NCMA CPCM cheat sheet

The CMS organizes contract management into three phases: Pre-Award, Award, and Post-Award; each phase contains guiding principles, and each principle contains competencies.

Pre-Award principles cover requirements definition, acquisition planning/strategy, and solicitation; Award principles cover proposal evaluation and source selection; Post-Award principles cover contract execution, performance management, and closeout.

The CMBOK competency areas include Contract Principles, Standards of Conduct, Contract Planning, Cost and Price Analysis, Negotiation, Contract Administration, and Contract Closeout/Settlement.

Guiding principle hierarchy: Phase > Guiding Principle > Competency > Outcome; competencies are written as observable activities a contract manager performs.

The CMS is descriptive, not prescriptive: it defines what competent contract management looks like rather than mandating a specific agency process.

Standards of conduct competencies include avoiding conflicts of interest, protecting nonpublic information, and maintaining integrity and independence.

Each competency in the CMS is paired with an outcome statement describing the result of performing the competency well.

Contract management spans the full life cycle from identifying a need through contract closeout, not only the award decision.

Market research precedes requirements finalization; it informs the acquisition strategy, competition approach, and contract type selection.

Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE) is the government's estimate of a reasonable price; it supports budgeting and price reasonableness but is not disclosed to offerors.

Acquisition plan elements typically include requirements, acquisition strategy, competition, contract type, source selection approach, milestones, and risk.

Contract type selection rule: use firm-fixed-price when requirements are well defined and risk is low; use cost-reimbursement when requirements are uncertain and risk cannot be priced.

Solicitation documents state requirements, evaluation factors, instructions to offerors, and contract terms; the evaluation factors must correspond to the stated basis for award.

Best-value tradeoff permits award to other than the lowest-priced offeror when the perceived benefit warrants the price premium; LPTA awards only to the lowest-priced technically acceptable offer.

Sealed bidding requires a firm-fixed-price contract, clear and complete specifications, and award based on price; negotiated procurement is used when those conditions fail.

Set-aside and small business rules affect competition strategy; the contracting officer must document the rationale for the chosen competition approach.

Price analysis compares proposed prices to other prices (competitive offers, prior contracts, catalog prices, IGCE) without examining cost elements.

Cost analysis examines individual cost elements (labor, materials, indirect rates, profit) and is required when price analysis alone is insufficient to determine reasonableness.

Cost realism analysis evaluates whether proposed costs are realistic for the work, used for cost-reimbursement contracts; it is distinct from cost reasonableness.

Profit/fee is negotiated separately from cost; weighted guidelines consider contractor performance risk, contract type, and cost risk.

Technical evaluation is performed by evaluators against stated criteria; the contracting officer controls the process and ensures evaluations are documented and consistent.

Negotiation objective is the contracting officer's target price supported by analysis; the minimum acceptable position is the walk-away point for the negotiation.

Defective pricing occurs when a contractor submits certified cost or pricing data that is not accurate, complete, and current; the remedy is a price adjustment.

Award decision must be documented with the rationale, and unsuccessful offerors are debriefed consistent with the stated debriefing procedures.

Contract administration begins at award and includes monitoring performance, managing changes, and ensuring compliance with terms and conditions.

Constructive change: an informal direction or action by the government that changes the contract without a formal modification can entitle the contractor to an equitable adjustment.

Changes clause permits the government to make changes within the general scope; the contractor must perform and then negotiate equitable adjustment.

Inspection and acceptance: the government inspects, accepts or rejects, and acceptance triggers payment and warranty implications.

Payments: invoice payments must be timely; progress payments and performance-based payments are tied to defined milestones or costs incurred.

Termination for convenience allows the government to stop work; the contractor recovers costs incurred, work done, and reasonable profit on work performed, not anticipated profit.

Termination for default results from contractor failure; the contractor may be liable for excess reprocurement costs, and the default may be converted to convenience if government-caused.

Closeout includes final inspection, settlement of subcontracts, final payment, release of claims, and disposition of property; it should be timely and documented.

A conflict of interest exists when personal, financial, or other interests could impair, or appear to impair, objectivity in performing duties.

Procurement integrity rules restrict disclosing source selection information and contractor proposal data before award, and restrict post-government employment contacts.

