DCAA Clarifies Position on Documentation Requirements for Consultant Costs

The Defense Contract Audit Agency recently issued guidance clarifying the agency’s view on the types of evidence necessary to substantiate consultant costs.  The guidance explains DCAA’s position that Federal Acquisition Regulation 31.205-33, which addresses the allowability of consultant costs, does not require the existence of specific types of documents in order for consultant costs to be allowable.  Instead, the guidance explains that the FAR only requires evidence of the nature and scope of the consultant effort and that such evidence can be supplied in a variety of ways, including through non-contemporaneous documentation.  This guidance will assist contractors in resisting the common auditor position that FAR 31.205-33 requires contractors to provide specific types of documents, such as invoices, contracts, and work product, as a precondition of consultant cost allowability.