Contract Line Item Numbers (CLIN) (FAR Part 204.71) are part of defense contracts that break the contract down by the commodities being procured (labor hours of services, funding for travel, quantity product A, etc.). They help identify the supplies or services to be acquired as separately identified line items on a contract that provides for accounting traceability.

Definition: A Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) is a unique identifier assigned to specific items or services listed within a contract. CLINs are used to facilitate contract administration, accounting, and tracking of deliverables.

Purpose of Contract Line Item Numbers (CLIN)

There is two purpose(s) of utilizing contract line item numbers CLINs in government contracts which are:

1. Breaks the contract down by the commodities being procured (labor hours of services, funding for travel, the quantity of product A, the quantity of product B, etc.) and
2. Provide traceable accounting classification citations.

Contract Line Item Numbers (CLIN) are required for the following type of contracts:

• Solicitations
• Contracts, including, but not limited to, Governmentwide acquisition contracts (GWACs), multi-agency contracts (MACs), Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contracts, indefinite-delivery contracts, and purchase orders
• Agreements that include pre-priced supplies or services
• Task and delivery orders

A Contract Line Item Number (CLIN) has all Four of the Following Characteristics:

1. Single unit price/extended amount. NSP (Not Separately Priced) is ok; pricing at contract level for cost contracts is ok.
   • Separately identifiable
   • Hardware: No more than one NSN (National Stock Number), item description, mfg part #;
2. Services: no more than one scope or work/description of services
3. Separate delivery schedule, a period of performance, or completion date
4. Single accounting classification citation

Contract Line Item Numbers (CLIN) Example

AcqNotes Tutorial

Establishing Subline Items

Subline (Sub-CLINS) FAR Part 4.1004 items can be used to keep track of performance, deliverables, payments, and accounting for contract funds, among other things. The items in a subline can be either deliverables or pieces of information. The list of characteristics at FAR Part 4.1003 applies to informational subline items, but not to deliverable subline items. A line item with subline items must only include information that is the same for all of the subline items. All subline items under one line item must have the same contract type as the line item.

AcqLinks and References:

• Website: FAR Subpart 4.10. Uniform Use of Line Items
• Website: DFARS 204.71 Uniform Contract Line Item Numbers (CLIN) Numbering System
• Website: FAR Part 4.1004 Establishing Subline Items

Updated: 2/13/2024

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