The principal reason for the existence of unbilled costs is the time usually required, after receipt of material or expenditures for labor and other costs , to assemble data for billing. The right to bill usually exists upon expenditure or accrual, and that right represents a receivable rather than an advance or inventory.
Disposal credits are amounts deducted from the contractor's termination claim receivable by reason of the contractor's retention, or sale to outsiders, of some or all of the termination inventory for which claim was made. In the circumstance of items retained, either as scrap or for use by the contractor, the amount of the credit shall be determined by agreement between the contractor and a representative of the government. The sale of inventory items by the contractor shall be likewise subject to approval by the government, except as permitted by regulation. Because the amount of the contractor's termination claim is properly recorded as a sale, any elements included in that claim for items of inventory retained by the contractor are, in effect, reacquired by the contractor and shall be treated as purchases at the agreed value. Amounts received for items sold to others with the approval of the government are collections for the account of the government and shall be applied as a reduction of the termination claim receivable. Inventories or other items that are retained by the contractor after termination without claim for loss shall not be included as an element of the termination claim.
A contractor whose contract is terminated may prefer to retain the termination inventory for use in other production or for disposal at the contractor's risk. For these or other reasons the contractor may prefer to make no claim against the government or a higher-tier contractor. In such no-cost settlements there is no sale of inventory or other items to the government and no occasion to accrue any profit arising from the termination. The costs otherwise applicable to the contract shall be given their usual treatment in the accounts. Items of inventory or other property retained, having been previously recorded, require no charge to purchases but shall be treated in accordance with the usual procedures applicable to such assets.
The accounting for progress payments under a government contract depends on the progress-payments clause as follows:
- a
If legal title to the related accumulated costs of contracts in progress vests with the U.S. government on the contractor's receipt of progress payments, progress payments received on fixed-price contracts shall be applied by individual contract first to amounts carried in unbilled receivables, with any remainder applied to accumulated costs of contracts in progress (often referred to as inventories).
- b
If a legal determination is made that the U.S. government receives only a secured interest in the accumulated costs of contracts in progress, progress payments received shall be accounted for as a financing transaction.