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January 7, 2015 By AMK

Here are the most popular government contracting topics of 2014

News items on The Academy’s web site were read more than 34,000 times last year.  What were the most-read articles of 2014?   Listed below are the top 15 most popular news stories, with each one hyper-linked to the original article:

  1. Negotiating rules and the bargaining process
  2. What is simplified acquisition?
  3. Interagency acquisition and GWACs explained, related resources identified
  4. New workshop makes GSA Schedule proposal possible in as little as two days
  5. COs must verify WOSB/EDWOSB status independent of SAM info
  6. DoD acquisition workforce ordered to take ethics training annually
  7. Authority for modifying a contract
  8. Sham charged in $1.2 million veteran business fraud
  9. How to cut costs and improve performance
  10. Course is essential to understanding small business contracting rules
  11. Reverse auctioneer FedBid slammed by VA inspector general
  12. Course for contracting officer’s representatives provides timely and relevant information
  13. VA contracting official resigns amid agency’s attempt to fire her
  14. A bold approach to transforming IT acquisition
  15. FAR course conveniently offered in weekly modules

And what were the most popular topics viewed on The Academy’s web site during 2014?  They are listed below, each hyper-linked to corresponding resources:

  1. Government Contracting News
  2. Lowest Cost Technically Acceptable
  3. Army Corps of Engineers
  4. Better Buying Power
  5. Bribery
  6. System for Award Management (SAM)
  7. Fair and Reasonable Price
  8. Reverse Auctions
  9. Inherently Governmental Functions
  10. Kickback
  11. Bid Protest
  12. Fraud
  13. Acquisition Training
  14. Fixed Price
  15. Conflict of Interest

The popularity of the Contracting Education Academy’s web site continues to grow.  More than 16,000 individuals visiting the Academy’s site over 21,000 times — viewing 34,000 pages — during 2014.   

Keep visiting The Academy’s web site for the very latest news and information on government contracting — there is new content posted every business day!

 

Filed Under: Academy News Tagged With: Contracting Academy, Georgia Tech, government contracting, web resources

January 3, 2014 By AMK

Here are the most popular government contracting topics of 2013

News items on The Academy’s web site were read more than 34,000 times last year.  What were the most-read articles of 2013?   Listed below are the top 15 most popular news stories, with each one hyper-linked to the original article:

  1. COs must verify WOSB/EDWOSB status independent of SAM info
  2. What is simplified acquisition?
  3. Popular small business course scheduled to be repeated
  4. Contracting officers now able to set-aside contracts of any dollar amount to WOSBs 
  5. New workshop makes GSA Schedule proposal possible in as little as two days
  6. FAR course conveniently offered in weekly modules
  7. Boeing told to repay DoD after charging $2,286 for $10 part
  8. Government contracting courses for 2014 announced
  9. Interagency acquisition and GWACs explained, related resources identified
  10. Interior Dept. issues final rule guiding implementation of Buy Indian Act
  11. Prime contractors required to notify COs of failure to meet subcontracting goals
  12. Army seeks to expand public-private partnerships
  13. Army contracting personnel weren’t aware of contracting rule
  14. All acquisition laws to be scrubbed, says Pentagon official
  15. Trillion dollar government acquisition called ‘national scandal’  

And what were the most popular topics viewed on The Academy’s web site during 2013?  They are listed below, each hyper-linked to corresponding resources:

  1. Lowest Cost Technically Acceptable
  2. System for Award Management (SAM)
  3. Kickback
  4. Bid Protest
  5. Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB)
  6. Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA)
  7. Continuing Resolution
  8. Acquisition Training
  9. Bribery
  10. Inherently Governmental Functions
  11. Fair and Reasonable Price
  12. Reverse Auctions
  13. Fixed Price
  14. Sequestration
  15. Acquisition Strategy

The popularity of the Contracting Education Academy’s web site continued to grow in 2013, with 18,179 individuals visiting the Academy’s site over 23,000 times during the year.   This represents a 15 percent growth in visitor traffic compared to 2012.

Keep visiting The Academy’s web site for the very latest news and information on government contracting — there is new content posted every business day!

