Explanations and Notes

• Data is segregated by government fiscal year - FY
  
  FY 2006 is from October 1, 2005 to September 30, 2006

• DOD, DHS and NASA report differing amounts of information and use some different terms
  
  DOD provides the most information and NASA the least

• Terminology for contract value in current fiscal year:
  
  DHS reports "Obligation", NASA reports "Current FY Obligations", DOD reports "Dollars"

• The government data sources some times have slightly varying names for the same contractor
  
  For example, a contractor may be listed as "ABC, INC" as "ABC INC" or as "ABC, INC."  The database treats these variations as separate contractors
  
  Sometimes a contractor's status, for example as a small business, may change from one year to another.  Such a change results in the contractor being considered as a different contractor even if the contractor's name is unchanged.