Guides
Evergreen explainers on how federal contracting actually works — certifications, contract types, protests, and compliance.
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Guides
The Unallowable Cost Rules Every Contractor Must Know
FAR Subpart 31.2 sets the four-part test for allowable costs and bars whole categories outright — entertainment, fines, lobbying, above-cap compensation — no matter how reasonable they look. Here is what the cost principles actually require before a contractor bills the government.
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Guides
FAR Part 45: Contractor Duties on Government Property
A guide to FAR Part 45 and clause 52.245-1: the property management system contractors must run for government-furnished property, liability rules for loss, and disposal requirements.
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Guides
CMMC's Four Certification Levels, Decoded
DFARS 252.204-7021 defines four CMMC statuses, not three tiers: Final Level 1, Final Level 2, Final Level 3, and a 180-day Conditional status. Here is what each requires and when contractors lose eligibility.
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Guides
Section L and M, Decoded: How FAR Structures a Bid
FAR 15.204-5 and FAR 15.304 set the rules for Section L instructions and Section M evaluation factors in negotiated solicitations, including the best-value-versus-price statement that decides how a proposal wins or loses.
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Guides
Task Order Protests: Why FAR's DoD Threshold Is Stale
FAR 16.505 still bars DoD task order protests below $25M, but the FY2025 NDAA raised the real statutory threshold to $35M — a $10M gap contractors relying on the FAR text alone will miss.
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Guides
Teaming Agreements vs. Joint Ventures: FAR 9.6
FAR Subpart 9.6 defines two ways companies pursue a federal contract together: a prime-subcontractor teaming agreement or a joint venture. The structural choice decides liability, small-business eligibility, and whether a promised subcontract is even enforceable.
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Guides
Filing an SBA Size Protest: The 5-Day Clock
A step-by-step guide to challenging a competitor's small-business status: who may protest under FAR 19.302, the strict five-business-day deadline, the specificity requirement, SBA's 15-day area-office decision, and the two appeal routes.
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Guides
Prompt Payment Act: When the Government Owes You Interest
Federal contractors are owed automatic interest when an agency pays late. This guide breaks down the 30-day due date, the 7-day constructive-acceptance rule, the Treasury interest rate, and the 40-day written demand that can double the penalty up to $5,000.
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Guides
DFARS Business Systems: What Disapproval Withholds
The six DFARS contractor business systems and the payment-withholding regime behind them: how a significant deficiency triggers a 5 percent hold, why a corrective action plan cuts it to 2, and what the 90-day clock forces the contracting officer to do.
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Guides
The Nonmanufacturer Rule: How Resellers Win Set-Asides
The nonmanufacturer rule at 13 CFR 121.406 lets a reseller that makes nothing win a small-business supply set-aside. Here are its four qualifying tests, the two waivers that override the U.S.-made requirement, and the dollar bands where the rule eases.
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Guides
CPSR Guide: $25M vs $50M Triggers and the 5% Withhold
A Contractor Purchasing System Review decides whether a company can buy from its own supply chain without Government consent. FAR 44.302 sets a $25 million civilian trigger, DFARS 244.302 a $50 million DoD trigger, and DFARS 252.242-7005 puts 5 percent of payments at stake.
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Guides
FAR Flowdowns: Which Clauses Subcontracts Must Carry
FAR 52.244-6(c)(1) lists the 24 clauses a prime must pass to commercial subcontractors, and DFARS 252.244-7000 bars DoD primes from flowing down anything else. A reference guide to the mandatory set, the conditional entries, and the prohibition that lets subcontractors push back on clause dumping.
