CPCM Flashcards
The statement “The probability of a delivery failure is only 10%, but the impact on our mission would be catastrophic” is an example of
Components of risk
the accounting codes that are created following the award of a contract?
They are used to track project performance; They distinguish between accounting categories with different overhead burdens; Use of the codes is necessary to comply with the law
Similar to a basic agreement, but may also include terms and conditions intended to describe the types of goods and services that may be ordered in the future, to define pricing methods that will apply, or to define ordering or delivery procedures
Basic ordering agreement
A type of contract that provides for payment of allowable incurred costs, to the extent prescribed in the contract.
Cost Reimbursement
General announcement of an agency’s research interests, including criteria for selecting proposals and soliciting the participation of all offerors capable of satisfying the agency’s needs
Broad agency announcement
A type of contract providing for a fixed hourly rate, including overhead and profit and material at cost plus handling charges; used when it is impossible to estimate schedule and costs at the time of contract award
Time-and-materials
A formal invitation to submit a price for goods and/or services as specified
Request for quotations (RFQ)
A document used to obtain price, delivery, other market information, or capabilities for planning purposes when the buyer does not presently intend to issue a solicitation.
Request for information
A formal invitation that contains a scope of work and seeks a formal response, describing both methodology and compensation, to form the basis of a contract
Request for Proposal (RFP)
The method of solicitation for the sealed bid process. This method must describe the requirements of the buyer clearly, accurately, and completely.
Invitation for bid (IFB)
A single buyer of a single item (or lot of items) receives decreasing offers from prospective sellers.
Reverse auction
The right of an employer to use, without payment of royalties, an invention conceived by an employee in the course of employment or through the use of the employer’s facilities if the employee was not hired to perform such work
Shop rights
That part of a contractor’s written plan for the development or production of an end item outlining the subsystems, major components, assemblies, subassemblies, and parts intended to be manufactured, test treated, or assembled by the seller and those the seller intends to procure from another source
Make-or-buy program
Business arrangement in which all elements of the transaction, including mutual assent, exchange of consideration, capacity to contract, and legal purpose, are determined and defined between the parties at the time of contract formation.
Sales contract
Includes inventions, trademarks, patents, industrial designs, copyrights, and technical information including software, data designs, technical know-how, manufacturing information and know-how, techniques, technical data packages, manufacturing data packages, and trade secrets
Intellectual property
A royalty-free, nonexclusive, and irrevocable license to reproduce, translate, publish, use, and dispose of written or recorded material, and to authorize others to do so
Copyright
Permits the usage of software, patents, trademarks, or technology by another entity without transferring ownership rights.
Licensing
A government grant of exclusive rights to an inventor that prohibits others from making, using, or selling an invention
Patent
A documented business arrangement in which the buyer and seller agree to use a performance work statement, performance- based metrics, and a quality assurance surveillance plan to ensure contract requirements are met or exceeded
Performance-based acquisition
A process between buyers and sellers seeking to reach mutual agreement on a matter of common concern through fact-finding, bargaining, and persuasion
Negotiation
A formal invitation to submit general and/or specific information concerning the potential future purchase of goods and/or services.
Request for information (RFI)
A buyer’s announcement of interest, including criteria for selecting proposals, and selecting offerors capable of meeting the requirements
Prequalification
A contracting approach under which the need for a system is satisfied in successive acquisitions of interoperable increments.
Modular contracting
A form of pricing that includes a ceiling beyond which the buyer bears no responsibility for payment
Fixed price
A contract that is definitive in all respects except pricing. The agreement or contract specifies a predetermined index, formula, or algorithm for the calculation of price at the point of sale
Framework pricing arrangement
A concept that establishes cost elements as management goals to achieve the best balance between life cycle cost, acceptable performance, and schedule; cost is a design constraint during the design and development phases
Design-to-cost
A cost-reimbursement type of contract with a provision for a fee that is adjusted by a formula in accordance with the relationship between total allowable costs and target costs
Cost-plus-incentive-fee contract
An explicit arrangement under which the seller bears some of the burden of reasonable, allocable, and allowable contract cost.
Cost sharing contract
A specific pricing arrangement, or combination of pricing arrangements, employed for the performance of work under the contract
Contract type
A contract that provides for a price that is not subject to any adjustment by reason of costs experienced by the seller in the performance of the contract
Firm fixed price contract
The contracted party tasked with fulfilling the requirement for goods and/or services
Seller
The method of solicitation for the sealed bid process.
Invitation for bids
An agent in a principal-agent relationship whose power and authority are limited to accomplishing a specific and limited assignment
Special agent
An agent in a principal-agent relationship provided with broad authority to act on behalf of the principal
Universal agent
An agency has just described its requirements for an acquisition. The contract manager begins reviewing historical information on similar prior acquisitions, contacting customers of potential sources for past performance information, and reviewing catalogs published by potential sources. What is the contract manager doing?
Performing market research
Under which of the following contract types does the contractor have the greatest incentive to control costs and perform effectively?
Firm fixed price
A brief statement of the goal to be achieved, the end product desired, or the basic purpose of a requirement is called what?
Objective
Which of the following contract types poses the most risk to the buyer?
Time and Materials
Patent, copyright, and trademark are forms of what?
