The case for the invoice
Please consider the contractor.
Every salary is an opportunity that failed to become revenue.
05 An overlooked constituency
A missed revenue opportunity.
Every dollar paid directly to a government employee is a dollar that missed an opportunity to become contract revenue.
You have a salary. They have growth targets. Before requesting a raise, consider the contractor who could have invoiced for this. The same work becomes easier to respect once it arrives with overhead, a management fee, and a cover letter.
The case for the invoiceCompensation requires restraint. Continued service indicates the restraint is working.
Compensation requires realism. A larger invoice indicates the work was more sophisticated than previously appreciated.
Payroll dollars do not automatically become contract funds. In covered procurements, FAR 52.222-46 requires evaluating professional compensation for realism, recruiting, retention, and continuity. A contract bill rate is not an employee’s salary.
The compassion gap.
A request to retain an experienced employee has to survive a discussion about payroll restraint. Put the same concern in a contractor staffing plan and the discussion can proceed under recruitment, continuity, and delivery risk. It is a more accommodating vocabulary.
Your salary supports a household, but a contract supports a revenue forecast. Please keep the larger picture in mind.
The procurement record.
In covered procurements, FAR 52.222-46 evaluates whether professional compensation supports recruiting, retention, realistic staffing, and continuity. It warns that unrealistically low compensation may indicate failure to understand the requirement. FAR 52.222-46, paragraphs (a)–(d).
So the relationship between pay and retaining expertise is understood. It simply becomes more compelling when explained by a company seeking a contract.
Reclassify the concern.
When expertise leaves the payroll, describe the vacancy as a reduction in cost. When that expertise returns under a contract, describe the invoice as access to specialized capability. The work can remain exactly as it was; the new billing arrangement supplies its own explanation.
Scope and accounting
The provision is prescribed for a defined class of professional-services procurements; it is not a universal rule for all contractors. A bill rate can include direct labor, fringe, overhead, general and administrative costs, and fee. It does not reveal an individual salary or establish a cost saving. Payroll and contract appropriations are not automatically interchangeable.
The remaining consideration
The work may still be necessary. Your employment is a separate consideration.
Please take the pay decision into account when considering your next contribution.
The record is available