Department of War Memorandum – Supplier Cost and Pricing Transparency
6th November 2026
On August 18, 2026, the DoW published a memo focused on maximizing insight into contractor cost and pricing data. The memo requires full transparency throughout all tiers of the supply chain for contractors and subcontractors. This requirement applies to products and services valued at $10 million or more, regardless of whether cost and pricing data must be certified. The memo also calls for:
- Directing the Under Secretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment “to establish fair and reasonable contract profit margins by applying commercial best practices tailored to each product or service line”
- Establishing Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to extract financial data directly from contractors’ enterprise resource planning (ERP) and financial systems
- Requiring delinquent Cost and Software Data Reporting (CSDR) reports to be submitted within 30 days of the memo’s release
The memo states that the objective is not to limit profitability when contractors realize after-the-fact efficiencies, provided the negotiated price is based on a realistic baseline.
The August 18 memo can be found here.
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