CAS Board

Congress re-instituted the Cost Accounting Standards Board (CASB) in 1988 as a permanent and independent board and assigned it to hte Office of Federal Procurement Policy (OFPP) in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The CASB was given exclusive authority to make, promulgate, amend, and rescind cost accounting standards and regulations. The 5 member board is chaired by the OFPP Administrator with one representative from the Department of Defense (DOD) and 1 member from the General Services Administration (GSA). The remaining 2 members are from the private sector. One is from industry adn the other is a cost accounting expert.

A quorum consists of three members, one of which must be from the private sector. Each board member with the exception of the Chairman, serves a 4 year term. The OFPP Administrator (Chairman) must ensure that no agency regulation is inconsistent with CAS. Costs subject to CAS cannot be subject to any other agency regulations that differ in measurement, assignment, and allocation of costs.

The law requires the CAS Board to promulgate Cost Account Standards. The Board, in its Statement of Objectives, Policies, and Concepts describes a Cost Accounting Standard as: ...a statement formally issued by the Cost Accounting Standards Board that:

• 1. enunciates a principle or principles to be followed,

• 2. establishes practices to be applied,

• 3. specifies criteria to be employed in selecting from alternative principles and practices in estimating, accumulating, and reporting costs under contracts subject to the rules of the Board.