Defense Tech BaseA champion, a budget and a contract are separate milestones
A user who likes your product may not control money. A program with budget authority may not yet have obligated funds to your company. A signed award may still require delivery, acceptance and a proper invoice before payment. Track these separately to make sales and hiring decisions on evidence.
What “colors of money” means for your proposal
The phrase describes categories of budget authority with different purposes and availability. A useful starting distinction is research and development, procurement, and operations and maintenance. The government financial and contracting teams determine which appropriation can support the particular work. A founder should explain the task and outcome clearly rather than selecting a funding label to make a sale easier. The Army’s colors-of-money overview explains the concept.
| Proposed work | Question for the buyer | Evidence to record |
|---|---|---|
| Research, integration or a prototype test | Which budget can fund this work, and who controls it? | Identified funding owner and a scoped technical plan. |
| Production units or deployment | What purchasing route and production funding are available? | Quantity or scope, acquisition office and funding timing. |
| Continuing support or operation | Who owns sustainment and recurring funding? | Support model, renewal decision and operating cost. |
PPBE and the program office
Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Execution connects priorities to resource decisions and the use of funds. For a founder, the practical task is to learn when the customer can influence a future budget and when it can act within existing resources. A product can be relevant to a long-term plan without being purchasable this quarter.
A program executive office oversees a portfolio; the program manager, contracting office, user and financial staff may each own different decisions. Ask who owns the requirement, who controls the proposed funding, who can execute the purchase and who accepts the deliverable. Keep a contact map with those roles instead of treating every introduction as an equal sales lead. Official budget documents are available through the Comptroller’s budget materials.
What a program of record does—and does not—tell you
A program of record is a formal acquisition/budget context, not a label a supplier can award itself. Ask which program, budget line, requirement and acquisition plan the customer means. Being evaluated by a program is different from having a funded production contract. Conversely, a bounded purchase or useful subcontract may be possible without your company becoming the name of a new program.
For transition discussions, record the anticipated end state: a test, integration, an initial order, recurring service or scaled production. Each needs a different decision and evidence package. Tie your roadmap to the funded next step, not an undefined promise of eventual program adoption.
Continuing resolutions and changing timing
A continuing resolution can constrain spending or new activity according to its particular terms. Do not assume either that all procurement stops or that all proposed work continues unchanged. Ask the customer which action is affected, which funds are available and whether the expected award date remains credible. Refresh your pipeline assumptions when the fiscal situation changes.
Use three schedule columns: confirmed date and source, working assumption, and consequence if delayed. This makes the cash-planning implication visible without converting a verbal expectation into a commitment.
How payment reaches your company
FAR 32.905 ties payment to proper documentation and satisfactory performance. Read your award’s invoicing instructions, acceptance process, payment clause and designated system. An award announcement is not an invoice, and the award value is not cash in the bank.
- Identify the contract/order and line item associated with the work.
- Deliver the required item or milestone and keep the acceptance evidence.
- Submit the proper invoice or payment request through the specified channel.
- Track receipt, rejection/correction, acceptance and expected payment separately.
- Resolve problems with the named contracting, receiving or payment office.
For a subcontract, your agreement with the prime determines the billing relationship. Ask about approval, disputed amounts, payment timing and termination before committing to a large purchase of materials.
Your next step
For one opportunity, write down the user, budget owner, contracting office, acceptance official and first payable deliverable. Use the first-contract guide to qualify the pursuit and the accounting guide to prepare the supporting systems.