 

Filed Under: Academy News Tagged With: Contracting Academy, government contracting, web resources

May 12, 2011 By AMK

IRS delays contractor tax withholding

The Internal Revenue Service is pushing off an unpopular requirement that the government withhold a percentage of its payments to most contractors for tax purposes.

The final rule, published in Monday’s (5/9/2011) Federal Register, delays a mandate that federal, state and local governments with expenditures of more than $100 million withhold 3 percent of payments for products and services worth more than $10,000, including nonconfidential or classified contracts, grants to for-profit companies, and farm and Medicare payments. The requirement, scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2012, now will be delayed to apply to payments on new contracts made after Dec. 31, 2012. The rule will affect all contracts starting Dec. 31, 2013.

The requirement, included in the 2005 Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act to ensure that individuals and companies with outstanding tax debts do not receive new payments from the federal government, would closely mirror the withholding system on individual salaries and wages. The government would set aside 3 percent of the gross payments and the information and funds would then be transmitted to the IRS. At the end of the year, the amount withheld would be credited toward taxes owed.

Lawmakers earlier this year proposed repealing the controversial provision, and Obama administration officials in March expressed support for delaying the requirement while agencies prepare to implement the change.

Critics have suggested that the provision is unnecessarily burdensome during an economic downturn, noting that other measures exist to ensure contractor tax compliance.

“This is an 11th-hour quasi-reprieve from a temporary tax increase that would have eliminated jobs and helped only the IRS,” said Phil Bond, president and chief executive officer of TechAmerica, a technology-based trade association. “It is a scheme to force companies to pay taxes in advance and then wait for the IRS to send them a refund a year later. A one-year extension of the withholding and reporting requirements is a significant, positive development but far from a solution.”

Roger Jordan, vice president of government relations at the Professional Services Council, a contractor trade group, on Monday also applauded the delay but called the requirement itself “bad policy.”

“The withholding requirement would significantly reduce companies’ cash flow at a time when the current economic environment is already squeezing their ability to meet operating expenses,” he said. “While it’s appropriate to focus on how to ensure that any tax liabilities government contractors and other organizations owe are properly collected, other regulations have been implemented in recent years that effectively ensure contractors are meeting their tax obligations.”

– by Emily Long – GovExec.com – May 9, 2011 – at http://www.govexec.com/story_page_pf.cfm?articleid=47769&printerfriendlyvers=1

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: government contracting, IRS, tax liabilities, tax withholdings

February 25, 2011 By AMK

Contractors face more pain from government shutdown

If the government shuts down, the closings in the mid-1990s are not good indicators of what’s to come for government contractors.

Contractors would get hit harder today if agencies closed their doors than they were 15 years ago, said Alan Chvotkin, executive vice president and counsel for the Professional Services Council, an industry group.

Government spending on contracts has increased radically compared to the last shutdown, which stretched from Dec. 16, 1995, to Jan. 6, 1996.

And the government buys more services than products today. Contracting for services increased by 17 percent per year between 2000 and 2008, according to the Office of Management and Budget.

As a result, a shutdown would tear into service contractors’ pocketbooks. Services aren’t paid for when the contract is signed, Chvotkin said. They can be paid a number of different ways, from quarterly payments for their work to jobs done per day. Product sellers won’t be hit in the same way. They will face changes in when and where they would make their deliveries, but the government likely will have already paid the companies for products.

1995 is no guidepost for what could come very quickly, he said. There have even been major reorganizations in 15 years, including the addition of the Homeland Security Department that is made up of a conglomeration of numerous agencies.

“A lot is the same — but significantly different,” he said.

The Professional Services Council is hosting a conference on dealing with a possible shutdown. Chvotkin and two Clinton administration officials who served in the White House during the 1995 shutdowns will take part in a discussion Feb. 23 about the effect a government shutdown could have on the government contractor community.

“It’s a program we wish we didn’t have to have and give information that no one really needs,” he said. But “no one is going to be immune from the impact.”

 – by Matthew Weigelt – Federal Computer Week – Feb. 22, 2011

Filed Under: Government Contracting News Tagged With: budget cuts, continuing resolution, government contracting, government shutdown, OMB

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