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This part prescribes policies and procedures for assigning and performing contract administration and contract audit services.
(a) Agencies shall avoid duplicate audits, reviews, inspections, and examinations of contractors or subcontractors, by more than one agency, through the use of interagency agreements.
(b) Subject to the fiscal regulations of the agencies and applicable interagency agreements, the requesting agency shall reimburse the servicing agency for rendered services in accordance with the Economy Act (31 U.S.C. 1535).
(c) When an interagency agreement is established, the agencies are encouraged to consider establishing procedures for the resolution of issues that may arise under the agreement.
(a) For contractors other than educational institutions and nonprofit organizations, the cognizant Federal agency normally will be the agency with the largest dollar amount of negotiated contracts, including options. For educational institutions and nonprofit organizations, the cognizant Federal agency is established according to Subsection G.11 of OMB Circular A-21, Cost Principles for Educational Institutions, and Attachment A, Subsection E.2, of OMB Circular A-122, Cost Principles for Nonprofit Organizations, respectively.
(b) Once a Federal agency assumes cognizance for a contractor, it should remain cognizant for at least 5 years to ensure continuity and ease of administration. If, at the end of the 5-year period, another agency has the largest dollar amount of negotiated contracts, including options, the two agencies shall coordinate and determine which will assume cognizance. However, if circumstances warrant it and the affected agencies agree, cognizance may transfer prior to the expiration of the 5-year period.
(a) The auditor is responsible for—
(1) Submitting information and advice to the requesting activity, based on the auditor’s analysis of the contractor’s financial and accounting records or other related data as to the acceptability of the contractor’s incurred and estimated costs;
(2) Reviewing the financial and accounting aspects of the contractor’s cost control systems; and
(3) Performing other analyses and reviews that require access to the contractor’s financial and accounting records supporting proposed and incurred costs.
(b) Normally, for contractors other than educational institutions and nonprofit organizations, the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) is the responsible Government audit agency. However, there may be instances where an agency other than DCAA desires cognizance of a particular contractor. In those instances, the two agencies shall agree on the most efficient and economical approach to meet contract audit requirements. For educational institutions and nonprofit organizations, audit cognizance will be determined according to the provisions of OMB Circular A-133, Audits of Institutions of Higher Education and Other Non-Profit Institutions.
(a) As provided in agency procedures or interagency agreements, contracting officers may request audit services directly from the responsible audit agency cited in the Directory of Federal Contract Audit Offices. The audit request should include a suspense date and should identify any information needed by the contracting officer.
(b) The responsible audit agency may decline requests for services on a case-by-case basis, if resources of the audit agency are inadequate to accomplish the tasks. Declinations shall be in writing.
(a) DCAA maintains and distributes the Directory of Federal Contract Audit Offices. The directory identifies cognizant audit offices and the contractors over which they have cognizance. Changes to audit cognizance shall be provided to DCAA so that the directory can be updated.
(b) Agencies may obtain a copy of the directory or information concerning cognizant audit offices by contacting the—
Defense Contract Audit Agency
ATTN: CMO
Publications Officer
8725 John J. Kingman Road
Suite 2135
Fort Belvoir, VA 22060-6219.
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