CPCM LATEST 2026 STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS GRADED A+
✔✔Cost reimbursement - ✔✔A type of contract that provides for payment of allowable
incurred costs, to the extent prescribed in the contract. These contracts establish an
estimate of total cost for he purpose of obligating funds and establishing a ceiling that
the seller may not
Exceed (except at its own risk) without approval of the buyer
✔✔Cost sharing contract - ✔✔An explicit arrangement under which the seller bears
some of the burden of reasonable, allocable, and allowable contract cost. A cost-
sharing contract is cost reimbursement contract in which the seller receives no fee and
is reimbursed only for an agreed-upon portion of its allowable costs.
✔✔Debrief - ✔✔An explanation given by the buyer personnel to an offer or detailing the
reasons it's offer was unsuccessful. At a minimum should
Include: buyers evaluation of significant weakness or deficiencies in the proposal if
applicable, overall evaluated cost or price and technical
Rating of the successful offeror and the debriefed offeror and past performance
information on the debriefed offeror, the overall ranking of all offerors when any ranking
was developed by the agency during source selection, summary of the rationale for
award, for commercial items the male and model of the item delivered by the successful
offeror, and reasonable responses to relevant questions about whether source selection
procedures contained in the solicitation applicable regulations and other applicable
authorities were followed.
✔✔Design to cost - ✔✔A concept that establishes cost elements as management goals
to achieve the best balance between life cycle cost, acceptable performance, and
schedule; under this concept, cost is a design constraint during the design and
development phases and a management discipline throughout the acquisition and
operation of the system or equipment.
✔✔Discussions - ✔✔Negotiations conducted in a competitive acquisition, after
establishment of the competitive range.
✔✔Electronic commerce (e-commerce) - ✔✔Refers to a group of automated processes
that can be used to accomplish business transactions using the internet.
✔✔External Market research - ✔✔Market research consisting of looking for useful
information about capabilities and limitations in the commercial marketplace in order to
find information that can help
Determine the best method to obtain required goods and services consistent with
pertinent laws, regulations, industry standards, and or organizational policies.
✔✔Federal supply schedule (FSS) - ✔✔Directed and managed by the General
,service Administration, provides federal
Agencies with simplified process for obtaining commonly used supplies and services at
prices associated with volume buying: there are 4 types of Federal Supply Schedules:
Single Award, Multiple Award, New Item Introductory, and International
✔✔Fixed price - ✔✔A form of pricing that includes a ceiling beyond which the buyer
bears no responsibility for payment
✔✔Firm fixed price contract - ✔✔A contract that provides for a price that is not subject
to any adjustment by reason of costs experienced by the seller in the performance of
the contract
✔✔Fixed price Incentive contract - ✔✔A type of contract that provides for adjusting
profit and establishing the final contract price by applications of a formula based on the
relationship of total final
Negotiated cost to total target cost. The final price is subject to a price ceiling,
negotiated at the outset.
✔✔Fixed price incentive contract (firm target) - ✔✔Specifies a target cost, target
profit,'price ceiling (but not a profit ceiling or floor) and a profit adjustment formula.
These elements are all negotiated at the outset
✔✔Fixed price Incentive (successive target) - ✔✔Specifies the following elements, all of
which are negotiated at the outset: an initial target cost, initial target profit, and initial
profit adjustment formula
✔✔Fixed price with economic price adjustment - ✔✔A fixed-price contract that permits
an element of cost to fluctuate to reflect current market prices.; economic price
adjustments may be based on established prices, actual costs or labor or material, or
cost indexes of labor or material.
✔✔Fixed price redeterminable prospective - ✔✔A contract that provides for a firm fixed
price for internal period of contract deliveries or performance and prospective
redetermination (at a stated time or times during performance) of the price for
subsequent periods of performance.
✔✔Fixed price redetermindable retroactive - ✔✔Provides for a fixed ceiling price and a
retroactive price determination within the ceiling after completion of the contract
✔✔Firm fixed price level of effort - ✔✔A contract suitable for investigation or study in a
specific research and development area; the product of the contract is usually a report
showing the results achieved through application of the required level of effort, however,
payment is based on the effort expended rather than on the results achieved.
