Navigating the Federal Government is a daunting task. You have to understand the differences between the numerous agencies and departments, how decisions are evaluated, and you have to learn a plethora of new acronyms. Instead of having to learn all of the acronyms by yourself, we created a primer so you can jump into searching for new opportunities, contracts, grants, and funding.
To help you have a quick reference guide to the most commonly used acronyms in government contracting, below you will find the list, and linked here is a PDF you can print/save for later. Once you have bookmarked this page and reviewed the acronyms, you can put your new knowledge to work by logging into the Exchange and finding new Federal Contract, State Contracts, Grants, Challenges, Needs, and non-dilutive funding opportunities.
A
AAR - After Action Report
ACAT - Acquisition Category
ACO - Administrative Contracting Officer
ACQ - Acquisition
ACS - Assistant Chief of Staff
ACWP - Actual Cost of Work Performed
ADA - Americans with Disabilities Act
ADPE - Automated Data Processing Equipment
AI - Action Item
ALIN - Agreement Line Item Number
ANS - American National Standard
ANSI - American National Standards Institute
AVBS - Automated Best Value System
B
B/L - Bill of Lading
B&P - Bid and Proposal
BAA - Broad Agency Announcement
BAC - Budgeted Cost at Completion
BAFO - Best and Final Offer
BAT - Best Available Technology
BD - Business Development
BDO - Blanket Delivery Order
BMM - Business Matchmaking
BOA - Basic Ordering Agreement
BOS - Business Opportunity Specialist
BPA - Blanket Purchase Agreement
C
CA - Cooperative Agreement
CAD - Computer Assisted Design
CAGE - Commercial and Government Entity
CAO - Congressional Affairs Office
CAS - Cost Accounting Standards
CBI - Confidential Business Information
CBO - Congressional Budget Office
CCDR - Contract Cost Data Report
CCR - Central Contractor Registration
CDD - Contract Delivery Date
CDRL - Contract Data Requirements List
CEA - Cost Effective Analysis
CFR - Code of Federal Regulations
CFSR - Contract Funds Status Report
CICA - Competition in Contracting Act
CID - Commercial Item Description
CIO - Chief Information Officer
CLIN - Contract Line Item Number
CM - Configuration Management
CMM - Capability Maturity Model
CMMI - Capability Maturity Model-Integrated
CMO - Contract Management Office
CMT - Contract Management Team
CO - Contracting Officer
COB - Close of Business
CONUS - Continental United States
COR - Contracting Officer Representative
COTR - Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative
COTS - Commercial Off-the-Shelf
CPAF - Cost Plus Award Fee
CPARS - Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System
CPFF - Cost Plus Fixed Fee
CPIF - Cost Plus Incentive Fee
CPN - Contract Payment Notice
CPR - Cost Performance Report
CRADA - Cooperative Research and Development Agreement
CY - Calendar Year
D
DACA - Days After Contract Award
DARO - Days After Receipt of Order
DARPA - Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
DCAA - Defense Contract Audit Agency
DCMA - Defense Contract Management Agency
DEL - Delivery
DFARS - Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement
DHS - Department of Homeland Security
DI - Document Identifier
DIC - Document Identifier Code
DID - Data Item Description
DLA - Defense Logistics Agency
DLH - Direct Labor Hour
DOC - Department of Commerce
DOD - Department of Defense
DOE - Department of Energy
DOI - Department of the Interior
DOJ - Department of Justice
DOL - Department of Labor
DOS - Department of State
DOT - Department of Transportation
DUNS - Data Universal Numbering System
DVD - Direct Vendor Delivery
DZ - Dozen
E
EA - Each
EB - Electronic Business
EC - Electronic Commerce
ECP - Engineering Change Proposal
EDD - Estimated Delivery Date
EDI - Electronic Data Interchange
EDOP - Expedited Delivery Order Process
EEO - Equal Employment Opportunity
EFT - Electronic Funds Transfer
EO - Executive Order
EOM - End of Month
ETA - Estimated Time of Arrival
ETC - Estimate to Complete
F
FAQ - Frequently Asked Question
FAR - Federal Acquisition Regulation
FAS - Federal Acquisition Service
FASA - Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act
FFP - Firm Fixed Price
FFRDC - Federally Funded Research and Development Center
FIPS - Federal Information Processing Standards
FISMA - Federal Information Security Management Act
FLSA - Fair Labor Standards Act
FMS - Foreign Military Sales
FMV - Fair Market Value
FOIA - Freedom of Information Act
FPI - Fixed Price Incentive
FPL - Federal Procurement List
FSC - Federal Supply Classification
FSN - Federal Stock Number
FSS - Federal Supply Schedules
FTE - Full Time Equivalent
FY - Fiscal Year
FYI - For Your Information
G
G&A - General and Administrative
GAA - General Agency Agreement
GAO - Government Accountability Office
GBL - Government Bill of Lading
GFE - Government Furnished Equipment
GFM - Government Furnished Materials
GFP - Government-Furnished Property
