Government Contracting


Book Description

The second edition of Government Contracting: Promises and Perils picks up where the first edition’s mission left off: exposing fraud, incompetence, waste, and abuse (FIWA) and analyzing corruption, mismanagement, and ineptitude that defile government contracting. The first edition thoroughly outlined procurement throughout the contracting cycle including initial planning, contractor selection, contract administration, contract closeout, and auditing. This significantly revised new edition provides additional much-needed guidance on contracting documents, management tools, and processes for addressing negative influences on government contracting, including an improved approach to evaluating proposals. Specific guidance for avoiding FIWA is provided for government officials and employees, government agencies, and government contractors, and practical solutions to problems faced by individuals and organizations involved in government contracting are intended for both practitioner and pedagogical applications. The "Government Procurement Corruption Wall of Shame" that was introduced in the first edition to illustrate contracting perils such as conflicts of interest, duplicity, favoritism, incompetence, kickbacks, and protests is continued in the second edition, and cases illustrating the existence of FIWA in government contracting have been thoroughly updated. Contracting documents and contract management tools are provided on a website designed to accompany the book. Written at the graduate level and specifically intended for state, local, federal, and international government procurement activities, this textbook is required reading for public procurement, contract management, business, and public administrations courses.




Federal Contract Compliance Manual


Book Description




Administration of Government Contracts


Book Description

This unbiased analysis of statutes, regulations, and case law clarifies the complex rules of federal procurement policies, explaining the processes that government personnel and contractors must follow in every aspect of government contractingand—from inception to completion. Topics include contract administration and personnel, contract interpretation, risk allocation, changes, delays, pricing of adjustments, and much more.




Federal Acquisition


Book Description

Take the First Step Toward Building a Strong Foundation in Federal Acquisition! Federal Acquisition: Key Issues and Guidance is an essential guide to understanding and working within the complex world of federal government contracting. It offers brief but comprehensive explanations of the major phases and essential tasks in the contracting process. Written in a clear and easy-to-understand style, this resource provides the perfect foundation for building a thorough understanding of federal contracting. Author Paula Compton focuses on the most problematic areas of federal contracting, highlighting the deficiencies cited most often by the Government Accountability Office and Inspector General audits and reports, such as: • Not performing market research • Inadequate independent government cost estimates • Violation of the bona fide needs rule • Insufficient statements of work • Inadequate price or cost analysis Anyone new to government acquisition will find that reading this book is the ideal first step on the path to understanding the federal acquisition process. Seasoned contract professionals will find it an excellent quick review.







Contracting for Services in State and Local Government Agencies


Book Description

This second edition of Contracting for Services in State and Local Government Agencies provides state-of-the-art tools for best practice in the procurement of services at state and local levels, from initial stages through to completion. Including lively case studies and research conducted with state and local agencies across the United States, this book provides management advice and tips on compliance to reduce costs, select the best-qualified contractors, manage contractors’ performance, and prevent corruption and waste. Utilizing the results of new research in all fifty states, author William Sims Curry offers updated best-practice documents, methodologies, and templates including: a Request for Proposal (RFP), a scorecard for proposals to select the best-qualified contractor, a toolkit for meeting socioeconomic contracting goals without compromising price, quality, or on-time delivery, and a Model Services Contract (MSC). Special consideration is given to obtaining services and products in states of emergency. Several additional resources for practitioners are available online, including sample contracts and a straightforward, inexpensive tool for tracking contractors’ progress and cost management. The roadmap and templates contained in this book and available online to readers will prove essential to state and local government agency contracting professionals and other officials and employees called upon to participate in the drafting of solicitations, writing sole source justifications, writing scopes of work, serving on advance contract planning and source selection teams, recommending award of contracts, or assisting in the management of those contracts.




Getting Started in Federal Contracting


Book Description

Each year the Federal Government contracts for $500 billion worth of supplies and services from 650,000 contractors. To acquire all those supplies and services, the Federal Government and its contractors must comply with thousands of pages of regulations. Those regulations can be daunting for anyone: large businesses seeking to expand by entering the Federal market; employees new to Federal contracting; the Federal Government itself. Small businesses without dedicated staffs of contract experts find comprehending and complying with the Federal acquisition regulation particularly vexing. However, the rewards are great for those small businesses that master the "Federal procurement maze" - the Federal Government has set annual goals for awarding $100 billion in contracts to small businesses, $25 billion to women-owned businesses, $25 billion to minority-owned businesses, $15 billion to service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses, and $15 billion to small businesses in areas of high unemployment. For more than 30 years, GETTING STARTED IN FEDERAL CONTRACTING has been the standard reference for government contract information, guidance, and advice. Now, with this revised and expanded sixth edition, contracting professionals have the help, knowledge, and information they need to maneuver through the Federal procurement maze skillfully and successfully: An explanation of the key officials and what they do How to locate contracting opportunities Special "set-aside" programs for different types of small businesses Small business subcontracting goals for large businesses "Micro-purchase" procedures for purchases under $3,500 ($5,000 for the Department of Defense) Simplified procedures for purchases under $150,000 Invitations for Bids (IFB) and Requests for Proposals (RFP) Reverse auctions Different types of fixed-price and cost-reimbursement contracts Indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contracts Federal Supply Schedules Selling commercial supplies and services Selling foreign products Unique procedures for architect-engineering and construction contracts Labor laws Protests against contract awards Contract administration Filing claims Integrity and ethics rules Records retention requirements In addition, GETTING STARTED IN FEDERAL CONTRACTING includes a ample solicitation, forms, examples, key websites, abbreviations, glossary, and a detailed index.




Winning Government Contracts


Book Description

Winning Government Contracts shows you the way. It begins at the beginning, assuming no prior knowledge of the government marketplace and its sometimes complicated terminology. Written in a clear, easy-to-understand language by experienced sales and marketing professionals, this book takes you through the registration and bidding process step by step.