AcqBot Use Case Guide

The 8(a) Business Development Program, authorized by Section 8(a) of the Small Business Act, gives SBA-certified firms owned by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals a nine-year term of access to sole-source and competitive set-aside federal contracts under 13 CFR Part 124.

An Authority to Operate (ATO) is a senior official's formal decision to accept the security risk of running an information system, reached through the Risk Management Framework in NIST SP 800-37. Federal systems need one before processing live data, and keeping one is continuous work.

The best-value tradeoff process permits award to other than the lowest-priced or highest-rated offeror when the source selection authority documents that the superior proposal's benefits are worth its price premium, or that a cheaper proposal's savings outweigh its weaknesses.

A GAO bid protest is a written objection by an interested party to a solicitation or award, filed with the Government Accountability Office under CICA, 31 U.S.C. 3551-3557. Timely filing triggers an automatic stay, and GAO must decide within 100 days.

A class deviation authorizes an agency to depart from specific FAR or supplement provisions for a category of contract actions rather than a single case — the mechanism agencies are using to implement the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul ahead of formal rulemaking.

A CAGE code is the identifier the Defense Logistics Agency assigns to a specific entity location doing business with the federal government. FAR 4.1802 requires offerors to provide one before award of any action above the micro-purchase threshold that requires SAM registration or a unique entity identifier.

Commercial products and commercial services are items of a type sold, leased, licensed, or offered in the commercial marketplace, defined at FAR 2.101. FAR Part 12 implements the statutory preference for buying them whenever market research shows they can meet the agency's need.

A Contract Data Requirements List (CDRL, DD Form 1423) is the contract exhibit specifying every data deliverable on a DoD contract — each item citing a Data Item Description with format, frequency, and distribution — required by DFARS 215.470 whenever data are ordered.

A Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) identifies a separately priced deliverable in a federal contract. FAR subpart 4.10 requires each line item to carry a single unit price, its own delivery schedule, and one accounting classification; DoD numbers them 0001 through 9999.

A contract option is a unilateral government right, priced and evaluated at award, to extend a contract's term or buy additional quantities without a new competition. FAR Subpart 17.2 governs when options may be used and the conditions for exercising them.

Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) is information the government creates or possesses, or that an entity handles on its behalf, that a law, regulation, or governmentwide policy requires safeguarding or dissemination controls for — sensitive but not classified, governed by 32 CFR Part 2002.

A cost-plus-fixed-fee (CPFF) contract reimburses allowable costs and pays a fee negotiated and fixed at inception. The fee does not vary with actual cost, though it may adjust when the work changes. FAR 16.306 governs; statutory caps limit the fee.

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) is the DoD program verifying that contractors protect federal contract information and CUI. Its three levels map to FAR 52.204-21, NIST SP 800-171, and NIST SP 800-172; contract requirements took effect November 10, 2025, currently held at self-assessment Phase 1.

The DD Form 254, Contract Security Classification Specification, tells a contractor what classified information a contract involves, at what level, and under what handling requirements. FAR 53.204-1 prescribes it for contracts requiring access to classified information under the National Industrial Security Program.

A Determination & Findings (D&F) is a signed document in which an authorized official makes a specific determination required by statute or regulation, supported by written findings of fact — the government's standard instrument for justifying discretionary acquisition decisions.

A facility security clearance (FCL) is the government's determination, under 32 CFR 117.9, that a company is eligible to access classified information at a specified level. A company cannot apply for its own; a government contracting activity or a cleared contractor must sponsor it.

Fair opportunity is the requirement at FAR 16.505(b)(1) that every awardee of a multiple-award contract be considered for each order exceeding the micro-purchase threshold. Exceptions such as urgency, a single capable awardee, or a logical follow-on must be justified in writing.

A firm-fixed-price (FFP) contract sets a price that is not subject to adjustment based on the contractor's cost experience in performance. FAR 16.202 places maximum cost risk on the contractor, who absorbs every overrun and keeps every underrun.

The HUBZone program, created by the HUBZone Act of 1997 and run by SBA, steers federal contracts to small businesses that keep their principal office in a historically underutilized business zone and draw at least 35 percent of employees from HUBZone residents.

An Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract buys an unspecified quantity of supplies or services, within stated minimum and maximum limits, over a fixed period. The government buys through task or delivery orders under FAR 16.504, with a preference for multiple awards.

An Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE) is the government's own documented estimate of what a requirement should cost, developed without contractor input, used to validate budgets, evaluate price reasonableness, and support negotiation positions.

A Justification & Approval (J&A) is the formal document required by FAR 6.303 to justify awarding a federal contract without full and open competition, citing one of seven statutory exceptions and approved at thresholds based on dollar value.

Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA) is a source selection process that awards to the lowest-priced offeror whose proposal meets minimum acceptability standards — no credit is given for exceeding requirements, and tradeoffs between price and quality are not permitted.

