How to Justify Increased Profit/Fee Under DoD Contracts Requiring Certified Cost or Pricing Data (2025 Update)
Format: Live webinar (on-demand recording available on March 13, 2025)
Date: March 4, 2025
Time: 1:00 p.m. EST
Duration: Approx. 90 minutes
Instructor: Jeff Cuskey, CPCM, CFCM, CSCM, CPP, GOVCON Consulting & Expert Witness Services
Learning Credits: 1.5 CPEs, 1.5 ATCs
*Your registration includes access to the on-demand recording.
This webinar provides critical insights into the Department of Defense (DoD)’s profit policies and how businesses can justify and negotiate a higher profit or fees on DoD contracts and contract modifications that require the submission of certified cost or pricing data under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 15.403-4.
Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) 215.404-4(b)(1) requires DoD contracting officers to use a structured approach to develop a prenegotiation profit or fee objective on any negotiated contract action when certified cost or pricing data is obtained, except for cost-plus-award-fee (CPAF) contracts and contracts with Federally Funded Research and Development Centers (FFRDCs). The structured approach most commonly used by DoD contracting officers is called the “Weighted Guidelines” method. Under the Weighted Guidelines method, contracting officers are required to factor in performance risk, contract type risk, working capital, facilities capital employed (if proposed), and cost efficiency when developing their prenegotiation profit/fee objectives.
Many businesses are unaware that the government’s pre-negotiation profit objectives, developed using the Weighted Guidelines method, can vary significantly depending on the underlying assumptions and values used. Furthermore, some businesses do not realize that they can negotiate a higher profit or fee. As a result, they may unknowingly accept the Government’s proposed profit rate on contracts with higher-than-normal performance risk that warrant a higher profit.
In this webinar, you will learn how to develop effective strategies that can be used to negotiate higher profit or fee positions that are fully justified under DoD’s weighted guidelines (profit) method application.
Target Audience: Contractors pursuing opportunities with the Department of Defense, APEX Accelerator counselors, consultants, and coaches.
Speaker
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Jeff CuskeySenior Procurement Counselor & Founder, GOVCON Consulting & Expert Witness ServicesJeff Cuskey has over 34 years of experience in federal and defense acquisition and contracting. He is a nationally known government procurement consultant, speaker, Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program and Defense Contracting expert witness, and two-time Association of Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (APTAC) Economic Impact Award recipient. Over his extensive professional career, he has provided contracting advice to thousands of clients, covering a broad range of complex government contracting topics and issues. While serving in the U.S. Navy, Jeff held various leadership, acquisition, and contracting positions, including assignments as the Navy’s multi-billion-dollar F/A-18 Strike Fighter Program Business Financial Manager (CFO) and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet Deputy Contracting Officer. After retiring from the Navy at the rank of Commander, he taught defense-focused MBA acquisition and contracting, fiscal law and regulations, and program management courses at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), Monterey, CA. Jeff has an MS degree in Acquisition and Contract Management from NPS and is a Certified Professional Contracts Manager (CPCM), Certified Federal Contracts Manager (CFCM), Certified Schedules Contracts Manager (CSCM), and Certified Procurement Professional (CPP). In 2020 APTAC recognized Jeff as its Betty McDonald Outstanding Member Achievement Awardee for his significant contributions and deep commitment not just to the procurement profession but also to the APTAC organization, its members, and his supported large and small business contracting clients.
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