FAR and DFARS › DFARS Part 242: Contract Administration and Audit Services › Subpart 242.72
DFARS 242.7201 Definitions.
The codified text (eCFR, as of 2026-10-02). Under the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul ↗, agencies follow class deviations with new text for many parts while the formal rules go through the Federal Register: check the solicitation and your contract's clauses, which rule.
In plain English
This section defines key terms used in the DFARS subpart on Material Management and Accounting Systems (MMAS). It explains what an acceptable MMAS is, what an MMAS covers, and what counts as valid time-phased requirements. These definitions matter because they set the meaning of terms used in the related MMAS clause and reviews.
Applies to: Contractors with a material management and accounting system under this DFARS subpart
Key terms: Acceptable material management and accounting system · Material management and accounting system (MMAS) · Valid time-phased requirements · Production plan · System criteria
Written by AI from this section's text. A guide, not legal advice: the text below rules.
The text
As used in this subpart—
Acceptable material management and accounting system means a material management and accounting system that generally complies with the system criteria in paragraph (d) of the clause at 252.242-7004, Material Management and Accounting System.
Material management and accounting system (MMAS) means the contractor's system or systems for planning, controlling, and accounting for the acquisition, use, issuing, and disposition of material. Material management and accounting systems may be manual or automated. They may be stand-alone systems, or they may be integrated with planning, engineering, estimating, purchasing, inventory, accounting, or other systems.
Valid time-phased requirements means material that is—
(1) Needed to fulfill the production plan, including reasonable quantities for scrap, shrinkage, yield, etc.; and
(2) Charged or billed to contracts or other cost objectives in a manner consistent with the need to fulfill the production plan.
Sections it refers to
- 252.242-7004 Material Management and Accounting System.
← 242.7200 Scope of subpart. · 242.7202 Policy. →
Rule changes for DFARS Part 242
- Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement; Technical Amendments ↗ · final rule 2025-08-25 · effective 2025-08-25
- Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement: Definition of Material Weakness (DFARS Case 2021-D006) ↗ · final rule 2025-01-17 · effective 2025-01-17
- Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement: Cost and Software Data Reporting for Major Weapons Systems (2021-D028) ↗ · proposed 2024-10-10 · comments due 2024-12-09
- Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement: Preference for United States Vessels in Transporting Supplies By Sea (DFARS Case 2021-D020) ↗ · final rule 2024-09-26 · effective 2024-10-01
- Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement; Technical Amendments ↗ · final rule 2024-07-29 · effective 2024-07-29
- Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement: Definition of Material Weakness (DFARS Case 2021-D006) ↗ · proposed 2024-06-27 · comments due 2024-08-26
- Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement: Preference for United States Vessels in Transporting Supplies by Sea (DFARS Case 2021-D020) ↗ · proposed 2024-04-25 · comments due 2024-06-24
Source: eCFR, 48 CFR chapters 1 and 2 (GPO GovInfo bulk data) ↗. Plain words for the terms: glossary.