✔✔Fixed price with award fee contract - ✔✔Establishes a fixed price (including normal
, Profit) for the effort; this price will be paid for satisfactory contract performance, and
award fee earned (if any) will be paid in addition to that fixed price.
✔✔Flexible progress payments - ✔✔A method of making progress payments used by
the Department of Defense for certain negotiated contracts performed in the United
States; tailors the progress payment rate to more closely match the contractor's cash
needs for financing contract performance.
✔✔Framework pricing arrangement - ✔✔A contract that is definitive in all respects
except pricing. The agreement or contract specifies a predetermined index, formula, or
algorithm for the calculation of price at the point of sale.
✔✔Gap fillers - ✔✔Sources of pertinent information that may be used to fill in missing
areas when a contract fails to adequately address an issue.
✔✔Government contract financing - ✔✔Completing a government contract with the
governments assistance in some form of contract financing; in federal government
contracting, when a contractor requests financing, the contracting officer is to consider
the following order of preference for methods of contract financing:
Private financing
Customary contract financing other than loan guarantees
Loan guarantees
Unusual contract financing
Advance payments
✔✔Industry day - ✔✔Opportunities for the buyer to present upcoming requirements to
several sellers at one time; can provide a networking environment with other sellers to
help determine future teaming opportunities
✔✔Intellectual property - ✔✔Includes inventions, trademarks, parents, industrial design,
copyrights, and technical
Information including software, data designs, technical know-how, manufacturing
information and know-how, techniques, technical data packages, manufacturing data
packages, and trade secrets.
✔✔Internal market research - ✔✔Market research consisting of examining the buyer's
own organization with the primary goal of learning as much as possible about the
organization, how it does business, and how it has used goods and services acquired in
the past.
✔✔Invitation for bids - ✔✔The method of solicitation for the sealed bid process. The IFB
must describe the requirements of the buyer clearly, accurately, and completely.
Unnecessarily restrictive specifications or requirements that might unduly limit the
number of bidders are prohibited. The IFB includes all documents (whether attached or
incorporated by reference) furnished by prospective bidders for the purpose of bidding.
ANSWERS GRADED A+
✔✔Cost reimbursement - ✔✔A type of contract that provides for payment of allowable
incurred costs, to the extent prescribed in the contract. These contracts establish an
estimate of total cost for he purpose of obligating funds and establishing a ceiling that
the seller may not
Exceed (except at its own risk) without approval of the buyer
✔✔Cost sharing contract - ✔✔An explicit arrangement under which the seller bears
some of the burden of reasonable, allocable, and allowable contract cost. A cost-
sharing contract is cost reimbursement contract in which the seller receives no fee and
is reimbursed only for an agreed-upon portion of its allowable costs.
✔✔Debrief - ✔✔An explanation given by the buyer personnel to an offer or detailing the
reasons it's offer was unsuccessful. At a minimum should
Include: buyers evaluation of significant weakness or deficiencies in the proposal if
applicable, overall evaluated cost or price and technical
Rating of the successful offeror and the debriefed offeror and past performance
information on the debriefed offeror, the overall ranking of all offerors when any ranking
was developed by the agency during source selection, summary of the rationale for
award, for commercial items the male and model of the item delivered by the successful
offeror, and reasonable responses to relevant questions about whether source selection
procedures contained in the solicitation applicable regulations and other applicable
authorities were followed.
✔✔Design to cost - ✔✔A concept that establishes cost elements as management goals
to achieve the best balance between life cycle cost, acceptable performance, and
schedule; under this concept, cost is a design constraint during the design and
development phases and a management discipline throughout the acquisition and
operation of the system or equipment.
✔✔Discussions - ✔✔Negotiations conducted in a competitive acquisition, after
establishment of the competitive range.
✔✔Electronic commerce (e-commerce) - ✔✔Refers to a group of automated processes
that can be used to accomplish business transactions using the internet.
✔✔External Market research - ✔✔Market research consisting of looking for useful
information about capabilities and limitations in the commercial marketplace in order to
find information that can help
Determine the best method to obtain required goods and services consistent with
pertinent laws, regulations, industry standards, and or organizational policies.
