The Rulebook That Arrives the Day You Outgrow Small: Cost Accounting Standards
Small businesses are exempt from Cost Accounting Standards, but that shield disappears as you grow or when you join CAS-covered work. What CAS is and…
4 min read
From the TIKC Advisory Team · Topic
Proposal & Procurement Insights
Proposal writing and procurement strategy for federal contractors: how to respond to RFPs and sources sought notices, contract types and pricing under the FAR overhaul, compliance matrices, win themes, and the bid decisions that build winning pipelines. Practical proposal and procurement insights from Team Integrity Knowledge Center.
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More in Proposal & Procurement Insights
Selling Products You Did Not Make: The Nonmanufacturer Rule and the Traps Inside It
You can win a small business supply set-aside without making the product, but only if you meet the nonmanufacturer rule. Miss a requirement and your…
4 min read
The Set-Aside Promise You Have to Keep: Limitations on Subcontracting
When you win a set-aside, you promise to perform a minimum share of the work yourself. Violate the limitations on subcontracting and you risk the…
4 min read
The Conflict That Can Lock You Out of Your Own Market: Impaired-Objectivity OCI for Advisory Firms
If your firm advises the government, an impaired-objectivity conflict can bar you from related work. Why advisory and services firms face the hardest OCI to…
4 min read
The End of the Price Reductions Clause: What GSA’s Move to Transactional Data Reporting Means
GSA is retiring the Price Reductions Clause and Commercial Sales Practices in favor of mandatory Transactional Data Reporting and Pricing 2.0. What Schedule holders must…
4 min read
The Six Systems the Government Grades: Business System Adequacy and Payment Withholds
DoD reviews contractor business systems, and a ‘significant deficiency’ can trigger payment withholds. What the six systems are and why adequacy protects your cash flow.
4 min read
The Audit That Comes Years Later: DCAA, Incurred Costs, and the Unallowable-Cost Trap
On cost-reimbursement and T&M work, DCAA can review your billed costs years after the fact. Charge an unallowable cost and the government wants it back…
4 min read
BREAKINGFederal Contracting News
SBA Moves to Reclassify 114,000+ Firms as ‘Small’ — Reshaping the Set-Aside Market
A sweeping SBA proposal would make roughly 114,541 more firms — including 37,000 existing contractors — qualify as small, transforming who competes for set-asides.
3 min read
You Can Be Disqualified for a Conflict You Don’t Have: The Appearance Standard
In federal contracting, the appearance of a conflict can cost you an award even without actual bias. Why optics are a compliance issue — and…
4 min read
When Your Partners Cost You Your Size: SBA Affiliation as a Hidden Conflict
SBA’s affiliation rules can combine your firm with its partners for size purposes — quietly making you ‘other than small.’ The relationships that help you…
4 min read
Defective Pricing: The Cost-Data Duty That Turns a Good Deal Into a Refund
On negotiated contracts, the Truth in Negotiations Act requires accurate, complete, and current cost data. Get it wrong and the government claws back the overpayment…
3 min read
The Certification That Can Sink You: Section 889, the 1260H List, and Your Supply Chain
Section 889 bars covered Chinese telecom and surveillance gear — and a false representation is FCA exposure. Now the 1260H List adds new deadlines. How…
4 min read