Covered entities fall by 60 percent while 90 percent of covered dollars remain — what raising a threshold actually does
The Cost Accounting Standards Board raised the threshold for full coverage on federal contracts from $50 million to $100 million. By the Board own analysis, the change cuts covered business segments by roughly 60 percent while retaining over 90 percent of the dollars covered.
Document overview (primary data)
- Document typeRule
- AgencyManagement and Budget Office
- Citation91 FR 56056
Key points
- The threshold for full coverage and Disclosure Statement requirements rises from $50 million to $100 million.
- By the Board analysis, covered business segments fall by about 60 percent while over 90 percent of covered dollars remain.
- That indicates contract value is concentrated among a small number of large contractors.
- The value up to which an agency head may waive the standards without Board approval rises from $15 million to $100 million.
- Nine sets of comments were received, including five from industry associations, strongly supporting the deregulatory proposals.
1Cost Accounting Standards Board raises the CAS threshold for federal contracts from $50 million to $100 million
On September 1, 2026 the Cost Accounting Standards Board of the Office of Management and Budget issued a final rule raising the threshold for full Cost Accounting Standards coverage and Disclosure Statement requirements from $50 million to $100 million (RIN 0348-AB85).
It also raises from $15 million to $100 million the contract value up to which an agency head may waive CAS without Board approval, and removes a related Disclosure Statement exemption. The rule implements section 820 of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2017; the nine comments on the proposal strongly supported it. It takes effect on October 1, 2026.
2What raising a threshold does
Regulation is often designed to apply only above a certain size. Raise that boundary and fewer are covered — but not uniformly. This rule states the effect in figures.
Covered entities fall by 60 percent while more than 90 percent of covered dollars remain. That means contract value is concentrated among a small number of large contractors: raising the threshold barely reduces coverage measured in dollars. Read the other way, before the change 60 percent of entities carried the procedure for less than a tenth of the money.
3What the standards are
Where the government pays by building up costs, what counts as a cost and which contract it is assigned to changes what is paid. The standards unify that measurement, and covered contractors must account accordingly and file a Disclosure Statement describing their methods.
This site also holds federal contract data, where contract value and actual outlays repeatedly diverge; unifying how costs are measured is the foundation that makes those outlays reviewable.
4Waiver authority raised too
The value up to which an agency head may waive the standards without Board approval rises from $15 million to $100 million, implementing a statutory change made by a National Defense Authorization Act in 2017. Authority widened by statute is only now reflected on the regulatory side.
5Legislation and regulation together
The document also records that a legislative proposal setting the basic threshold at $35 million was transmitted to Congress in June 2025 and was codified in a section of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act. Some things can be changed by regulation and others require statute, and the two proceed in parallel.
This site also covers congressional bills, so the path from an executive proposal to enacted law can be followed.
Why it matters
Measuring a threshold change by both entity count and dollars covered reveals how far procedural burden can be cut while coverage holds. The design works best precisely where value is concentrated in a few hands.
FAQ
What are the Cost Accounting Standards?
Why do dollars stay at 90 percent when entities fall 60 percent?
Sources (primary)
Source: Federal Register (federal documents, public domain). Links go to the official site.