---
title: "What Is POA&M? CMMC Definition"
description: "A POA&M is a tracked plan for remediating security controls that are not yet fully implemented, with owners and target dates."
url: https://policycortex.com/cmmc/glossary/poam
sealed: 2026-07-02
register: cmmc/glossary/poam
records: 3
digest: sha3:7c8eb1be7fa18bea9d8440c3b6b25d41e98e16b5c4d64e80a0b7c8d5f9f72f08
---

# What is POA&M?

Register / Glossary

A POA&M is a tracked plan for remediating security controls that are not yet fully implemented, with owners and target dates.

Sealed 2026-07-02

POA&M stands for Plan of Action and Milestones.

A Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&M) lists known control gaps and the plan to close them. Under CMMC, a limited set of non-critical controls may be POA&M'd to achieve conditional certification.

Conditional Level 2 status requires closing the POA&M items within 180 days, verified by a follow-on assessment. Critical controls generally cannot be POA&M'd.

Between 15% and 30% of first-attempt assessments end with open POA&M items — one reason a readiness review before the formal assessment materially lowers risk.

## Related records

Guides and articles describe the work. The evidence that work produces is described in three proof pages and one architecture page.

- **proof.state**: [Proof of State](https://policycortex.com/proof/state). What the environment was, as of a date someone else picks: point-in-time records, content hashed and chained.
- **proof.change**: [Proof of Change](https://policycortex.com/proof/change). Who or what altered the environment, under what authority, with before and after state hashes.
- **proof.agency**: [Proof of Agency](https://policycortex.com/proof/agency). What a machine was permitted to do before it acted, what it did, and what would have stopped it.
- **architecture**: [Architecture](https://policycortex.com/architecture). How the chain is built and where it lives: inside your tenant, with no egress of evidence.

### Related terms and reading

| Entry |
|---|
| [SSP: System Security Plan](https://policycortex.com/cmmc/glossary/ssp): An SSP is the document describing how an organization implements each required security control across its in-scope environment. |
| [C3PAO: CMMC Third-Party Assessment Organization](https://policycortex.com/cmmc/glossary/c3pao): A C3PAO is an organization authorized by the Cyber AB to conduct official CMMC Level 2 certification assessments. |
| [SPRS: Supplier Performance Risk System](https://policycortex.com/cmmc/glossary/sprs): SPRS is the DoD system where contractors post their NIST 800-171 self-assessment score and, under CMMC, their certification status and affirmations. |

Know the term. Then see the record behind it. [Request Access](https://app.policycortex.com/auth?mode=request-access) · [Book a call](https://policycortex.com/book)

Dates of record

- **Sealed**: 2026-07-02
- **Last amended**: Unchanged since sealing
- **Record**: https://policycortex.com/cmmc/glossary/poam

## Register colophon

| Seq | Label | SHA3-256 | Prev |
|---|---|---|---|
| REC 0000 | HEAD | 158585c85b2a | 95acd212024c |
| REC 0001 | DEFINITION | bbf188a56e81 | 158585c85b2a |
| REC 0002 | RELATED RECORDS | 7c8eb1be7fa1 | bbf188a56e81 |

Head sha3:7c8eb1be7fa18bea9d8440c3b6b25d41e98e16b5c4d64e80a0b7c8d5f9f72f08. Each digest is SHA3-256 over the previous digest, the register key, the record label, and the record copy; a second party can recompute it from this document.