Below is a list of 500+ Government Contracting Acronyms that may help you decipher commonly used terms in government contracting and within the government itself.
- 8(a) Section 8 (a) of the Small Business Act; Federal Contracting Preference Program for Disadvantaged Businesses
- 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/L Bill of Lading
- B&P Bid and Proposal
- BAA Buy American Act or 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
- 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
- CDA Contract Disputes Act
- 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
- COFC U.S. Court of Federal Claims
- CONUS Continental United States
- COR Contracting Officer Representative
- COTR Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative
- COTS Commercial Off-the-Shelf
- CPAF Cost Plus Award Fee
- CPFF Cost Plus Fixed Fee
- CPIF Cost Plus Incentive Fee
- CPN Contract Payment Notice
- CPR Cost Performance Report
- CRADA Cooperative Research and Development Agreement
- CWHSSA Contract Work Hours and Safety Standards Act
- CY Calendar Year
- DACA Days After Contract Award
- DARO Days After Receipt of Order
- DARPA Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
- DBA Davis Bacon Act – Addresses prevailing wages on federal contracts
- 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
- DVBE Disabled Veteran-Owned Business Enterprise
- DVD Direct Vendor Delivery
- DZ Dozen
- 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
- FAC Federal Acquisition Circular
- 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
- FPDS Federal Procurement Data System
- FPI Fixed Price Incentive
- FPL Federal Procurement List
- FSC Federal Supply Classification
- FSN Federal Stock Number
- FSS Federal Supply Schedules
- FY Fiscal Year
- FYI For Your Information
- 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
- HBCUs Historically Black Colleges and Universities
- HCA Head of Contracting Activity
- HQ Headquarters
- HR Human Resources
- HUB Historically Underutilized Business
- HUBZone Historically Underutilized Business Zone
- IA Information Assurance
- IAW In Accordance With
- ID/IQ 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
- JOC Job Order Contracts
- KM Knowledge Management
- KSPH Keystrokes per Hour
- 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&IE Meals and Incidental Expense
- MACC Multiple Award Construction Contract
- MATCO Materials Analysis, Tracking and Control
- MBDC Minority Business Development Center
- MBE Minority Business Entrepreneur
- MILSPEC Military Specification
- MIL-STD Military Standard
- MOA Memorandum of Agreement
- MOU Memorandum of Understanding
- MWBE Minority or Woman-Owned Business Enterprise
- 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
- NAVFAC Naval Facilities Engineering Command
- 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/A On or About
- O&M Operations & Maintenance
- OCONUS Outside the Continental United States
- OCR Optical Character Recognition
- OFCCP Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
- 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/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
- POCA Performances Oriented Construction Activity
- PR Pair; Peer Review(s); Purchase Request
- PRDA Program Research and Development Announcement
- PTAC Procurement Technical Assistance Center
- QA Quality Assurance
- QAB Quality Assurance Program
- QBL Qualified Bidders List
- QC Quality Control
- QMS Quality Management System
- QPL Qualified Products List
- 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
- SABER Simplified Acquisition of Base Engineer Requirements
- 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
- SBLO Small Business Liaison Officer
- SBSA Small Business Set Aside
- SCORE Service Core of Retired Executives
- 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 Social Security Administration
- SSN Social Security Number
- STTR Small Business Technology Transfer Program
- T&M Time and Materials
- T for C Termination for Convenience
- T for D Termination for Default
- TBA To Be Announced
- TCO Termination Contracting Officer
- TD Technology Development
- TIN Taxpayer Identification Number
- TINA Truth in Negotiations Act
- TIPS Technical Information Packages
- TQM Total Quality Management
- TTN Technology Transfer Network
- U/I Unit of Issue
- UCC Universal Commercial Code
- UPC Universal Product Code
- USC United States Code
- USG United States Government
- V&V Verification and Validation
- VA Veterans Administration
- VAR Value Added Reseller
- VC Venture Capital or Venture Capitalist
- VOB Veteran-Owned Business
- VSC Vendor Support Center
- WAWF Wide Area Work Flow
- WBC Women’s Business Centers
- WBE Women’s Business Enterprise
- WBS Work Breakdown Structure
- WOSB Woman-Owned Small Business
- WRD Wage Rate Determination
- XO Executive Officer
- YOB Year of Birth
- YR Year
- YTD Year to Date
Suggestions?
We hope this list has helped you navigate the government contracting space. If you have any suggestions or other acronyms to add, please contact us.