Gratuities: accepting anything of value from a contractor or offeror is generally prohibited; de minimis exceptions are narrow and jurisdiction-specific.

Impartiality rule: contract managers must avoid actions that give an unfair competitive advantage, including using nonpublic information.

Standards of conduct require reporting suspected fraud, waste, or abuse through the appropriate channels and cooperating with reviews and audits.

Confidentiality: proprietary and source selection information must be protected and shared only on a need-to-know basis.

When facing an ethical question, document the facts, identify the applicable rule, and seek guidance from the ethics official before acting.

The contract file must contain the records needed to document the rationale for decisions, from requirement identification through closeout.

Risk management: identify risks, assess likelihood and impact, plan mitigation, and monitor; risk allocation between parties is set by the contract type and terms.

Performance metrics and quality assurance surveillance plans define how the government will measure contractor performance.

Modifications must be within scope; a modification outside the scope is a new procurement and must be competed as required.

Ratification is required when an unauthorized commitment is made; the ratifying official approves the action after review.

Contractor performance information is recorded in past performance systems and used in future source selections.

Disputes: the contracting officer issues a final decision, and the contractor may appeal to the appropriate board or court within the stated time limits.

Audit and oversight functions (e.g., cost audits, reviews) support reasonableness and compliance but do not replace contracting officer judgment.

Reasonableness determination methods: competition, price analysis, cost analysis, and parametric or historical comparisons.

Cost analysis components: direct labor, direct materials, other direct costs, indirect rates (overhead, G&A), and profit/fee.

Certified cost or pricing data is required above the applicable threshold when adequate price competition is absent and no exception applies.

Cost realism is used for cost-reimbursement; the evaluated cost may differ from the proposed cost and is used for award.

Should-cost analysis estimates what the work should cost based on efficient practices; it supports negotiation targets.

Regression and learning curves estimate cost improvement over repeated production units.

Price reasonableness can be supported by comparison to the IGCE, competitive offers, prior prices, or published price lists.

Profit analysis considers cost risk, performance risk, and contractor investment; profit is not a cost element.

Negotiation preparation includes defining objectives, minimum positions, tradeables, and the analysis supporting each position.

BATNA is the best alternative to a negotiated agreement; a stronger BATNA increases leverage.

Integrative negotiation seeks mutual gain by trading issues of differing value; distributive negotiation divides a fixed value.

Concession strategy: make concessions in decreasing increments and tie each concession to a reciprocal concession.

Team roles in negotiation typically include lead negotiator, technical expert, cost/price analyst, and legal advisor.

Document the negotiation: pre-negotiation objectives, positions, concessions, and the resulting agreement must be recorded in the contract file.

Communication rules: do not disclose one offeror's proprietary data to another, and do not reveal source selection information.

Closeout begins when the contractor has completed performance and the government has accepted the work, or when the contract is terminated.

Final payment is contingent on settlement of subcontracts, resolution of claims, and completion of final audit if required.

Quick closeout procedures may be used for certain fixed-price contracts when final costs are not yet known, subject to later adjustment.

Property disposition: government-furnished property must be returned or disposed of per the contract terms.

Records retention: contract files are retained per the applicable retention schedule after closeout.

Termination settlement includes costs incurred, reasonable profit on work done, and settlement expenses; anticipated profit on unperformed work is excluded.

A release of claims is typically obtained at final payment to close out the contractor's claims.

Firm-fixed-price (FFP): contractor bears cost risk; used when requirements are clear and performance risk is low.

Fixed-price incentive (FPI): price adjusted by a formula based on cost performance; shares risk between parties.

Cost-plus-fixed-fee (CPFF): contractor reimbursed costs plus a fixed fee; government bears cost risk; used when requirements are uncertain.

Cost-plus-incentive-fee (CPIF): fee adjusted by an incentive formula based on cost, schedule, or performance.

Time-and-materials (T&M): payment by labor hours at fixed rates plus materials; requires a ceiling and surveillance.

Labor-hour contract: like T&M but without materials; used for services.

Risk allocation rule: the party best able to control the risk should bear it; contract type is the primary tool for allocating cost risk.

Incentive arrangements must be measurable and tied to outcomes the contractor can influence.