This glossary explains terminology used across Nonprofit & Public Sector organizations, with a focus on the National/Federal Government (Civilian Agencies) Practice. It helps executives, public servants, contractors, and advisers interpret language spanning budgeting, acquisition, grants, rulemaking, oversight, workforce management, and agency performance.
A B C D E F G H I J L M N O P Q R S T U V W
| A | |
| ACO | Administrative Contracting Officer: The official responsible for administering a federal contract after award, including compliance, modifications, payments, and contractor performance. |
| ADR | Alternative Dispute Resolution: Mediation, arbitration, and related processes used to resolve administrative, employment, procurement, or regulatory disputes without full litigation. |
| AFR | Agency Financial Report: An annual publication presenting an agency’s audited financial statements, internal-control reporting, and related financial management information. |
| ALN | Assistance Listing Number: The identifier assigned to a federal financial assistance program in SAM.gov, replacing the former Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number. |
| ANPRM | Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: A preliminary regulatory notice used to gather public input before an agency develops a proposed rule. |
| APA | Administrative Procedure Act: The foundational U.S. statute governing federal rulemaking, adjudication, judicial review, and public participation in administrative decisions. |
| APG | Agency Priority Goal: A time-bound performance goal focused on a limited number of high-priority outcomes requiring sustained attention from agency leadership. |
| APP | Annual Performance Plan: A plan describing an agency’s performance goals, indicators, milestones, and strategies for a fiscal year. |
| APR | Annual Performance Report: A statutory report comparing agency results with the targets established in its annual performance plan. |
| ASAP | Automated Standard Application for Payments: A U.S. Treasury platform through which authorized recipients request and receive payments for many federal assistance programs. |
| B | |
| BA | Budget Authority: Legal authority provided by federal law to enter into obligations that result in immediate or future government spending. |
| BOA | Basic Ordering Agreement: A written agreement establishing terms for future contracts or orders when quantities and delivery requirements are not yet known. |
| BOC | Budget Object Class: A classification identifying the nature of a federal obligation, such as personnel compensation, travel, supplies, equipment, or contractual services. |
| BPA | Blanket Purchase Agreement: A simplified acquisition arrangement used to satisfy recurring requirements through future calls or orders under agreed terms. |
| BY | Budget Year: The fiscal year for which funding is requested in the President’s Budget, as distinguished from the current and prior years. |
| C | |
| CAO | Chief Acquisition Officer: The senior agency executive responsible for acquisition policy, workforce capability, procurement performance, and strategic sourcing. |
| CAP | Cross-Agency Priority: A designation applied to government-wide goals requiring coordinated action by multiple federal agencies to achieve shared outcomes. |
| CAS | Cost Accounting Standards: Requirements promoting consistency in how certain federal contractors measure, assign, and allocate costs to government contracts. |
| CBA | Collective Bargaining Agreement: A negotiated agreement governing employment conditions and labor-management relations for a represented federal workforce unit. |
| CBJ | Congressional Budget Justification: An agency submission explaining requested appropriations, program changes, staffing, performance expectations, and resource requirements to Congress. |
| CBO | Congressional Budget Office: The nonpartisan legislative agency that produces budget projections, cost estimates, and economic analyses for Congress. |
| CFDA | Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance: The former government-wide catalog of federal assistance programs; its program numbers remain visible in historical awards and records. |
| CFO | Chief Financial Officer: The senior official accountable for agency financial management, reporting, internal controls, and financial systems under the federal financial management framework. |
| CFR | Code of Federal Regulations: The codification of general and permanent rules issued by departments and agencies of the U.S. federal government. |
| CHCO | Chief Human Capital Officer: The senior executive responsible for aligning workforce strategy, talent management, succession planning, and human capital policies with agency missions. |
| CICA | Competition in Contracting Act: The statute establishing competition requirements, procurement protest mechanisms, and related controls for federal contracting. |
| CIGIE | Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency: The independent council that coordinates professional standards, training, and government-wide initiatives across federal inspector general offices. |
| CLIN | Contract Line Item Number: A numbered contract element used to identify a separately priced supply, service, deliverable, funding segment, or performance requirement. |
| CO | Contracting Officer: A warranted federal official with authority to enter into, administer, modify, and terminate contracts and make related determinations. |
| COR | Contracting Officer’s Representative: An individual formally designated to monitor technical performance and perform specified contract-administration duties without changing contractual terms. |
| CPARS | Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System: The federal system used to document contractor performance for consideration in source selections and responsibility assessments. |
