Part 2: Project Labor Qualifications and Government Contracting Compliance
3-4-2016 | by Emily Sanders
For Part 1 of this blog series Project Labor Qualifications and Government Contracting Compliance, click here.
Consulting Agreements
A consulting agreement identifies the terms of relationship between a consultant and their client, whether that be an individual or a business. Such agreements are drafted to provide legal safeguards for all parties involved. Consulting agreements are efficacious in their ability to bring on specialized talent to projects of short duration while subverting the expense and overhead that comes with the hiring on of extra employees.
One of the most important factors of drafting and executing a consulting agreement is managing the range of involvement between parties i.e. exclusivity, type of work, terms of payment, ownership, etc..In order to facilitate the fluidity of proprietary information, many consulting agreements will contain confidentiality provisions like those mentioned in the preceding article.
DCAA Audits
The DCAA, Defense Contract Audit Agency, was established in 1965 to execute all contract audits for the Department of Defense. While the type of contract dictates the DCAA level of involvement, most of their efforts are toward firm-fixed price type contracts where the financial terms were discussed prior to the contract’s execution.
The five main areas of emphasis for the DCAA are: business systems, management methods and approach, efficiency and reliability of accounting systems, equitability of the contractor’s forward pricing and contractor compliance to policies of financial significance. The DCAA typically confines their audits to the pricing contracts that fall under the FAR Part 15: Processing by Negotiation and directs their level of involvement by the type of contract awarded.
DSS Audits
The DSS is the Defense Security Service. The DSS works as a liaison between the government and contractors to ensure that the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM) is being adhered to.
The DSS follows an 8 step process to perform these audits and confirm a company has Facility Clearance. Concord helps prepare and organize the necessary documents and information needed for DSS audits. Secure flawless integration of responsible parties and pertinent data by maintaining contracts on Concord’s online operating system. Audits become hassle and stress free when the information is already concentrated on one online portal for the requisite parties to access and review.
Concord’s Contract Management Platform
Concord Worldwide has revolutionized the way companies with multiple consultants manage their contracts. Concord uses an online operating system that provides a centralized location for all of your company’s contractual information.
Whether it be governing the extent of involvement between parties in a consulting agreement or providing a comprehensive history of a company’s contracts for audit, Concord provides a contract management system that will help you regulate and track your contract lifecycle.
Automate the contract process by joining Concord’s online contract organization system and take advantage of features like the e-signature, e-negotiation and comprehensive data privacy.
