractor. (FAR 16.504(a))	The contractor who has an IDIQ contract has a license to walk the halls of the contracting agency and hunt for business. Most contractors fail to commit the proper business development (BD) resources required to win task orders under an IDIQ once the IDIQ has been awarded. When a company decides to bid on an IDIQ, they also need to budget and commit the commensurate BD resources required to win tasks orders or else they shouldn't bid on the IDIQ. Winning an IDIQ earns no revenue, only winning task orders wi
North American Industry Classification System	NAICS	Used for categorization purposes to provide a greater degree of detail about the type of economic or industrial output expected from a contract.	The contractor must be certified by the government to provide services under a specific NAICS code(s). If the contractor is not certified under a NAICS code required by an RFP, then the contractor may be able to find s teaming partner or sub-contractor who is certified under the specific NAICS code and submit a joint bid.
Organizational Conflict of Interest	OCI	Because of other activities or relationships with other persons, a person (company) is unable or potentially unable to render impartial assistance or advice to the Government, the person’s (company's) objectivity in performing the contract work is or might be otherwise impaired, or a person (company) has an unfair competitive advantage. (FAR 9.501)	Occasionally a competitor who is already performing work for the client under a different procurement will find they have an OCI and cannot bid on additional work within the client agency. This frequently happens when a company is performing services for the client's program management office (PMO). When a company has an OCI, then they cannot bid on the procurement.
Past Performance Information	PPI	Relevant information, for future source selection purposes, regarding a contractor’s actions under previously awarded contracts. It includes, for example, the contractor’s record of conforming to contract requirements and to standards of good workmanship; the contractor’s record of forecasting and controlling costs; the contractor’s adherence to contract schedules, including the administrative aspects of performance; the contractor’s history of reasonable and cooperative behavior and commitment to customer	More often then not, an RFP seek relevant PPI from a bidder, which often deems relevant PPI to be only work performed in the past three fiscal years.
Provisional Industrial Security Approval Sponsorship Program	PISA	PISA facilitates classified discussions on products, services, technologies and capabilities of interest and benefit to the NSA to satisfy current and potential agency needs and foster a broad and diverse industrial base that meets the Agency's small business contracting goals.	PISA (part of the Industry Outreach and Facilitiation Office) increases the ability to access and talk to agency personnel on a classified level by allowing companies to conduct classified marketing discussions and clear business development personnel. PISA minimizes the timeframe for a company to start working on an Agency contract by reducing the time required to obtain the required facility clearances and provides the venue for holding personnel clearances so workers are cleared to work upon contracts.
Red Team Review	n/a	Review to evaluate the proposal for customer focus, completeness and clear communication of the win strategy and solution by people who are independent of the proposal team and offer different perspectives, typically by experts on the prospect, the prospect’s industry, competitors, the organization, technology, approach, and on preparing and presenting winning proposals.	Most red team reviews suffer from being unstructured resulting in loss of valuable feedback. Many red team reviewers fail to properly prepare for red team meetings, and all too often the schedule leading up to the red team review slips, preventing inadequate preparation for the red team review. The end result is a poor quality proposal and many wasted bid and proposal dollars.
Request for Information	RFI	A customer document often used at an early stage in procurement in order to create a list of bidders who will later be invited to submit a bid or proposal.	Also commonly known as a Market Survey, RFIs can be used by the government to determine the number of interested bidders and/or whether there a potential bidders who possess the capabilites to meet the government's requirements.
Request for Proposal	RFP	Announcement soliciting applicants for specific projects, topics of research, products to be delivered, or other specified services.
Request for Quotation	RFQ	A solicitation used in negotiated acquisition to communicate government requirements to prospective contractors and to solicit a quotation. A response to an RFQ is not an offer, however, it is informational in character. Commonly used under simplified acquisition procedures.
Technical Recommendation	n/a	A Technical Recommendation is a justification written and submitted by an Agency Office Level Chief, Deputy Chief, or Technical Director and provides justification for the Industry Outreach and Facilitation Office to consider a company for PISA.	Obtaining a Technical Recommendation (TR) is one step required to be completed prior to a company being accepted in to the PISA Program. The company may not write any portion of the TR. Agency sponsors for the TR can obtain information and guidance for the TR via the Agency intranet by going to "go PISA."
Top Secret Sensitive Compartmented Information	TS / SCI	An SCI clearance refers to methods of handling certain types of classified information that relate to specific national-security topics or programs whose existence may not be publicly acknowledged, or the sensitive nature of which requires special handling.	A TS/SCI clearance means virtually guaranteed employment for the holder. TS/SCI is typically the minimum clearance required to work with the three-letter government agencies. While the Client frequently requires TS / SCI, they will often accept personnel with TS clearable to SCI.