Determination of the profit or fee objective, in accordance with this subpart shall be fully documented. Since the profit objective is the contracting officer's pre-negotiation evaluation of a total profit allowance for the proposed contract, the amounts developed for each category of cost will probably change in the course of negotiation. Furthermore, the negotiated amounts will probably vary from the objective and from the pre-negotiation detailed application of the weighted guidelines technique to each element of the contractor's input to total performance. Since the profit objective is viewed as a whole rather than as its component parts, insignificant variations from the pre-negotiation profit objective, as a result of changes to the contractor's input to total performance, need not be documented in detail. Conversely, significant deviations from the profit objective necessary to reach a final agreement on profit or fee shall be explained in the price negotiation memorandum prepared in accordance with 48 CFR 15.406-3.

[63 FR 56851, Oct. 23, 1998, as amended at 76 FR 7693, Feb. 11, 2011]