| CR | Continuing Resolution: Temporary appropriations legislation that keeps federal activities operating when regular appropriations have not been enacted. |
| CRA | Congressional Review Act: A statute requiring agencies to submit final rules to Congress and providing a process for congressional disapproval. |
| CRS | Congressional Research Service: The legislative-branch organization that provides nonpartisan policy, legal, and analytical support to Congress. |
| CSRS | Civil Service Retirement System: The legacy defined-benefit retirement system that continues to cover eligible federal employees hired before the newer retirement system took effect. |
| CUI | Controlled Unclassified Information: Government information requiring safeguarding or dissemination controls under law, regulation, or government-wide policy even though it is not classified. |
| D | |
| D&F | Determinations and Findings: A formal acquisition document setting out an authorized decision and the facts or rationale supporting it. |
| DAEO | Designated Agency Ethics Official: The senior official responsible for administering an agency’s ethics program, including advice, training, disclosures, and conflict-of-interest controls. |
| DATA Act | Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014: A statute requiring standardized, publicly accessible reporting of federal spending and award information. |
| DBRA | Davis-Bacon and Related Acts: Federal statutes requiring covered contractors and subcontractors to pay locally prevailing wages and benefits on qualifying construction work. |
| DUNS | Data Universal Numbering System: The former entity-identification system used for federal awards, replaced by the government-issued Unique Entity Identifier but still present in legacy records. |
| E | |
| ECQ | Executive Core Qualifications: Government-wide leadership competencies used to assess candidates for career appointments to the Senior Executive Service. |
| EDWOSB | Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business: A federal contracting designation for qualifying women-owned firms whose owners meet specified economic-disadvantage criteria. |
| EEO | Equal Employment Opportunity: The legal and policy framework prohibiting employment discrimination and requiring fair federal workplace practices and complaint processes. |
| EEOC | Equal Employment Opportunity Commission: The independent agency that enforces federal employment discrimination laws and oversees the federal-sector complaint process. |
| EIS | Environmental Impact Statement: A detailed analysis of significant environmental effects and alternatives prepared for major federal actions under environmental review requirements. |
| EO | Executive Order: A presidential directive that manages executive-branch operations or implements authority granted by the Constitution or statute. |
| ERB | Executive Resources Board: An agency body that advises on executive staffing, succession, performance, development, and Senior Executive Service appointments. |
| eSRS | Electronic Subcontracting Reporting System: The government system through which contractors report performance against required small-business subcontracting plans. |
| EVM | Earned Value Management: A program-control method integrating scope, schedule, and cost information to measure progress and forecast project outcomes. |
| EVMS | Earned Value Management System: The policies, processes, tools, and data used to implement integrated cost and schedule performance management on qualifying programs or contracts. |
| F | |
| F&A | Facilities and Administrative Costs: Indirect costs associated with shared facilities and administrative support that cannot be readily assigned to a single federal award. |
| FAC | Federal Audit Clearinghouse: The government repository for Single Audit submissions used by awarding agencies and oversight bodies to evaluate recipient audit findings. |
| FACA | Federal Advisory Committee Act: The statute governing the establishment, operation, transparency, and public accountability of federal advisory committees. |
| FAIN | Federal Award Identification Number: A unique identifier assigned by a federal awarding agency to track a financial assistance award throughout its life cycle. |
| FAIR | Federal Activities Inventory Reform Act: A statute requiring executive agencies to identify activities performed by federal employees that are potentially commercial in nature. |
| FAPIIS | Federal Awardee Performance and Integrity Information System: A federal information resource containing performance and integrity records used in award responsibility and risk evaluations. |
| FAR | Federal Acquisition Regulation: The principal body of uniform policies and procedures governing acquisition by U.S. executive agencies. |
| FASAB | Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board: The body that develops generally accepted accounting principles for federal entities and government-wide financial reporting. |
| FBWT | Fund Balance with Treasury: The aggregate amount in an agency’s Treasury accounts available to pay liabilities and finance authorized operations. |
| FECA | Federal Employees’ Compensation Act: The statute providing workers’ compensation benefits for federal employees who sustain job-related injuries or occupational illnesses. |
| FEGLI | Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance: The government-sponsored life insurance program available to eligible federal employees, retirees, and certain family members. |
| FEHB | Federal Employees Health Benefits Program: The principal health insurance program for eligible federal employees, retirees, and covered family members. |
