41 USC § 4301 - Definitions

---
identifier: "/us/usc/t41/s4301"
source: "usc"
legal_status: "official_legal_evidence"
title: "41 USC § 4301 - Definitions"
title_number: 41
title_name: "PUBLIC CONTRACTS"
section_number: "4301"
section_name: "Definitions"
chapter_number: 43
chapter_name: "ALLOWABLE COSTS"
positive_law: true
currency: "119-84"
last_updated: "2026-04-17"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
source_credit: "(Pub. L. 111–350, § 3, Jan. 4, 2011, 124 Stat. 3784; Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title VIII, § 836(b)(17), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 1864.)"
---


# § 4301. Definitions

In this chapter:

**(1)** **Compensation.—** The term “compensation”, for a fiscal year, means the total amount of wages, salary, bonuses, and deferred compensation for the fiscal year, whether paid, earned, or otherwise accruing, as recorded in an employer’s cost accounting records for the fiscal year.

**(2)** **Covered contract.—** The term “covered contract” means a contract for an amount in excess of $500,000 that is entered into by an executive agency, except that the term does not include a fixed-price contract without cost incentives or any firm fixed-price contract for the purchase of commercial products or commercial services.

**(3)** **Fiscal year.—** The term “fiscal year” means a fiscal year established by a contractor for accounting purposes.

**(4)** **Senior executive.—** The term “senior executive”, with respect to a contractor, means the 5 most highly compensated employees in management positions at each home office and each segment of the contractor.

---

**Source Credit**: (Pub. L. 111–350, § 3, Jan. 4, 2011, 124 Stat. 3784; Pub. L. 115–232, div. A, title VIII, § 836(b)(17), Aug. 13, 2018, 132 Stat. 1864.)

| RevisedSection | Source (U.S. Code) | Source (Statutes at Large) |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 4301(1) | 41:256(m)(1). | June 30, 1949, ch. 288, title III, § 306(m), as added Pub. L. 105–85, title VIII, § 808(b)(2), Nov. 18, 1997, 111 Stat. 1836; Pub. L. 105–261, title VIII, § 804(b), Oct. 17, 1998, 112 Stat. 2083. |
| 4301(2) | 41:256(l)(1). | June 30, 1949, ch. 288, title III, § 306(l)(1), as added Pub. L. 100–700, § 8(a)(1), Nov. 19, 1988, 102 Stat. 4634; Pub. L. 103–355, title II, § 2151, Oct. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 3315. |
| 4301(3) | 41:256(m)(3). |  |
| 4301(4) | 41:256(m)(2). |  |

## Editorial Notes

### Amendments

2018—Par. (2).  substituted “commercial products or commercial services” for “commercial items”.

## Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date of 2018 Amendment

Amendment by  effective , subject to a savings provision, see , set out as an Effective Date of 2018 Amendment; Savings Provision note under , Domestic Security.