(a) Scope.

This section provides guidelines for—

(1) Monitoring the policies, procedures, and practices used by contractors to control direct and indirect costs related to Government business; and

(2) Eliminating duplication in Government monitoring of contractors' costs.

(b) Policy.

Effective management of contract costs is essential to the efficient and economical performance of Government contracts. Contractors are responsible for managing and controlling their direct and indirect costs; however, DoD must systematically monitor the management of contractors' costs to ensure these responsibilities are met.

(c) Responsibilities.

(1) Departments and agencies.

(i) Departments and agencies should conduct a formal program of Government monitoring of contractor policies, procedures, and practices for controlling costs (cost monitoring) at contractor locations where—

(A) Sales to the Government, as determined by the contract administration offices, during the contractor's next fiscal year are expected to exceed $200 million in contracts—

(1) Based on costs incurred; or

(2) Negotiated based on projected costs.

(B) The contract administration office determines the cost benefits derived from monitoring the individual contractors with less than $200 million in other than firm fixed-price and fixed-price with economic price adjustment contracts to be warranted; or

(C) Significant Government business exists and is specifically directed by the head of the contracting activity.

(ii) Departments and agencies are responsible for designating the cost monitoring sites and discontinuing them when the criteria are no longer met.

(2) Contract administration offices.

(i) Contract administration offices (CAOs), which are designated as cost monitoring sites, are responsible for—

(A) Assigning a cost monitoring specialist (CMS) to conduct the program. The CMS may be the administrative contracting officer (ACO) or any other CAO employee whose normal function relates to evaluation of contractor performance.

(B) Reviewing and approving the cost monitoring plan for the next fiscal year and the cost monitoring report from the concluding fiscal year.

(ii) The ACO is responsible for—

(A) In the absence of a CMS, ensuring completion of the CMS duties referenced in paragraph (iii) of this section;

(B) Considering review results in direct and indirect rate negotiations and contract negotiations;

(C) Ensuring the contractor implements corrective action recommended in the cost monitoring review reports; and

(D) Resolving disputes with the contractor regarding cost monitoring review findings, conclusions, or recommendations.

(iii) The CMS is responsible for managing the cost monitoring effort within the CAO and coordinating planned effort with the contract auditor. This includes—

(A) Preparing and maintaining an annual written cost monitoring plan for reviewing contractor operations (see paragraph (d));

(B) Maintaining an inventory of planned and completed CAO, Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA), and other Government reviews and audits in order to mitigate duplication of efforts;

(C) Monitoring contractor direct and indirect rates and factors during the year, making comparisons to historical actual costs and to contractor proposed or negotiated forward pricing rates and factors, and providing rate recommendations based on their analysis;

(D) Performing approved functional reviews of contractor activities, to include assisting Government personnel in obtaining access to pertinent contractor policies, procedures, and related data;

(E) Advising the ACO and CAO management of corrective action recommended to improve inefficient or uneconomical contractor conditions, policies, or practices, to include preparing, for the ACO's consideration when appropriate, a Notice of Intent to Disallow or Not Recognize Costs;

(F) Continuously tracking the status of recommendations made to the contractor concerning cost performance stemming from all Government reports;

(G) Keeping the contracting officer, program manager, contract auditor, and other responsible officials informed of issues affecting economical contract performance;

(H) Maintaining current organizational charts of the operations identifiable to the contractor's functional centers of its cost control functions; and

(I) Preparing a final cost monitoring report summarizing all of the cost monitoring functions performed during the Government fiscal year.

(3) Audit and other organizations.

(i) The contract auditor is responsible for assisting the CMS by performing the portion of cost monitoring plan and related analyses that requires access to the contractor's financial and accounting records supporting the cost or pricing data. (This does not preclude the program manager, contracting officer, ACO, CMS, or other representatives from reviewing contractor records and data necessary to the performance of their duties.)

(ii) Audit organizations, program offices, contracting activities, and any other DoD organizations with responsibility for reviewing contractor operations for the purpose of monitoring contractor policies, procedures, and practices to control costs, shall submit to the CMS—

(A) An annual schedule of planned and tentative visits, oversight reviews, and audits to be performed at cost monitoring locations; and

(B) Revisions to scheduled visits or audit plans, within 30 days of issuance.

(d) Annual cost monitoring plan.

(1) Description.

The annual cost monitoring plan is a strategy for monitoring, reviewing, negotiating, and approving contractor’s direct and indirect rates, business systems, corrective actions to deficient processes, and cost controls by coordinating the capabilities of the CAO, DCAA, and other Government representatives in an effort to reduce unreasonable, erroneous, or improper costs to Government contracts.

(2) Contents of the plan.