| FERS | Federal Employees Retirement System: The primary retirement framework for most civilian federal employees, combining a pension, Social Security, and a defined-contribution savings plan. |
| FFATA | Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act: A statute requiring public reporting of federal contracts, grants, loans, and certain subawards. |
| FFMIA | Federal Financial Management Improvement Act: A law requiring agency financial systems to comply with federal requirements, accounting standards, and the government-wide general ledger. |
| FFP | Firm-Fixed-Price: A contract pricing arrangement that places maximum cost responsibility on the contractor for delivering the specified requirement at the agreed price. |
| FLRA | Federal Labor Relations Authority: The independent agency that administers the federal labor-management relations program and resolves representation and unfair-labor-practice matters. |
| FMFIA | Federal Managers’ Financial Integrity Act: A statute requiring agencies to assess and report on internal accounting and administrative controls each year. |
| FMR | Federal Management Regulation: Government-wide rules governing areas such as federal property, transportation, asset management, and administrative services. |
| FOA | Funding Opportunity Announcement: A public notice describing the objectives, eligibility rules, application requirements, and evaluation criteria for a federal assistance opportunity. |
| FOIA | Freedom of Information Act: The statute providing public access to federal agency records, subject to specified exemptions and exclusions. |
| FONSI | Finding of No Significant Impact: A documented conclusion that a proposed federal action will not significantly affect the human environment and therefore does not require a full environmental impact statement. |
| FPDS | Federal Procurement Data System: The government-wide source of detailed information about federal contract actions, spending, vendors, and competition. |
| FR | Federal Register: The official daily publication for proposed and final rules, notices, presidential documents, and other federal agency actions. |
| FRA | Federal Records Act: The statutory framework governing the creation, management, preservation, and lawful disposal of federal records. |
| FRFA | Final Regulatory Flexibility Analysis: An analysis accompanying certain final rules that evaluates impacts on small entities and explains alternatives considered by the agency. |
| FSRS | FFATA Subaward Reporting System: The reporting mechanism historically used by prime recipients to disclose qualifying first-tier subawards for federal spending transparency. |
| FTE | Full-Time Equivalent: A standardized measure of workforce capacity used in federal staffing, budgeting, workload planning, and personnel reporting. |
| FTR | Federal Travel Regulation: Government-wide rules covering official civilian travel, relocation, reimbursement, and travel-related responsibilities. |
| FY | Fiscal Year: The federal accounting and budget period running from October 1 through September 30 and identified by the calendar year in which it ends. |
| G | |
| GAGAS | Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards: Professional standards issued by the Government Accountability Office for audits of government entities, programs, activities, and awards. |
| GAO | Government Accountability Office: The independent legislative-branch agency that audits federal operations, evaluates programs, issues legal decisions, and supports congressional oversight. |
| GPRA | Government Performance and Results Act: The statute establishing federal requirements for strategic planning, annual performance planning, measurement, and reporting. |
| GPRAMA | GPRA Modernization Act of 2010: Legislation that strengthened federal performance management through priority goals, quarterly reviews, designated leadership roles, and a government-wide performance framework. |
| GS | General Schedule: The principal classification and pay system for professional, administrative, technical, and clerical civilian federal employees. |
| GSA | General Services Administration: The agency providing government-wide acquisition vehicles, real estate, property, travel, and shared administrative services. |
| GTAS | Governmentwide Treasury Account Symbol Adjusted Trial Balance System: The Treasury system through which agencies submit standardized trial-balance data for government-wide financial reporting. |
| H | |
| HCA | Head of the Contracting Activity: The senior official responsible for managing a defined agency contracting activity and exercising delegated acquisition authorities. |
| HUBZone | Historically Underutilized Business Zone: A federal small-business program that supports contracting opportunities for qualifying firms located in designated economically distressed areas. |
| I | |
| IAA | Interagency Agreement: A documented arrangement under which federal agencies exchange funds, goods, services, or support using appropriate legal authority. |
| IAE | Integrated Award Environment: The government-wide portfolio of services supporting federal procurement and financial assistance processes, including entity registration and award reporting. |
| ICR | Indirect Cost Rate: The percentage or allocation methodology used to assign allowable shared costs to federal awards or contracts. |
| ICR | Information Collection Request: An agency submission seeking approval to collect information from the public under the Paperwork Reduction Act. |
| IDIQ | Indefinite-Delivery/Indefinite-Quantity: A contract structure providing an indefinite quantity of supplies or services through orders issued during a fixed ordering period. |
| IG | Inspector General: An independent oversight official responsible for audits, investigations, evaluations, and efforts to prevent fraud, waste, and abuse within an agency. |