Intellectual property
An extremely detailed SOW that describes the required materials, production processes, and specifications is a:
Design SOW
In which of the following cases would sealed bidding NOT be appropriate?
Discussions with the responding offerors will be necessary
A company is seeking new accounting software. That software must be compatible with already existing software the company uses for personnel management, etc. as well as existing IT equipment. Information about this compatibility requirement should likely be included in which section of the Acquisition Plan?
Conditions or constraints
Property acquired by the buyer under the terms of a contract is called what?
Owner property
What would a contracting professional find at https://sam.gov?
The System for Award Management
GSA directs and manages a series of prenegotiated IDIQ contracts that can be used by authorized sources to issue orders for required goods or services. What are these contracts called?
Federal Supply Schedules
What two elements of the Statement of Work explain how the quantity, quality, frequency, or other appropriate measures of the seller’s work effort will be evaluated?
Performance standards and reporting requirements
Which of the following is a recommended practice when using incentive contracts?
Use a combination of positive and negative incentives
Which of the following describes a fixed-price redetermination (prospective) contract?
The contractor is paid a sum of $500,000 for the first 12 months of work on the contract and then agrees to a price of $700,000 for the next 12 months of the contract
The need for solicitation planning occurs
once a need or requirement has been identified.
Which of the following contract types poses the most risk to the seller?
Firm Fixed Price
The Pre-Award competency is divided into two “domains.” Which of these is the domain of the seller?
Develop offer
Which of the following is true of an RFQ?
The RFQ may be followed by a purchase order that is an offer by the buyer
Which of the following is a difference between a Request for Quotations and a Request for Proposals?
An RFQ is not an offer
Which of the following contract types establishes a price that is not subject to any adjustment based on the contractor’s actual cost to perform the contract?
Firm fixed price
Negotiating contract type and negotiating prices are closely related and should be considered together. What is the objective this should achieve?
Imposing a reasonable risk on the seller while incentivizing efficient, economical performance
Which of the following is true about how contract types allocate risk between buyer and seller?
The contract type with the most risk to one party has the least risk for the other party
What is the purpose of the SOW?
To provide potential offerors with a complete understanding of the requirement
Which of the following lists of contract types is in order from least to greatest buyer risk?
Cost plus incentive fee, cost plus award fee, time and materials
Which of the following is not a type of Indefinite Delivery Contract?
Indefinite Requirements
A simple, straightforward, low-dollar-value acquisition may not require what?
A written acquisition plan
In which of the following contract types is the contractor reimbursed for its costs associated with contract performance, and paid a fee that is negotiated at the outset and does not vary with actual cost?
Cost-Reimbursement Contracts The correct answer is: Cost-plus-fixed-fee
Which part of the acquisition plan discusses proposed sources, the level of competition, the proposed contract type or types, and milestone dates for completion?
Plan of action
Why are written Requests for Information (RFIs) less common now than they once were?
Much of the information typically included in a response to an RFI can now be found on the Internet
The specificity of acquisition requirements affects the contract type selection. Which of the following statements is true?
The more specific the stated acquisition requirements, the less likely the buyer is to accept a cost reimbursement contract.
Evaluation Procedures
Will impact the quality of proposals received
Which of the following is a difference in the use of acquisition planning between the public and private sectors?
In the private sector, the use of a written acquisition plan is generally determined by company policy or best practices, or is done to coordinate efforts
An acquisition of an IT system is divided into several smaller acquisition increments that provide an opportunity for subsequent increments to take advantage of advances in technology or respond to changing needs. This is an example of what?
Modular contracting
A proposal submitted without being solicited is called a
Unsolicited Proposal
Fowley Inc., SpectraCorp, and the Eleven Corporation all responded to the same government solicitation by submitting technical proposals for their products. The government evaluated these proposals on their technical merits and found that Fowley did not appear to have the technical capacity to perform. SpectraCorp and the Eleven Corporation were then asked to submit price bids, which were evaluated and the award made to the lowest bidder. What acquisition method was used here?
Two-step sealed bidding
A written agreement that applies to future contracts between parties is a
Basic agreement
A buyer who wanted to ensure that the contractor managed costs effectively would likely prefer which of the following types of contract?
Cost-plus-incentive-fee
Discussion of make-or-buy decisions, estimated life cycle costs, and should-cost analysis during acquisition planning leads to the establishment of what?
Cost targets
A non-disclosure agreement is a legally binding document that:
Requires the confidentiality and protection of proprietary information
A basic agreement is what type of contract?
It is not a contract
A small business set-aside is an allowable limitation on what?
Full and open competition
What are government purchase cards used for?
As the method of contracting and the method of payment for transactions under the micropurchase threshold
The Reynard-Muldrake Group provides physical security to a Centers for Disease Control laboratory housing biohazardous material. Because different materials are frequently moved in and out of the laboratory, Reynard-Muldrake’s costs include not only the wages of the guards, but also constant retraining of the guards it employs in safe practices around these materials. It’s not possible to accurately estimate the impact of training requirements on the total hours required. Which of the following contract types would be most appropriate for this contract?
Labor-hour
What is the purpose of issuing a draft solicitation package?
To request suggestions and comments from potential offerors
Concerning solicitation planning, which of the following statements is true?
It should be viewed as a team effort, including the talents and input from contracting personnel, customers, finance experts, technical experts, and legal counsel.
