FPDS Query Library
About Us
Contact Us

Cost Accounting Standards Clause Description

Human-readable description for the contract’s Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) clause status. This field is the text label paired with the coded CAS applicability value and states whether CAS applies, is exempt, or is not applicable.

Family: Award
Category: Contract Data
Data Type: string
Semantic Type: description
Mapping: flattened_fpds_xml_field
AI Confidence: high

Variable Overview

FPDS Query Variable
content__award__contractData__costAccountingStandardsClause__description
Title
Cost Accounting Standards Clause Description
FPDS Path
award/contractData/costAccountingStandardsClause/description
Description
Human-readable description for the contract’s Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) clause status. This field is the text label paired with the coded CAS applicability value and states whether CAS applies, is exempt, or is not applicable.
Business Meaning
This field helps analysts determine whether a contract is subject to Cost Accounting Standards requirements, which can affect pricing, cost accounting compliance, and audit risk. It is useful for segmenting awards by CAS coverage and identifying contracts with formal accounting obligations versus exempt or non-applicable cases.
Example Value
NOT APPLICABLE EXEMPT FROM CAS
Observed Non-Null Count
55,443,591

FPDS Compare

FPDS Query Variable
content__award__contractData__costAccountingStandardsClause__description
FPDS XML Path
award/contractData/costAccountingStandardsClause/description
Mapping Type
flattened_fpds_xml_field
Comparison Summary
FPDS Query flattens the original nested FPDS XML path 'award/contractData/costAccountingStandardsClause/description' into the SQL-ready variable 'content__award__contractData__costAccountingStandardsClause__description'.

Use Cases

  • Dictionary lookup and field explanation
  • SQL filtering and grouping
  • Analytical reporting and reusable query building

Common Usage

  • Identify awards subject to CAS coverage
  • Review exemptions and non-applicability cases
  • Display readable labels for coded CAS status

Common Mistakes

  • Using the description as the primary join or grouping key instead of the code
  • Assuming the text is standardized across all records without checking observed values

Query Guidance

Use this field for filtering, display, and data quality checks against the paired CAS code. For analytics, group on the coded field when available and use this description to label results or inspect unexpected values with LIKE, IN, or CASE logic.

SQL Examples

Preview values

SELECT
    content__award__contractData__costAccountingStandardsClause__description AS cost_accounting_standards_clause_description
FROM fpds.data
WHERE content__award__contractData__costAccountingStandardsClause__description IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 25

Top values

SELECT
    content__award__contractData__costAccountingStandardsClause__description AS value,
    count() AS record_count
FROM fpds.data
WHERE content__award__contractData__costAccountingStandardsClause__description IS NOT NULL
GROUP BY value
ORDER BY record_count DESC
LIMIT 25

Each dictionary item includes SQL-ready examples generated alongside the variable metadata, allowing immediate use in FPDS Query for filtering, aggregation, and analysis.