✔✔Federal supply schedule (FSS) - ✔✔Directed and managed by the General
,service Administration, provides federal
Agencies with simplified process for obtaining commonly used supplies and services at
prices associated with volume buying: there are 4 types of Federal Supply Schedules:
Single Award, Multiple Award, New Item Introductory, and International
✔✔Fixed price - ✔✔A form of pricing that includes a ceiling beyond which the buyer
bears no responsibility for payment
✔✔Firm fixed price contract - ✔✔A contract that provides for a price that is not subject
to any adjustment by reason of costs experienced by the seller in the performance of
the contract
✔✔Fixed price Incentive contract - ✔✔A type of contract that provides for adjusting
profit and establishing the final contract price by applications of a formula based on the
relationship of total final
Negotiated cost to total target cost. The final price is subject to a price ceiling,
negotiated at the outset.
✔✔Fixed price incentive contract (firm target) - ✔✔Specifies a target cost, target
profit,'price ceiling (but not a profit ceiling or floor) and a profit adjustment formula.
These elements are all negotiated at the outset
✔✔Fixed price Incentive (successive target) - ✔✔Specifies the following elements, all of
which are negotiated at the outset: an initial target cost, initial target profit, and initial
profit adjustment formula
✔✔Fixed price with economic price adjustment - ✔✔A fixed-price contract that permits
an element of cost to fluctuate to reflect current market prices.; economic price
adjustments may be based on established prices, actual costs or labor or material, or
cost indexes of labor or material.
✔✔Fixed price redeterminable prospective - ✔✔A contract that provides for a firm fixed
price for internal period of contract deliveries or performance and prospective
redetermination (at a stated time or times during performance) of the price for
subsequent periods of performance.
✔✔Fixed price redetermindable retroactive - ✔✔Provides for a fixed ceiling price and a
retroactive price determination within the ceiling after completion of the contract
✔✔Firm fixed price level of effort - ✔✔A contract suitable for investigation or study in a
specific research and development area; the product of the contract is usually a report
showing the results achieved through application of the required level of effort, however,
payment is based on the effort expended rather than on the results achieved.
✔✔Fixed price with award fee contract - ✔✔Establishes a fixed price (including normal
, Profit) for the effort; this price will be paid for satisfactory contract performance, and
award fee earned (if any) will be paid in addition to that fixed price.
✔✔Flexible progress payments - ✔✔A method of making progress payments used by
the Department of Defense for certain negotiated contracts performed in the United
States; tailors the progress payment rate to more closely match the contractor's cash
needs for financing contract performance.
✔✔Framework pricing arrangement - ✔✔A contract that is definitive in all respects
except pricing. The agreement or contract specifies a predetermined index, formula, or
algorithm for the calculation of price at the point of sale.
✔✔Gap fillers - ✔✔Sources of pertinent information that may be used to fill in missing
areas when a contract fails to adequately address an issue.
✔✔Government contract financing - ✔✔Completing a government contract with the
governments assistance in some form of contract financing; in federal government
contracting, when a contractor requests financing, the contracting officer is to consider
the following order of preference for methods of contract financing:
Private financing
Customary contract financing other than loan guarantees
Loan guarantees
Unusual contract financing
Advance payments
✔✔Industry day - ✔✔Opportunities for the buyer to present upcoming requirements to
several sellers at one time; can provide a networking environment with other sellers to
help determine future teaming opportunities
✔✔Intellectual property - ✔✔Includes inventions, trademarks, parents, industrial design,
copyrights, and technical
Information including software, data designs, technical know-how, manufacturing
information and know-how, techniques, technical data packages, manufacturing data
packages, and trade secrets.
✔✔Internal market research - ✔✔Market research consisting of examining the buyer's
own organization with the primary goal of learning as much as possible about the
organization, how it does business, and how it has used goods and services acquired in
the past.
✔✔Invitation for bids - ✔✔The method of solicitation for the sealed bid process. The IFB
must describe the requirements of the buyer clearly, accurately, and completely.
Unnecessarily restrictive specifications or requirements that might unduly limit the
number of bidders are prohibited. The IFB includes all documents (whether attached or
incorporated by reference) furnished by prospective bidders for the purpose of bidding.
