GovCon Glossary

A narrative document describing how a system, capability, or organization will actually be used to accomplish a mission, written from the user's perspective before detailed technical requirements are drafted. In a proposal, a strong CONOPS section shows the evaluator you understand how the customer will operate and employ what you're offering, not just what it technically does.

A document a contractor submits, often after a poor CPARS rating, quality escape, or cure notice, laying out the root cause of a performance problem and the specific steps, owners, and timelines for fixing it. Contracting officers typically use it to decide whether to continue the relationship, terminate for default, or escalate.

A 1994 law that overhauled federal buying to favor commercial practices: it raised the simplified acquisition threshold from $25,000 to $100,000, pushed agencies toward buying commercial items instead of government-unique specs, expanded use of past performance in source selection, and required debriefings for unsuccessful offerors. It's one of the foundational reforms underlying today's FAR.

The legacy government-wide website where agencies posted solicitations, contract opportunities, and award notices above certain dollar thresholds, retired in November 2019 when its functions moved into SAM.gov's Contract Opportunities module. "FBO" now mostly survives in older contract files and as shorthand some contractors still use for wherever the government posts RFPs.

A shipping term meaning the seller retains title and risk of loss for goods until they're delivered to the destination named in the contract, and bears all transportation costs to get them there. It's the more contractor-favorable-to-government default in supply contracts, contrasted with FOB Origin, where risk shifts to the government at the point of shipment.

A formal go/no-go review, most associated with DoD's acquisition framework, at which a milestone decision authority determines whether a program has met the criteria to exit one acquisition phase, such as technology maturation, and enter the next, such as engineering and manufacturing development. Passing a KDP unlocks funding and authority to proceed; failing one can pause or kill the program.

The specific competencies a solicitation or labor category requires personnel to demonstrate, usually tied to qualification requirements in a staffing plan or resume matrix. Evaluators typically use stated KSAs to score whether proposed key personnel and staff genuinely meet the technical and experience bar the government is paying for.

A written commitment between two parties, such as a prime and a teammate or subcontractor, documenting intent, roles, and high-level terms before a definitive teaming or subcontract agreement is signed. In capture, LOAs are commonly used to lock in a partner's commitment to a bid while the full agreement is still being negotiated.

A non-binding agreement between two organizations, often agency-to-agency or agency-to-industry, that outlines shared intentions, roles, or areas of cooperation without creating legally enforceable obligations or committing funds. In GovCon, MOUs frequently show up as artifacts of interagency coordination that shape requirements before a solicitation is even issued.

A government charge card, functionally similar to a corporate credit card, that authorized personnel use to make small, low-dollar purchases directly from vendors without issuing a full contract or purchase order. For sellers, P-Card transactions are typically the fastest, lowest-friction way to get paid by the government at the micro-purchase level.

A specially constructed and accredited space engineered to prevent visual, acoustic, and electronic surveillance, used for discussing or storing classified information at the Sensitive Compartmented Information level. Contractors pursuing this work either need cleared personnel who can operate inside a government-owned SCIF or, on larger programs, must build and accredit one of their own.

The streamlined buying methods contracting officers use for purchases below the simplified acquisition threshold, which sits at $350,000 as of late 2025 (higher for certain commercial items and contingency operations), cutting the competition, documentation, and approval steps required compared to a formal FAR Part 15 source selection. SAP is how the large majority of small-dollar federal buys actually get awarded.

The individual, often the contracting officer or a designated senior official on larger competitive procurements, who makes the final award decision by weighing evaluation results, price, and risk against the solicitation's stated criteria. In practice, most of a proposal is ultimately written to persuade this one person or panel.

Shorthand for the non-federal public sector market: state agencies, county and municipal governments, K-12 districts, and higher education institutions, as distinct from federal customers. Contractors treat SLED as its own market segment because these buyers follow different procurement rules, budget cycles, and contract vehicles than federal agencies do.

The official government-wide website where entities must register under FAR subpart 4.11 before they can bid on federal contracts, receive contract awards, or draw federal grant funding, consolidating what used to be several separate systems for vendor registration, exclusions checks, and opportunity postings. An expired or inaccurate SAM.gov registration can make an otherwise winning bid ineligible for award.

A 1-to-9 scale, originated at NASA and now used across DoD and civilian agencies, that measures how mature a technology is, from basic research at TRL 1 through a system proven in its actual operational environment at TRL 9. Solicitations often set a minimum required TRL, which shapes whether a bid can lean on existing capability or has to account for development risk.

A hierarchical breakdown of a program's total scope of work into progressively smaller, deliverable-oriented pieces, used to organize cost estimates, schedules, and staffing in a proposal or program plan. DoD programs in particular often require contractors to structure their WBS to MIL-STD-881 so it maps cleanly to the government's own cost reporting categories.