| IGCE | Independent Government Cost Estimate: The government’s internal estimate of a requirement’s expected cost, used for acquisition planning, price analysis, and negotiations. |
| IPA | Intergovernmental Personnel Act: The statutory basis for temporary personnel assignments between federal agencies and eligible state, local, academic, tribal, or nonprofit organizations. |
| IPAC | Intra-Governmental Payment and Collection: A Treasury mechanism used by federal entities to transfer funds and settle reimbursable transactions with one another. |
| IRFA | Initial Regulatory Flexibility Analysis: An assessment of a proposed rule’s potential effects on small entities and the less burdensome alternatives considered. |
| ISR | Individual Subcontracting Report: A contractor report documenting subcontracting achievements against the goals established for an individual federal contract. |
| J | |
| J&A | Justification and Approval: The formal documentation required to support and authorize contracting without full and open competition in specified circumstances. |
| L | |
| LCCE | Life-Cycle Cost Estimate: An estimate of total costs across a program or asset’s acquisition, operation, maintenance, support, and disposal phases. |
| LPTA | Lowest Price Technically Acceptable: A source-selection approach in which award is made to the lowest-priced offer meeting all stated minimum technical requirements. |
| M | |
| MAC | Multiple-Award Contract: A contract vehicle awarded to two or more contractors that subsequently compete for orders within the vehicle’s scope. |
| MAS | Multiple Award Schedule: The General Services Administration’s government-wide contracting program offering commercial products, services, and solutions through pre-negotiated contracts. |
| MOA | Memorandum of Agreement: A document setting out commitments, responsibilities, governance, or resource arrangements between agencies or partner organizations. |
| MOU | Memorandum of Understanding: A document recording a shared understanding between parties, often used to coordinate activities without creating a procurement contract. |
| MSPB | Merit Systems Protection Board: The independent quasi-judicial agency that hears specified federal personnel appeals and protects merit-system principles. |
| MTDC | Modified Total Direct Cost: A federal assistance cost base used to calculate indirect costs after excluding specified items such as major equipment and certain subaward amounts. |
| N | |
| NAICS | North American Industry Classification System: The industry-coding system used to classify vendors, define acquisition markets, and apply federal small-business size standards. |
| NARA | National Archives and Records Administration: The agency that establishes federal records-management requirements and preserves records with enduring historical or legal value. |
| NCE | No-Cost Extension: An approved extension of an assistance award’s period of performance without additional federal funding. |
| NEPA | National Environmental Policy Act: The statute requiring federal agencies to assess environmental effects before making decisions on major proposed actions. |
| NFE | Non-Federal Entity: A state, local government, Indian tribe, institution of higher education, or nonprofit organization carrying out a federal award under assistance regulations. |
| NICRA | Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement: A formal agreement establishing an organization’s approved indirect cost rates for use on federal awards. |
| NoA | Notice of Award: The official document notifying a recipient that a federal assistance award has been made and stating its terms, conditions, funding, and performance period. |
| NOFO | Notice of Funding Opportunity: The public announcement through which an agency solicits applications for a discretionary grant or cooperative agreement. |
| NPRM | Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: A Federal Register document presenting proposed regulatory text and inviting public comment before a final rule is issued. |
| NTE | Not to Exceed: A contractual or financial ceiling that may not be surpassed without additional authorization or modification. |
| O | |
| OCI | Organizational Conflict of Interest: A situation in which a contractor’s relationships or activities may impair objectivity, create unfair access, or provide an unfair competitive advantage. |
| OFPP | Office of Federal Procurement Policy: The Office of Management and Budget component that provides government-wide direction for acquisition policy, procurement management, and the acquisition workforce. |
| OGC | Office of General Counsel: An agency legal office advising leadership and programs on statutory authority, regulation, litigation, ethics, acquisition, and administrative law. |
| OGE | Office of Government Ethics: The agency that leads and oversees the executive branch’s ethics program, including financial disclosure and conflict-of-interest requirements. |
| OIG | Office of Inspector General: An independent agency office that conducts audits, investigations, inspections, and evaluations to promote integrity and effectiveness. |
| OIRA | Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs: The Office of Management and Budget component that reviews significant regulatory actions and administers government-wide information-collection policy. |
| OMB | Office of Management and Budget: The Executive Office of the President component responsible for budget development, management policy, regulatory coordination, and agency performance oversight. |
| OPM | Office of Personnel Management: The central agency responsible for federal civilian workforce policy, hiring frameworks, benefits, classification, and human capital oversight. |