A Market Research Report documents the techniques an agency used to survey the marketplace for a requirement and the conclusions drawn — including available sources, commercial solutions, small business capability, and the competition strategy those findings support.

NIST Special Publication 800-171 lists the security requirements for protecting CUI on nonfederal information systems. DFARS 252.204-7012 makes it contractual for defense work — held at Revision 2 by class deviation — and its 110 requirements are the CMMC Level 2 baseline.

A NAICS code is the industry classification a contracting officer assigns to each federal solicitation, chosen for the one industry that best describes the principal purpose of the acquisition. The code fixes the small business size standard that decides who may compete as small.

Other Transaction Authority (OTA) lets certain agencies enter agreements for research, prototypes, and follow-on production that are not standard procurement contracts — largely exempt from the FAR — to attract nontraditional contractors and move faster than conventional acquisition allows.

Past performance is a contractor's record on earlier contracts, weighed in source selection under FAR 15.305(a)(2). Agencies document it in the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) for contracts over the simplified acquisition threshold, per FAR 42.1502.

A Performance Work Statement (PWS) describes required outcomes and measurable performance standards for a services acquisition rather than prescribing how the work must be done, enabling contractors to propose their own methods under performance-based acquisition.

The period of performance is the span in which the contractor is bound to perform — base period plus exercised options. For services funded with annual appropriations, its length is bounded by the fiscal-year rules at FAR 32.703-3 and FAR 37.106.

A postaward debriefing is the explanation an agency owes an unsuccessful offeror that requests one in writing within 3 days of award notice. FAR 15.506 requires the evaluation of the offeror's proposal, the overall ranking, and the rationale for award.

Procurement Administrative Lead Time (PALT) measures the time from a defined start point — commonly a validated requirement or issued solicitation — to contract award. It is the standard metric for acquisition process speed and a primary target of federal procurement reform.

A Product Service Code (PSC) is the code from GSA's PSC Manual that identifies what a federal contract buys: products, services, or research and development. FAR 5.207 requires one on each synopsis, and the code follows the action into FPDS reporting.

A Request for Information (RFI) is a formal market research instrument used to gather industry input on capabilities, approaches, pricing structures, or draft requirements when the government is not yet ready to solicit — responses are voluntary and non-binding.

The rule of two directs a contracting officer to set aside an acquisition for small business when there is a reasonable expectation of receiving offers from at least two responsible small business concerns and making award at fair market prices, per FAR 19.502-2.

SBIR and STTR are congressionally mandated programs requiring federal agencies with large R&D budgets to fund small business innovation through phased awards — feasibility (Phase I), development (Phase II), and commercialization (Phase III), which carries sole-source follow-on authority.

A service-disabled veteran-owned small business (SDVOSB) is a small business at least 51 percent owned and controlled by one or more service-disabled veterans and certified by SBA under 13 CFR Part 128, making it eligible for set-asides and sole-source awards government-wide.

A small business set-aside restricts competition for an acquisition, or a distinct portion of one, to small business concerns. Between the micro-purchase and simplified acquisition thresholds the set-aside is automatic; above the SAT it is required whenever the rule of two is met.

A Source Selection Plan (SSP) documents how a competitive negotiated acquisition will be evaluated and decided: the organization of the evaluation team, the factors and subfactors, their relative importance, and the methodology for reaching an award decision.

A Sources Sought Notice is a pre-solicitation announcement, typically posted to SAM.gov, asking companies to identify their interest and capability to perform a prospective requirement — primarily used as market research to shape competition and set-aside decisions.

A Statement of Objectives (SOO) is a brief government document stating top-level acquisition objectives and desired outcomes, leaving offerors free to propose their own technical approach and performance work statement in response.

A Statement of Work (SOW) is the contract document that prescribes, in specific and directive terms, the tasks a contractor must perform, the deliverables due, and the schedule — placing responsibility for the approach on the government.

SAM registration is the System for Award Management record an entity must hold to win federal contracts. FAR 52.204-7 requires registration when submitting an offer and again at award; FAR 52.204-13 requires maintaining it through final payment.

A time-and-materials (T&M) contract pays fixed hourly labor rates — wages, overhead, G&A, and profit built in — plus materials at actual cost. FAR 16.601 permits it only when the extent or duration of the work cannot be estimated accurately at award.

The Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) is the 12-character alphanumeric ID that SAM.gov generates for every entity doing business with the federal government. Owned and issued by the government, it replaced the proprietary DUNS number on April 4, 2022.

The Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) program, created by section 8(m) of the Small Business Act, lets contracting officers set aside contracts, and make limited sole-source awards, to SBA-certified women-owned small businesses in NAICS codes where SBA finds women-owned firms underrepresented.