Accounting, Cost & Pricing Issues in Government Contracting

Overview

Few areas are as fundamental to the government contracts industry as accounting, cost, and pricing.

For decades, our attorneys have guided government contractors through the ever-changing rules and regulations impacting how contractors are paid and maintain compliant internal controls and systems. From the cost principles to commercial item determinations, and from counseling to litigation, we bring a practical, business-oriented approach to resolving issues in this complex area.

How We Can Help

Blank Rome’s government contracts attorneys advise and represent contractors on the full range of accounting, cost, and pricing matters, including the cost principles, Cost Accounting Standards, contractor business systems, Truthful Cost or Pricing Data (f/k/a TINA) matters, proposal and incurred cost audits, government investigations, and cost and pricing issues arising in connection with bid protests and mergers and acquisitions. We have considerable experience handling negotiations and disputes with the Defense Contract Audit Agency, the Defense Contract Management Agency, Offices of Inspectors General, and the Department of Justice.

Our Successes

Representative examples of our experience successfully handling accounting, cost, and pricing issues include:

  • Saved $12 million in self-insurance costs questioned in a contracting officer’s final decision (“COFD”) on behalf of a specialized professional services provider. Our analysis led the government to withdraw the entire claim without litigation—and retroactively approve all questioned self-insurance costs—following our appeal to the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (“ASBCA”).
  • Secured favorable rulings in proceedings at the Court of Federal Claims and Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit regarding the application of CAS 413 (pension adjustments), where the government sought a refund of over $130 million tied to pension costs associated with the sale of two divisions of a major aerospace contractor.
  • Represented a publicly traded manufacturer of defense articles in successfully contesting several significant deficiencies identified during an accounting system audit performed pursuant to DFARS 252.242-7005. We prepared detailed submissions to the Contracting Officer detailing corrective actions that addressed any perceived system issues. Our advocacy led the government to rescind its deficiency findings without any payment withholdings.
  • Successfully settled for a fraction of the amounts originally sought costs questioned under a U.S. Agency for International Development contract for support to the agricultural sector in Iraq. We secured an early resolution of the dispute through alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”) proceedings mediated by a Board Judge at the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals.
  • Successfully represented a leading logistics provider in a contractor claim relating to millions of dollars of costs incurred on a contract in Afghanistan. We worked with the client’s Vice President of Contracts to negotiate a favorable settlement before the filing of the Rule 4 file in proceedings at the ASBCA.

What Sets Us Apart

  • Our nationally recognized Government Contracts practice includes a current Vice-Chair on the Accounting, Cost, and Pricing committee in the American Bar Association Section of Public Contract Law.
  • We actively follow emerging developments in this critical area and regularly speak and write on accounting, cost, and pricing subjects.
  • Our practice is widely recognized for our success in helping contractors resolve their most significant government contracts matters, including bid protests, claims, dispute resolution and litigation, government audits and investigations, False Claims Act (“FCA”) cases, mandatory disclosure issues, suspension and debarment, small business programs, and complex regulatory matters.

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