Government Contracts & Investigations

SEPTEMBER 25, 2023

Welcome back to the Cost Corner, where we provide practical insight into the complex cost and pricing requirements that apply to Government Contractors. 3] TINA defines cost or pricing data to mean all facts that, as of the relevant date, a prudent buyer or seller would reasonably expect to affect price negotiations significantly. [4]

Negotiation 98

Negotiation Price Government Contracts IT 98

Federal News Network

FEBRUARY 16, 2024

You can't be asking for the American taxpayer to make even greater public investments while you continue, in some cases, to goose your stock prices through stock buybacks, deferring promised capital investments," Del Toro said. Mace probes GSA about purchases of prohibit technology - Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) Nancy Mace (R-S.C.))

Purchasing 113

Purchasing Electronics Networking Collaboration 113

American City & Country

SEPTEMBER 18, 2024

When local governments purchase technology, it’s crucial they understand the unique constraints and responsibilities they face. Here are a few more skills Cunningham feels belong on the IT purchasing team: project management, financial analysis and communication skills.

Purchasing 110

Purchasing Total Cost of Ownership Government Government 110

ivalua

FEBRUARY 10, 2023

This in turn can lead to suppliers raising prices or refusing orders altogether due to not being able to meet demand at the agreed price point – all resulting in negative impacts for both parties involved. Unchecked inflation can not only damage profitability and hinder growth opportunities but also impact long-term success.

Price 105

Price Supply Chain Supplier Procurement Team 105

American City & Country

AUGUST 28, 2024

This report encouraged governments big and small to improve the “environment content” of their purchasing policies. As environmental issues have become more important to governments and administrations within the last few decades, it has gotten easier to identify ways to leverage purchasing to support these goals.

Purchasing 97

Purchasing Sustainability E-procurement Procurement 97

SmallGovCon

DECEMBER 20, 2024

Funding lapses interrupt the usual predictability of government operations, which harms both agencies and federal contractors that are left in limbo with stop work orders. Unfortunately, unlike many other topics, the FAR has little say when it comes to procedures for contractors to follow during or following a government shutdown.

Government 105

Government Government Contract Government Contracts 105

Federal News Network

NOVEMBER 20, 2024

So the Rule of Two requires federal agencies to set aside procurements for small businesses where there’s a reasonable expectation that at least two small businesses will be able to submit offers at fair market prices and otherwise competitive in terms of quality and delivery. Just give us a quick background on it. Tom Temin: OK.

Thresholds 105

Thresholds Participation Procurement Contract 105

AWS Public Sector

SEPTEMBER 26, 2024

The best part of these conversations is their delight when they see the consolidated purchasing analytics. They might even haggle over prices if they’re buying a large amount of an item, but the organizer of the market never gets involved in this negotiation. The answer is: no, AWS is not a software reseller.

IT 78

IT Buyers Contract Procurement Team 78

Federal News Network

DECEMBER 3, 2024

The micro-purchase threshold, the simplified acquisition threshold, the 8(a) sole source contract ceiling and several other similar acquisition limits are likely to increase in 2025. Protests of contracts went down last fiscal year. And the oversight and accountability of subcontracting efforts by prime contractors is getting more scrutiny.

Thresholds 93

Thresholds E-procurement Accountability Procurement 93

American City & Country

NOVEMBER 18, 2024

Competitive Pricing and Cost Savings Procurement teams are always looking for ways to stay within budget while maximizing the value of their contracts. By utilizing OMNIA Partners, organizations can secure competitive pricing on security and safety solutions without sacrificing quality.

Procurement 58

Procurement Procurement Team Supplier Quality 58

Oxford College of Procurement and Supply

JANUARY 9, 2024

As a procurement professional one of your main objectives will be achieving value for money on purchases. One way to reach this objective is to focus on the cost of acquisition rather than the price of acquisition. Price and cost are often terms that are used interchangeably but in reality, the terms are quite different.

Price 59

Price Supplier Quality Procurement 59

Redstone Government Consulting

NOVEMBER 15, 2023

If you are selling products/services under FAR 15 based contracts or subcontracts, submitting certified cost and pricing data and documenting other accounting and purchasing requirements that come along with it, when the products/services technically meet the definition of commercial under the FAR – it may be time to rethink your approach.

