2018 NDAA - New DCAA Reporting Requirements

Section 811 of the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) covers several topics. One concerns the increase in the dollar threshold for the submission of certified cost or pricing data which we will cover in more detail tomorrow. The other appears to be a slap on the wrist of DCAA (Defense Contract Audit Agency) for obfuscating some of their performance data.

Is DCAA "current" in performing incurred cost audits? The Agency says it is and that's why they are once again performing incurred cost audits for non-DoD agencies. But was does "current" mean? And how did DCAA achieve currency? In DCAA's parlance, current means 18 months as in the Agency needs to complete incurred cost audits withing 18 months of receiving an adequate contractor submission. But the 18 month time-frame is also an average which means some will take longer that 18 months to complete and some will take less. Which answers the second question of how did the Agency achieve the 18 month average in such a short time when just a few years ago its backlog was four to six years (depending on who you talk to). Easy, the Agency simply "wrote off" what it determined were low risk contractors by accepting the final indirect rates as proposed - and that included the preponderance of contractors. Eureka! No more backlog.

But Congress didn't quite buy that and it was deeply concerned with writing off the preponderance of contractors without performing any type of audit. In Sec 803 of the 2018 NDAA which we discussed here, Congress instituted a plan for private audit firms to begin sharing the incurred cost audit workload with DCAA and mandated that these audits would be completed with a year of receiving an adequate submission.

Now here in Sec 811 of the 2018 NDAA, Congress wants to get to the bottom of DCAA's performance. It is requiring DCAA to revise its Annual Report to Congress to provide clarity on the cost effectiveness of different types of audits. Under the 2018 NDAA, DCAA must now break down its statistical tables by type of audit. Though "type of audit" is not defined, it presumably includes (i) incurred cost (ii) forward pricing, (iii) defective pricing, (iv) and internal control/business systems. But here are the added reporting requirements:

1. The total number and dollar value of incurred cost audits completed, and the method by which such incurred cost audits were completed (i.e. was an audit performed or was it written off as low risk).
2. The aggregate cost of performing audits, set forth separately by type of audit
3. The ratio of sustained questioned costs to the aggregate costs of performing audits, set forth separately by type of audit, and
4. The total number and dollar value of audits that are pending for a period longer than one year as of the end of the fiscal year covered by the report, and the fiscal year in which the qualified submission was received, set forth separately by type of audit

This information, if nothing else, will prove interesting.