(i) The plan should—

(A) Provide coverage for each significant activity of the contractor over a period of five to ten years;

(B) Provide coverage for contractor future years dependent on the period of forward pricing years the contractor proposes and the expected length of executed Government programs;

(C) Be updated to reflect changed conditions as the year progresses; and

(D) Be consistent with the approved schedule, and any deviations should be explained in the final cost monitoring report.

(ii) The plan must identify the organizations having the primary responsibility for performing the reviews.

(iii) The plan should include reviews required by the ACO and DFARS. Reviews will be performed by the assigned organization during the coordination phase of the cost monitoring plan, except when DFARS makes a specific organizational assignment. For example, Subpart 244.301 makes the ACO responsible for leading contractor purchasing system reviews and 215.407-5 -70(c)(3) makes the DCAA auditor responsible for leading estimating system reviews on behalf of the ACO.

(3) Selecting the activities.

(i) The CAO selects the activities for the cost monitoring plan. DCAA will complete its annual audit plan independently and communicate the approved audit plan to ensure the most effective monitoring approach. To ensure all Government interests are considered in the selection, the CMS should invite CAO, DCAA, and other interested Government representatives to a meeting before the beginning of each Government fiscal year to identify and prioritize the areas to be reviewed during the coming year, to ensure a fully communicated Government cost monitoring plan.

(ii) The selection team should consider the following data and assign primary responsibility in the selection process—

(A) Contractor forecasts for the coming years supporting direct and indirect costs by functional centers of its cost control system and the results of the latest survey performed of such systems;

(B) Organizational charts for the contractor's entire operation;

(C) Outline of the contractor's accounting system showing the flow of costs by function;

(D) Determination of Government participation in the dollars attributable to the operations and cost accounts under consideration;

(E) List of recent reviews and audits performed by CAO, DCAA, and other Government representatives; list should show outstanding weakness and deficiencies in the contractor's operations that will be considered for follow-up reviews or audits;

(F) Evidence of contractor under or over staffing;

(G) Significant departures from established contractor productivity standards;

(H) Major financial variances from forecasts in prior years;

(I) Evidences of idle or under-used capacity;

(J) Any visits or audit plans scheduled by other Government organizations and identified to the CMS; and

(K) Any other significant information or business changes which could have an adverse effect or cause a significant change to on the contractor’s management of contract costs.

(4) Prioritizing the plan.

(i) The CMS should prioritize the plan to review contractor activity by considering—

(A) The extent of competition in awarded contracts;

(B) The contractor's operating methods;

(C) The nature of the work;

(D) Acquisition cycle stage;

(E) Business and industry practices;

(F) Types of contracts involved;

(G) Degree of technical and financial risk;

(H) Previously reported findings and deficiencies;

(I) Ratio of Government/commercial work;

(J) Significant changes in the level (dollars) of the contractor’s work and backlog; and

(K) The extent performance efficiencies have been previously demonstrated.

(5) Plan approval and submission.

(i) The local DCAA office will provide an approved annual audit plan to the ACO within 30 days after the first day of each fiscal year.

(ii) The CMS will submit an adequate cost monitoring plan to the head of the local CAO within 45 days after the first day of each fiscal year.

(iii) The head of the local CAO, or designee, will approve the annual cost monitoring plan within 15 days of an adequate submission. The head of the local CAO will ensure that adequate coordination of the cost monitoring plan was performed with the DCAA and other responsible Government representatives.

(6) Reviews and analysis.

(i) Perform functional reviews and audits as scheduled in accordance with the cost monitoring plan.

(ii) Hold interim meetings with the contractor as necessary to clarify information. Hold an exit conference at the conclusion of reviews.

(iii) Prepare reports at the conclusion of reviews. The ACO will determine whether a Government review or audit report will be provided to a contractor based on specific regulatory requirements or the impact to pending negotiations or litigation.

(iv) Prepare periodic reports on the results of the CMS analysis and monitoring of the contractors rates and factors, which should address the causes for significant deviations from historical and negotiated forward pricing rates and factors.

(e) Annual cost monitoring report.

(1) Description.

The annual cost monitoring report is a culmination of the Government activities performed during the fiscal year in an effort to conduct and maintain a formal monitoring program of contractor policies, procedures, and practices for controlling costs charged to Government contracts.

(2) Contents of the report.

(i) The report should—

(A) Provide a brief introduction of the contractor and the products it provides to the Government;

(B) Summarize each review and audit completed during the reporting period along with any deviations from the cost monitoring plan;

(C) Highlight open deficiencies, corrected deficiencies, and any newly reported deficiencies; and

(D) Include the current status of all final, billing, and forward pricing rates.

(ii) The annual cost monitoring report is the primary responsibility of the CAO. Incorporate the final DCAA audit reports by summary and reference.

(3) Report approval and submission.

(i) The head of the local CAO, or designee, will approve the annual cost monitoring report within 60 days of the end of the Government fiscal year.

(ii) A copy of the approved report will be provided to the head of the local DCAA office within 15 days of approval.