Price 105

Price Purchasing Accountability Data 105

The Coalition for Government Procurement

MARCH 14, 2025

The VA has made steady and significant progress in the management and operation of its prime vendor distribution contract and Supply Blanket Purchase Agreements (BPA) for the Medical/Surgical Prime Vendor (MSPV) program. These products represent higher volume items that are purchased by medical treatment facilities across the VA.

Supply Chain 49

Supply Chain Purchasing Transparency Price 49

AWS Public Sector

JUNE 27, 2024

The Department of the Navy (DoN) modified its blanket purchase agreement (BPA) with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to provide U.S. AWS account holders under the Navy BPA must first establish the required centralized purchasing controls for their organization’s contracting officer prior to getting started with AWS Marketplace.

IT 83

IT Centralized Purchasing Purchasing Accountability 83

Federal News Network

SEPTEMBER 24, 2024

million to settle allegations that it misrepresented their commercial pricing practices and overcharged the government on VMware software products and related services purchased under the General Services Administration schedule. Carahsoft has dealt with charges of violating the False Claims Act previously.

Collusion 144

Collusion Price Bidding Demand 144

FedScoop

MAY 15, 2024

And all it does is that any kind of contract or [blanket purchase agreement] led against the GSA schedule, cloud special item number, is firm fixed price.” “GSA has stepped in and created this special ordering procedure,” Jentsch said during the event. Gary Peters, D-Mich.,

Procurement 114

Procurement Product Management Purchasing Price 114

American City & Country

OCTOBER 29, 2024

The district recently used cooperative purchasing to enhance its school environment with outdoor seating areas—a move that reflects both the district’s financial responsibility and focus on student well-being. Why Cooperative Purchasing?

Purchasing 58

Purchasing Finance Education Bidding 58

SmallGovCon

JUNE 19, 2024

The Buy American Act “[r]estricts the purchase of supplies, that are not domestic end products, for use within the United States” unless an exception applies. The Buy American Act “[r]estricts the purchase of supplies, that are not domestic end products, for use within the United States” unless an exception applies.

Price 105

Price Government Contracts Manufacturing Purchasing 105

ivalua

NOVEMBER 10, 2021

OMNIA Partners combines the purchasing power of its members to enable better pricing and service levels from suppliers, increasing an organization’s buying power and accelerating the time to savings. OMNIA Partners is the largest and most experienced purchasing organization for public and private sector procurement.

Purchasing 52

Purchasing Supplier Negotiation Sustainability 52

Federal News Network

SEPTEMBER 19, 2024

We generally negotiated those pricing and terms and conditions with our contracting officers. The cool thing too, is that we used to run separately a pricing compliance report and we’re actually running this report before the vendors even submit their modification.” And so we relaxed that to one process.

Procurement 110

Procurement Purchasing Price Negotiation 110

Federal News Network

JANUARY 24, 2025

Embrace dynamic pricing models that leverage competition from the commercial market. There simply needs to be greater flexibility in pricing to meet customer demand across the federal market. Static pricing ultimately hinders competition and reduces value for customer agencies.

Efficiency 52

Efficiency Procurement Government Government 52

AWS Public Sector

MARCH 19, 2024

Organizations traditionally emphasize pricing to control costs when selecting vendors. This approach works for purchasing commoditized hardware but falls short for assessing cloud solutions. Why can’t we just focus on price? Many recognize the value of the cloud but are hesitant to abandon familiar legacy systems.

Procurement 80

Procurement IT Price Sustainability 80

Select GCR

DECEMBER 10, 2024

Key Takeaways Understand the unique decision-making dynamics and purchasing policies of government buyers to tailor your offerings and build strong relationships. Government buyers operate under strict purchasing policies designed to ensure accountability and compliance in their procurement processes.

Government 52

Government Government Buyers Government Contracts 52

Federal News Network

JULY 12, 2024

The BAA, however, is a price evaluation preference, which means if the price of a Chinese product is low enough, the federal government will buy that product. For large business offerors, the price preference added to non-domestic offers is 20%, and for small business offerors, it is 30%.

Supply Chain 95

Supply Chain Price Telecommunication Purchasing 95

Public Contracting Institute

NOVEMBER 20, 2024

A Blanket Purchase Agreement (“BPA”) is a “simplified method filling anticipated repetitive needs for supplies or services by establishing ‘charge accounts’ with qualified sources of supply. BPA’s may only be used for purchases that are otherwise authorized by law or regulation. FAR 13.303-1(a). Crewzers Fire Crew Transp.,

Purchasing 52

Purchasing Consulting Government Contracts Contract 52

GovSpend

FEBRUARY 27, 2025

On February 5, 2025, the Council of the District of Columbia discussed their recent purchase of Salesforce and the hope to transfer data and start using the new software in August of 2025. Spending & POs give you historical purchasing data down to the line item, enabling you to price your services competitively.