| OSC | U.S. Office of Special Counsel: The independent investigative and prosecutorial agency that protects federal employees and applicants from prohibited personnel practices and retaliation. |
| OSDBU | Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization: An agency office that promotes contracting opportunities for small and disadvantaged businesses and monitors related acquisition performance. |
| P | |
| PALT | Procurement Administrative Lead Time: The elapsed time required to complete an acquisition process, often measured from receipt of a complete requirements package to contract award. |
| PAR | Performance and Accountability Report: An annual report integrating agency performance results, financial information, management assurances, and accountability disclosures. |
| PAS | Presidential Appointment with Senate Confirmation: A senior federal position filled through presidential nomination and confirmation by the U.S. Senate. |
| PAYGO | Pay-As-You-Go: A budget rule requiring specified new mandatory spending or revenue reductions to be offset so they do not increase projected deficits. |
| PCO | Procuring Contracting Officer: The official with authority to conduct a procurement and execute the resulting contract on behalf of the government. |
| PII | Personally Identifiable Information: Information that can identify or be linked to an individual and therefore requires appropriate privacy, access, and handling controls. |
| PIIA | Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019: The statutory framework requiring agencies to identify, estimate, report, prevent, and recover improper payments. |
| PIO | Performance Improvement Officer: The senior official responsible for coordinating agency performance management and supporting leadership reviews of priority goals and results. |
| PMA | President’s Management Agenda: The administration’s government-wide framework for improving federal operations, workforce capability, service delivery, and management performance. |
| PMF | Presidential Management Fellows: A federal leadership development program that recruits advanced-degree candidates for two-year appointments and rotational development. |
| PMIAA | Program Management Improvement Accountability Act: A statute intended to strengthen program and project management policy, governance, workforce capability, and accountability across federal agencies. |
| POP | Period of Performance: The authorized time interval during which contract work or award-supported activities may be carried out. |
| PPA | Prompt Payment Act: A statute requiring timely federal payments to vendors and interest penalties when agencies pay qualifying invoices late. |
| PPP | Prohibited Personnel Practice: A personnel action forbidden by federal merit-system law, such as retaliation, discrimination, improper preference, or obstruction of lawful competition. |
| PRA | Paperwork Reduction Act: The statute controlling federal information collections from the public and requiring review of burden, necessity, and practical utility. |
| PSC | Product Service Code: A standardized code identifying the type of product or service purchased in a federal procurement action. |
| PWS | Performance Work Statement: A requirements document describing desired outcomes, performance standards, and acceptable quality levels rather than prescribing how work must be performed. |
| Q | |
| QASP | Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan: The government’s plan for monitoring contractor performance against the standards and acceptable quality levels in a performance-based requirement. |
| R | |
| RFA | Request for Applications: A solicitation inviting eligible organizations to apply for funding under a defined federal assistance program or initiative. |
| RFA | Regulatory Flexibility Act: The statute requiring agencies to consider the effects of regulations on small entities and evaluate less burdensome alternatives. |
| RFI | Request for Information: A market-research notice used to gather information from potential suppliers or stakeholders before finalizing an acquisition strategy or requirement. |
| RFP | Request for Proposals: A solicitation used in negotiated procurement that requests technical and price proposals for evaluation against stated factors. |
| RFQ | Request for Quotation: A request for pricing, terms, and related information commonly used in simplified acquisitions and orders against contract vehicles. |
| RIA | Regulatory Impact Analysis: A structured assessment of a regulation’s anticipated benefits, costs, alternatives, and distributional or economic effects. |
| RIF | Reduction in Force: A formal federal workforce process used when positions must be eliminated or employees released because of reorganization, funding, workload, or staffing changes. |
| RIN | Regulation Identifier Number: A unique identifier assigned to a federal regulatory action for tracking across agendas, notices, proposed rules, and final rules. |
| ROD | Record of Decision: A public document explaining an agency’s selected course of action, alternatives considered, and mitigation commitments after environmental review. |
| RWA | Reimbursable Work Authorization: An agreement authorizing the General Services Administration to perform real-property services on behalf of a customer agency using reimbursable funds. |
| S | |
| SAM | System for Award Management: The official government platform for entity registration, exclusions, assistance listings, contract opportunities, and federal award information. |
| SAP | Statement of Administration Policy: A formal Executive Office of the President communication stating the administration’s position on legislation under congressional consideration. |
| SAT | Simplified Acquisition Threshold: The statutory dollar threshold below which agencies generally may use streamlined purchasing procedures, subject to applicable exceptions and adjustments. |
