Program and Budget Management Flashcards
6 cards from real ACAP practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Program and Budget Management flashcards as text
What is the 'Defense Acquisition Executive Summary (DAES)' and what cost information does it contain?
Answer: The DAES is a quarterly OSD report on the health of major defense acquisition programs, including cost performance, EVM data, and breach status
The DAES provides OSD and congressional oversight officials with periodic visibility into program health, flagging cost and schedule deviations that may require corrective action.
What is a 'Selected Acquisition Report (SAR)' and who receives it?
Answer: An annual report submitted to Congress on the cost, schedule, and performance status of each major defense acquisition program, required by law
SARs are legally mandated by 10 USC and provide Congress with standardized cost and schedule data on MDAPs, ensuring legislative oversight of major defense investments.
What is the 'color of money' concept in Army budget management?
Answer: The restriction that funds from one appropriation (e.g., RDT&E) cannot be used to fund activities legally required to come from another appropriation (e.g., Procurement), each serving distinct purposes
Each appropriation has specific authorized uses; mixing appropriations (e.g., using O&M funds for procurement) violates fiscal law and the purpose statute, creating Antideficiency Act issues.
What does 'full funding policy' require for Army major acquisition programs?
Answer: All procurement costs for a contract or lot must be funded in the same fiscal year the contract is awarded, preventing deferred cost commitments across multiple years
Full funding prevents the government from committing to multi-year obligations without up-front appropriations, ensuring fiscal discipline and congressional control over procurement decisions.
What is a 'program breach' under the Nunn-McCurdy Act, and what are the two types?
Answer: A breach occurs when program unit cost growth exceeds statutory thresholds; 'significant' is 15% above original or 30% above current baseline, 'critical' is 25% above original or 50% above current
Nunn-McCurdy established specific percentage thresholds for significant and critical breaches based on unit cost growth, with critical breaches triggering the most stringent oversight and potential termination.
What is the 'Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE)' and when is it required?
Answer: The IGCE is the government's pre-solicitation estimate of contract cost, required by FAR before issuing a solicitation to ensure the government can evaluate reasonableness of contractor proposals
FAR requires an IGCE before solicitation so the contracting officer has an independent basis to assess the competitiveness and reasonableness of offerors' proposed prices.