Developing Government Cost Accounting Software Again?
Just when I thought I had enough, another project came in that is a contract management application. I think this is the fourth one that I’ve worked on since I’ve started working for this company.
Like usual, cost-point is involved somehow. It also has the same stuff to manage.
Technical Instructions (TI)
Task Orders (TO) - same as TI,
Sub-Tasks (TI that fits under a TI)
Contract Definition Requirements List (CDRL)
Statement of Work (SOW)
Point of Contact (POC)
Contract Line Item Number (CLIN)
Sub-Contract Line Item Number (SLIN)
Modification (PMOD MOD)
Firm Fixed Price (FFP)
Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF)
Cost Plus Award Fee (CPAF)
Why am I listing these names? Because it took me a good deal of time to learn what the acronyms ment when I started working on my first project. You see, the definitions were not accessible to me, nor there meanings. If I asked someone what a CDRL was, they would look at me blindly and then go on showing me what you do with them. Such is the life in an acronym-based environment.
Even the lookup lists and entity relationships of data are the same. You got your contracts, and they have CLINs, SLINs, POCs, TIs, and MODs. Your TI’s can have sub-TI’s, follow-on TI’s, CDRLs MODs, and POC’s. Deliverables can be assigned to your TI’s CDRLS (usually monthly) but can become a real mess when the formulas for requirements get really messy and start changing throughout the lifetime of the TI. Managing CDRL’s alone was one project that quickly became complex.
Confused yet? Great! So am I. Not really. There are many resources out there to look up the functionality of administrating government contracts. Unfortunately, this documentation is for the end-user (such as someone using cost-point).
A programmer such as myself can have a tough time acquiring information sometimes if documentation is not readily available. After learning much of this stuff over the years, I feel that I can actually understand the lingo of a government accountent, should I ever have the desire to seek one out.
One thing that sticks out is the color of money. I had heard this term thrown around a lot before money was any other color except green. It was funny when the goverenment actually started printing colored money.
The great news is that I’m not in on the project alone this time. I’ve got a great staff working together with me on this. I’m confident that we can get this out the door quickly with the experience that I am bringing to the table.