Federal Contracts Training Center

When negotiating contracts, federal government agencies rely heavily upon cost accounting data to determine acceptable pricing from contractors and subcontractors. To guarantee contract success, you need to make sure your accounting practices comply with the standards and guidelines for cost accounting set by the Cost Accounting Standards Board. The Cost Accounting Standards Guide gives you everything you need to know to do it right.

Subscribe today to:

• Ensure your contract complies with federally mandated standards
• Equitably compare proposals with actual costs
• Get the full text of Cost Accounting Standards Board Regulations with prefaces
• Research any subject, topic, case, or document related to cost accounting standards quickly and easily
• Stay informed of new developments with regular updates
• Learn how the boards and courts have interpreted the standards
• Get "plain English" analyses and explanations from CCH experts

Features and Benefits

An integral part of the negotiation process - The diversity of cost accounting systems used by contractors can make it difficult for procuring agencies to evaluate proposals and determine fair payments to contractors. To level the playing field, Congress established the Cost Accounting Standards Board. Part of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP), the Board promulgates guidelines for uniformity and consistency in cost accounting practices for contract proposals, cost accumulating and reporting.

Ensure compliance with the Cost Accounting Standards Guide - To avoid penalties for compliance failure, both contractors and subcontractors are required to follow the prescribed standards for the length of their contracts. The Board also requires that a cost accounting disclosure statement be filed by prospective and current government contractors. The Cost Accounting Standards Guide gives you information that will assist you in establishing consistent accounting practices for all phases of your costs during performance of the contract, as well as file the disclosure statement. It also helps procurement professionals equitably compare proposals with actual costs, and maintain financial control throughout the contract.

Find one-stop coverage of the entire body of law related to cost accounting - This comprehensive guide delivers much, much more than just the Board Regulations. For one low annual fee, you get virtually every document related to cost accounting for federal contracts, including:

• Full text of Cost Accounting Standards Board (CASB) Regulations
• Pertinent portions of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR)
• Supplemental regulations of relevant agencies including the Defense Federal Acquisition Supplement (DFARS)
• Opinions and interpretations issued by the CASB
• Decisions of Boards of Contract Appeals and courts relating to cost accounting standards disputes. These are full-text cases complete with detailed analysis and expert explanations!
• Full text of the OFPP Act, Truth in Negotiations Act, the Freedom of Information Act and other related legislation
• DCAA Contract Audit Manual, Chapter 8, which provides insight into how government auditors interpret Cost Accounting Standards
• Topically organized explanations, annotations and administrative guidance

Keep informed of important developments with monthly updates - To make sure you always have the most recent information at your fingertips, your subscription to Cost Accounting Standards Guide provides monthly updates on:

• New regulations affecting cost accounting standards
• Board activities: new proposals, public responses, and official minutes
• Current interest rates used for cost accounting purposes
• Annual benchmark compensation amounts for senior executives
• New decisions of Boards of Contract Appeals and courts interpreting Cost Accounting Standards, and their application and practice
• Miscellaneous news items as they are promulgated, issued, enacted or decided

Plus, a monthly Report Letter summarizes significant new developments and provides authoritative guidance from the experts at CCH.

Research quickly and easily with helpful finding devices - Cost Accounting Standards Guide includes these helpful tools for easy access to all contents of the Guide:

• Topical Indexes by subject, including cross-references to related subjects. The Indexes also include references to the explanations and their annotations
• Finding Lists for the text of regulations and statutes--listed both by U.S. Code title and section and by statute number
• Case Table listing court and administrative decisions
• New Developments division, which also provides back references to the explanations and annotated materials
• Cumulative Index listing current related material contained in the New Developments division
• Topical Index to New Developments