| SBA | Small Business Administration: The agency that administers federal small-business programs, establishes size standards, and supports small-business participation in contracting. |
| SBREFA | Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act: A statute strengthening small-entity participation in rulemaking and providing additional review and compliance-assistance mechanisms. |
| SCA | Service Contract Act: The commonly used legacy name for federal labor standards requiring minimum wages and fringe benefits on covered service contracts. |
| SCLS | Service Contract Labor Standards: The current acquisition terminology for labor requirements applying to employees performing many covered federal service contracts. |
| SDB | Small Disadvantaged Business: A qualifying small business owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals for federal contracting purposes. |
| SDVOSB | Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business: A federal contracting designation for qualifying small firms owned and controlled by service-disabled veterans. |
| SES | Senior Executive Service: The corps of senior career and noncareer executives who lead major federal programs and operate between political appointees and the broader civil service. |
| SFFAS | Statement of Federal Financial Accounting Standards: An authoritative accounting standard governing recognition, measurement, presentation, or disclosure in federal financial reports. |
| SL/ST | Senior-Level and Scientific or Professional Positions: Senior federal positions outside the executive service for high-level policy, technical, research, or professional work. |
| SNPRM | Supplemental Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: A notice used when an agency materially revises a proposed rule or seeks additional public comment before finalization. |
| SORN | System of Records Notice: A public notice describing a federal record system from which information is retrieved by personal identifier and explaining applicable privacy practices. |
| SOW | Statement of Work: A contract requirements document defining the tasks, deliverables, schedule, and responsibilities for work to be performed. |
| T | |
| T&M | Time-and-Materials: A contract type that pays fixed labor-hour rates plus the actual cost of specified materials and requires close government surveillance. |
| TAFS | Treasury Appropriation Fund Symbol: The account structure identifying a distinct federal appropriation or fund account by agency, main account, and period of availability. |
| TAS | Treasury Account Symbol: The standardized identifier assigned by the Treasury to classify federal receipts, appropriations, funds, and other accounts. |
| TDR | Transactional Data Reporting: A federal acquisition reporting approach requiring participating contractors to submit detailed sales data for orders placed through covered vehicles. |
| TDY | Temporary Duty: Official travel or an assignment performed away from an employee’s permanent duty station for a limited period. |
| TINA | Truth in Negotiations Act: The widely used legacy name for statutory requirements governing certified cost or pricing data in certain negotiated federal acquisitions. |
| TO | Task Order: An order for services issued under an indefinite-delivery contract or another authorized ordering vehicle. |
| TSP | Thrift Savings Plan: The defined-contribution retirement savings plan for federal employees and members of the uniformed services. |
| U | |
| UCF | Uniform Contract Format: The standardized organization used for many federal solicitations and contracts, covering schedules, clauses, attachments, and proposal instructions. |
| UEI | Unique Entity Identifier: The government-issued identifier used to distinguish organizations registering for federal contracts, grants, and other awards. |
| UG | Uniform Guidance: The government-wide requirements in 2 CFR part 200 governing federal award administration, cost principles, and audit requirements. |
| U.S.C. | United States Code: The official compilation and codification of the general and permanent federal statutes of the United States. |
| USSGL | U.S. Standard General Ledger: The uniform chart of accounts and transaction guidance used to standardize accounting across federal agencies. |
| V | |
| VEOA | Veterans Employment Opportunities Act: A statute expanding eligible veterans’ ability to compete for certain federal positions and providing redress for specified preference violations. |
| VOSB | Veteran-Owned Small Business: A small business owned and controlled by one or more veterans and eligible for applicable federal contracting opportunities. |
| VRA | Veterans Recruitment Appointment: A special federal hiring authority allowing agencies to appoint eligible veterans to qualifying positions without traditional competitive procedures. |
| W | |
| WBS | Work Breakdown Structure: A hierarchical decomposition of program scope into manageable elements for estimating, scheduling, budgeting, accountability, and performance control. |
| WCF | Working Capital Fund: A revolving fund that finances common goods or services through charges to customer organizations rather than direct annual appropriations for each transaction. |
| WGI | Within-Grade Increase: A periodic pay increase available to eligible General Schedule employees who meet waiting-period and acceptable-performance requirements. |
| WOSB | Women-Owned Small Business: A federal contracting designation for qualifying small businesses owned and controlled by women. |
| WPEA | Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act: A statute strengthening protections and remedies for federal employees who disclose evidence of wrongdoing, waste, abuse, or threats to public safety. |