Budget 59

Budget Competitive Bidding Purchasing Accountability 59

Capital Edge Consulting

MAY 10, 2024

Two Quick Ways to Fail DCAA T imekeeping Requirements The federal government is the biggest purchaser of goods and services, so it's important that you have a good grip on your accounting practices. Inadequate recordkeeping can lead to low rankings in an audit or even worse: loss of contract. Are Floor Check Audits Going Virtual?

Price 52

Price Government Contracts Government Government 52

Oxford College of Procurement and Supply

JANUARY 29, 2024

The benefits of sourcing from overseas include factors such as: Access to a wider market Access to expertise and technology Lower prices If you read last month’s blog you will have discovered or been reminded of understanding the importance between price and cost. What effect will this have on the company’s carbon footprint?

Global Sourcing 59

Global Sourcing IT Supplier Price 59

ivalua

MARCH 18, 2021

The Strategic Sourcing modules of Ivalua allow Punch Powertrain buyers to define Purchasing needs collaboratively, consolidate the tendering documents and ease costing by suppliers (cost breakdown files, dialogue with the projects on technical feasibility).

Strategic Sourcing 98

Strategic Sourcing E-auction Automotive Total Cost of Ownership 98

Public Contracting Institute

OCTOBER 3, 2024

The Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (SBJA), Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 8.405-5, and the setting aside of General Services Administration (GSA) Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) Schedule Orders ? Schedule contracts provide for an extensive volume of competitive cost/price offerings. agency-specific vehicles—IDVs, GWACs, etc.

Purchasing 52

Purchasing Thresholds Price Accountability 52

Public Contracting Institute

OCTOBER 3, 2024

The Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (SBJA), Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 8.405-5, and the setting aside of General Services Administration (GSA) Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) Schedule Orders? Schedule contracts provide for an extensive volume of competitive cost/price offerings. agency-specific vehicles—IDVs, GWACs, etc.

Purchasing 52

Purchasing Thresholds Price Accountability 52

SmallGovCon

APRIL 15, 2024

The Rule of Two is the federal contracting rule requiring agencies to set aside a solicitation for competition only between small businesses when there are at least two small businesses that could do the work for a fair price. But that rule does have some exceptions. Read on to find out. First, a primer on SBA’s Rule of Two. Simple, right?

Thresholds 110

Thresholds Price Bidding Purchasing 110

ivalua

MARCH 27, 2019

Ivalua’s suite will enable the strengthening of internal collaboration between the various Group Procurement entities around the world by industrializing and improving reliability of the Chemicals Price List Publication processes. With Ivalua, we have a unique and reliable tool to pool all the resources that contribute to making a purchase.

Purchasing 9

Purchasing Supplier Price Collaboration 9

ivalua

MAY 30, 2023

By ensuring that the right goods and services are purchased at the right price and delivered on time, procurement can help to ensure that a company or organization achieves its goals. With streamlined processes, purchasing products and services becomes faster, cheaper, and more efficient.

Procurement 19

Procurement Supply Chain Eprocurement Manufacturing 19

Great Government Through Technology

AUGUST 19, 2024

By centralizing our engagement processes and encouraging industry to view government agencies as “one customer,” we are ensuring that all government agencies, large and small, benefit from the best possible terms and prices, avoiding the inefficiencies of fragmented and duplicative contract terms.

Procurement 52

Procurement IT Government Government 52

ivalua

JANUARY 13, 2021

– Spend control through real-time visibility into budget consumption, negotiated prices, preferred suppliers, engagement channels. Think about all the users (requisitioners, approvers) of a P2P process and the amount of time they spend purchasing if the process is inefficient. A typical example is purchase order (PO) updates.

Eprocurement 94

Eprocurement E-procurement Supplier Purchasing 94

GovSpend

FEBRUARY 20, 2024

At GovSpend, we continuously receive purchase order data with line-item detail from over 30K state and local agencies and public school systems. I know what you’re thinking: Another post about AI and how it’s game-changing and if you’re not using it all day every day for everything you do, you’re miles behind the competition.

Purchasing 101

Purchasing Budget Data Price 101