Current system status: Live
The statutory requirements for contract and supplier reporting were introduced by the Defence Reform Act 2014 (the Act) and defined in the Single Source Contract Regulations 2014 (the Regulations). The Defence Contract Analysis and Reporting System (DefCARS, the system) is an online, web-enabled system which facilitates submission of statutory reports to the SSRO and MOD. When preparing reports, contractors must have regard to guidance issued by the SSRO.
Contractors may also require access to previous reporting templates and user guides.
Updates to the guidance applicable from 3 November 2025
The SSRO has made minor updates to its three guidance documents in response to issues raised by stakeholders or improvements identified by SSRO staff. The changes to the contract reporting guidance are:
- guidance on what contractors need to report when new components are created;
- amendment of the aggregation example;
- guidance on how to report previously agreed price components and contract prices which include sunk or committed costs;
- further clarity on how to report sub-contract information;
- explanation of when contractors should report a new contract price;
- explanation of how contractors can report events to the MOD using their statutory reports and ensuring cost variances are being reported correctly;
- confirmation of which type of Interim Contract Report to use dependent on component value;
- explanation of the reporting next steps when contracts are extended; and
- other minor improvements.
The changes made to the supplier reporting guidance are:
- confirmation that assessment of the value of contracts that contribute to the on-going contract condition is only undertaken once; and
- other minor improvements.
The changes made to the DefCARS functionality guidance are to provide additional guidance on validation warnings as well as other minor changes elsewhere in the document.
The list of changes made have been explained in email communications to the SSRO’s Reporting and IT sub-group members. If other contractors require this list they can request it from helpdesk@ssro.gov.uk.
The guidance documents can be accessed at the links below:
- reporting guidance on contract reports: DefCARS – contract report guidance – Version 13.2 published November 2025
- reporting guidance on supplier reports: DefCARS – supplier report guidance – Version 11.2 published November 2025
- reporting guidance on DefCARS functionality: Guidance on DefCARS functionality – Version 13.2 published November 2025
Notification templates for Qualifying Sub Contract (QSC) assessments
The guidance on aggregation principles included in the contract report guidance references notification templates which contractors can use once a QSC assessment has been undertaken. These templates are available on the SSRO Support page of the SSRO website.
Guidance on validation warnings in the system
DefCARS includes validation checks to help contractors comply with the reporting requirements and reduce the amount of data entry required by eliminating duplication. The SSRO has published a list of all the validation checks which are currently applied within the system and these were last updated on 10 October 2024 DefCARS validation checks – published October 2024 (PDF, 401 KB, 9 pages).
Qualifying Business Unit (QBU) templates
Copy and paste functionality is currently available in many parts of DefCARS. To allow contractors with QBUs to understand their reporting requirements and prepare their QBU Cost Analysis Reports (QBUCAR), a copy and paste template is provided: QBUCAR template (76.5 KB).
The Defined Pricing Structure (DPS)
Contractors or MOD staff who do not currently have access to DefCARS but wish to understand the DPS cost breakdowns, may access the current contract reporting guidance document.
Contractors or MOD staff who do not currently have access to DefCARS but wish to understand the DPS cost breakdowns, may access the DPS templates that preceded DefCARS. These previous templates are substantially the same as the current versions within DefCARS.
Analysis of DefCARS information
Under Section 36(3) of the Defence Reform Act, the SSRO must when requested to do so by the Secretary of State for Defence analyse reports provided to it under Section 24 or 25 and provide the results of the analysis to the Secretary of State or an authorised person. The SSRO has published details of example management information products which it supplies to the MOD: Example DefCARS MI products published on 25 February 2025 (PDF, 2.16 MB, 17 pages).
If you have any questions about how to access DefCARS or the guidance please contact the SSRO at helpdesk@ssro.gov.uk.
