Glossary of Government Contract Purchasing Terms
The words we use, and what each one means here
Plain definitions of the terms that appear across this site. Written as we actually use them in the workspace rather than as general industry vocabulary, because the same word often means slightly different things elsewhere.
Terms in alphabetical order
Each definition links to the page where the idea is explained properly.
Terms in alphabetical order
Each definition links to the page where the idea is explained properly.
- Award
- Award amount
- Activity record
Award
The commitment placed with a supplier or subcontractor, holding the value agreed, the reasoning behind choosing them, the documents supporting it and every approval it passed through. The unit everything else in a purchasing file attaches to.
Procurement configurationAward amount
What was agreed for a given award or modification, held separately from the funded amount because under incremental funding the two are frequently different.
Modification trackingActivity record
The running list of who did what and when across an award. Written as work happens and not editable afterwards, which is what allows the sequence of events to be relied on later.
Tasks and activityBoard
An arrangement of award records built by the person using it. Buyers, reviewers and program managers each build their own, so one team's view does not dictate anybody else's.
Smart BoardChecklist template
The phases, rules and named reviewers attached to an award type. Applied when an award is created, so structure does not depend on somebody remembering to set it up.
Checklist builderCommitted spend
Money attached to awards that have been placed but not yet invoiced. Budgets showing only invoiced actuals look healthier than they are for as long as the invoicing lag runs.
Finance leadersException
A record where a rule was deliberately not met, carrying the reason written at the time. Held separately from routine activity so the unusual population can be reviewed on its own.
Compliance officersExpiry tracking
Holding the end date of a supplier document so it can be chased before it lapses, with escalation if there is no response, rather than discovered after it has already expired.
Team and rolesFlow down clause
A contract term passed from a prime to a subcontractor. Attached to the subcontract award itself so what the subcontractor accepted is part of the record rather than an email thread.
Subcontract administratorsFunded amount
The money actually behind an award or modification, as distinct from what was agreed. The gap between the two is where most funding surprises come from.
Finance leadersIncremental funding
Funding released against an award in stages rather than in full at the outset. Normal on long government subcontracts, and the reason award and funded amounts are tracked separately.
Modification trackingModification
A change to an existing award, carrying its own award and funded amounts, its own documents, its own progress and its own approvals rather than being folded into the parent record.
Modification trackingOption year
A period a recurring award may be extended into. Tracked with a notice date and a named owner so continuing is a decision somebody made rather than a default nobody noticed.
Facilities and base operationsPhase
A stage of an award with its own evidence, reviewer and completion state. Documents attach to the phase that produced them, which is what makes a query answerable later.
Checklist builderPrime contractor
The party holding the head contract and placing subcontracts beneath it. Most contractors are prime on some work and subcontractor on other work at the same time.
Defense and DoDPurchasing file
Everything behind a buying decision: what was bought, from whom, why that supplier, who approved it, what changed since and the evidence for each. The thing produced when somebody asks.
Document driveRetention
An amount held back against completion, tracked on the award so the final position rests on the record rather than on a reconstruction from correspondence.
Construction and engineeringReviewer
The person named to approve a given phase. Assigned in the template rather than chosen at submission, so the same phase does not route to whoever happens to be free.
Document approvalSubcontractor
A supplier delivering work under an award you placed. A purchasing file has the same shape whichever direction the award came from.
Defense and DoDSupplier record
One record per supplier holding their documents, expiry dates and history, used by every award placed with them so nothing is chased twice.
Team and rolesValue threshold
A rule firing on the award amount rather than on somebody recognising a purchase as significant, so the same value routes the same way in a busy quarter as in a quiet one.
Procurement configurationVariation
Additional scope agreed after an award is placed. Recorded as a modification with its own value and approval so it stays separable rather than being absorbed into the original.
Professional servicesThree places these terms are used
Three places these terms are used
How the workspace handles awards, modifications, documents and approvals.
- Features
- Solutions
- What is a CPSR
What is a CPSR
The purchasing system review, what triggers one and what it examines.
Learn more