GOCO - Government Owned, Contractor Operated
GPO - Government Printing Office
GSA - General Services Administration
GSARS - General Services Acquisition Regulation Supplement
GWAC - Government-wide Acquisition Contract
H
HBCUs - Historically Black Colleges and Universities
HCA - Head of Contracting Activity
HQ - Headquarters
HR - Human Resources
HUB - Historically Underutilized Business
I
IA - Information Assurance
IAW - In Accordance With
IDIQ - Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity
IFB - Invitation for Bid
IG - Inspector General
IQC - Indefinite Quantity Contract
ISO - International Standards Organization (or International Organization for Standardization)
ISSA - Inter/Intra Service Support Agreement
IV&V - Independent Validation and Verification
IT - Information Technology
K
KM - Knowledge Management
KSPH - Keystrokes per Hour
L
LAN - Local Area Network
LOA - Letter of Offer and Acceptance
LOB - Line of Business
LOE - Level of Effort
LOP - Letter of Procurement
LT - Lot
M
M&IE - Meals and Incidental Expense
MBDC - Minority Business Development Center
MBE - Minority Business Entrepreneur
MILSPEC - Military Specification
MIL-STD - Military Standard
MOA- Memorandum of Agreement
MOU - Memorandum of Understanding
N
NAICS - North American Industry Classification System
NARA - National Archives and Records Administration
NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NASFARS - National Aeronautics Space Administration FAR Supplement
NDI - Non-Developmental Item
NIIN - National Item Identification Number
NIST - National Institute of Standards and Technology
NLT - No Later Than
NSN - National Stock Number
NTE - Not to Exceed
O
O/A - On or About
OCONUS - Outside the Continental United States
OCR - Optical Character Recognition
OFPP - Office of Federal Procurement Policy
OMB - Office of Management and Budget
OPM - Office of Personnel Management
OSDBU - Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization
OSHA - Occupational Safety and Health Administration
OWBO - Office of Women’s Business Ownership
P
P/N - Part Number
PAR - Payroll, Accounting and Reporting System
PCO - Procuring Contracting Officer
PCR - Procurement Center Representative
PEO - Program Executive Officer
PES - Professional Engineering Services
PID - Procurement Item Description
PIN - Personal Identification Number
PIV - Personal Identity Verification
PK - Package
PL - Public Law
PMP - Program Management Plan
PO - Purchase Order
POA&M - Plan of Action and Milestones
POC - Point of Contact
PPIRS- Past Performance Information Retrieval System
PR - Pair; Peer Review(s); Purchase Request
PRDA - Program Research and Development Announcement
Q
QA - Quality Assurance
QAB - Quality Assurance Program
QBL - Qualified Bidders List
QC - Quality Control
QMS - Quality Management System
QPL - Qualified Products List
R
R&D - Research and Development
RD&D - Research, Development and Demonstration
RDD - Required Delivery Date
RDDTE - Research, Development, Demonstration, Testing and Evaluation
RFB - Request for Bid
RFI - Request for Information
RFID - Radio Frequency Identification
RFP - Request for Proposal
RFQ - Request for Quotation
S
SADBUS - Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization Specialist
SAT - System Acceptance Test
SBA - Small Business Administration
SBAC - Small Business Advisory Committee
SBDC - Small Business Development Center
SBIC - Small Business Investment Company
SBIR - Small Business Innovation Research
SBSA - Small Business Set Aside
SDB - Small Disadvantaged Business
SDV - Service Disabled Veteran
SDVOSB - Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business
SEC - Securities and Exchange Commission
SF - Standard Form
SIC - Standard Industrial Classification Codes
SIN - Special Item Number
SKN - Stock Keeping Number
SKU - Stock Keeping Unit
SOO - Statement of Objectives
SOP - Standard Operating Procedure
SOW - Statement of Work
SSA - Source Selection Authority
SSA - Social Security Administration
SSN - Social Security Number
STTR - Small Business Technology Transfer Program
T
T&M - Time and Materials
TBA - To be Announced
TCO - Termination Contracting Officer
TD - Technology Development
T for C - Termination for Convenience
T for D - Termination for Default
TIN - Taxpayer Identification Number
TINA - Truth in Negotiations Act
TIPS - Technical Information Packages
TQM - Total Quality Management
TTN - Technology Transfer Network
U
U/I - Unit of Issue
UCC - Universal Commercial Code
UPC -Universal Product Code
USC - United States Code
USG - United States Government
V
V&V - Verification and Validation
VAR - Value Added Reseller
VC - Venture Capital(ist)
VSC - Vendor Support Center
W
WAWF - Wide Area Work Flow
WBC - Women’s Business Centers
WBE - Women’s Business Enterprise
WBS - Work Breakdown Structure
WOSB - Woman-Owned Small Business
X
XO - Executive Officer
Y
YOB - Year of Birth
YR - Year
YTD - Year to Date
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