Take the First Step Toward Building a Strong Foundation in Federal Acquisition! Federal Acquisition: Key Issues and Guidance is an essential guide to understanding and working within the complex world of federal government contracting. It offers brief but comprehensive explanations of the major phases and essential tasks in the contracting process. Written in a clear and easy-to-understand style, this resource provides the perfect foundation for building a thorough understanding of federal contracting. Author Paula Compton focuses on the most problematic areas of federal contracting, highlighting the deficiencies cited most often by the Government Accountability Office and Inspector General audits and reports, such as: • Not performing market research • Inadequate independent government cost estimates • Violation of the bona fide needs rule • Insufficient statements of work • Inadequate price or cost analysis Anyone new to government acquisition will find that reading this book is the ideal first step on the path to understanding the federal acquisition process. Seasoned contract professionals will find it an excellent quick review.

The Government utilizes the contract process to purchase a wide variety of goods and services. These include existing commercial products and services, the design, development, and manufacture of goods and related services necessary to meet specific Government needs. Additionally, the government provides financial assistance through grants and cooperative agreements to support research and development by private and public entities, and conducts and collaborates in research and development activites with private sponsors at Government facilities. Through this large expenditure of funds, there is substantial contact with intellectual property. This material principally deals with the relationship between intellectual property concepts of patent, trade secrets, and copyrights and the Government's procurement and financial assistance processes. The subject of trademarks is not covered.