Unit acquisition cost includes all costs associated with the procurement of an item of Government Property.  Under Generally Accepted Accounting Practices, the concept of Acquisition Cost identifies all actual expenses of an asset. It not only includes the item purchase price, but many other costs such as; modification, processing, labor, shipping, etc., depending on how the contractor acquires an item of Government Property. 

Any costs incurred to put that particular asset into an operational state will be included in its acquisition cost. Below are two simple examples:

Commercial Off the Shelf – Item cost, shipping cost, contractor-handling fees, etc.

Manufacturing – Material costs, processing fees, labor, etc.

The Government’s expectation is that the contractor identify and combine all costs associated with the acquisition of Government property and record it as the unit acquisition cost within their property management system records.