Katie Donnell

Katie DonnellKatie is the Unanet Practice Lead at Redstone Government Consulting, Inc. based in our Huntsville, Alabama office. Her areas of expertise include supporting government contract businesses with a special focus in DCAA-compliant Unanet Time and Expense Tracking, Project Portfolio and Financials. QuickBooks, and Deltek GCS. Katie is a QuickBooks ProAdvisor, Certified Unanet Systems Implementer and has completed the Unanet Advanced Project Management training. Katie was one of the first Unanet Certified Implementers and was part of the initial pilot offering to non-Unanet consultants. As part of her certification process, Katie invested over 300-hours of instruction, out of class database development time and testing to obtain her certification. Since certification, Katie has assisted numerous Redstone GCI clients with implementation and post-implementation support services. Katie is frequently called upon by Unanet to join their implementation teams as an external resource and is considered a subject matter expert in the implementation of all Unanet software offerings. In her role with Redstone Government Consulting, Inc., Katie not only provides software systems expertise, but also frequently assists clients with preparation and support of DCAA audit activities including SF1408 pre-award accounting system audits, provisional billing rate submission, development of forward pricing rates for proposals, incurred cost submission preparation and development and design of policies and procedures necessary to support an adequate (DCAA-approved) accounting system. Katie serves as the primary point of contact for many small business clients in government cost accounting/compliance and assists monthly with the close of those contractor’s accounting systems and reporting to program management and executives. Her industry experience, software systems expertise and compliance knowledge provides a rare combination of knowledge to clients looking for a consultant to become an integral part of their team. Professional Experience Prior to joining Redstone Government Consulting, Inc., Katie worked in public accounting as well as small to mid-sized government contractors. She has prior operational experience with the many types of software such as Unanet, Deltek GCS, QuickBooks, SpringAhead, Deltek T&E, ADP, Paychex, and QB Payroll. Education Katie earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from The University of Alabama in Huntsville in 2010, where she was President of Beta Alpha Psi (an honor organization for finance and accounting students and professionals). She received her Master of Business Administration (MBA) from The University of North Alabama in 2014, graduating Cum Laude. Decades of Consulting, Training and Helping Government Contractors Succeed Redstone GCI offers a variety of services for large and small government contractors including evaluation, education and training, monitoring and DCAA audit preparation. Through our consulting and training programs, government contractors develop and learn to maintain compliance processes that help them succeed by mitigating risk and maximizing profitability. Our consulting team is comprised of senior leaders from government agencies and industry executives creating balance and an informed approach to our client services. Our services span the entire government contract lifecycle from proposal assistance, accounting, audit readiness, purchasing, project controls, contract administration, system implementation through to contract closeout. We specialize in preparing contractors for growth through our deep knowledge of common pitfalls companies face as they progress from small business in CAS, DFARS Business Systems and other common gates to contractor growth. In addition to almost 30 full-time consultants we also maintain a trusted network of independent contractors and other service providers who work with our team on specialized areas like ITAR, facility security, EVMS and other areas.

Recent Posts

Government Contract Year End Checklist for Unanet

It’s Government year-end, meaning government contractors are working overtime to process contract awards and modifications. Taking the necessary steps to set up Unanet correctly will save your business time later and ensure the program managers can track their projects properly.

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Topics: Unanet

Redstone's Unanet Release 22.6 Brief


DOWNLOAD PDF VERSION: Redstone's Unanet Release 22.6 Brief

Analytics Updates

Analytics+ and Analytics Studio (available for cloud clients only)
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Topics: Unanet

Benefits of Contracts Module in Unanet

Have you considered populating the contracts module in Unanet with your data, but haven’t taken the time to do it yet? Let’s talk through the benefits of using the Contracts module.

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Topics: Compliant Accounting Infrastructure, Contracts & Subcontracts Administration, Unanet

Unanet Champions Highlights 2022

Katie Donnell and I attended the Unanet Champions Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, May 1-3, 2022. Unanet Champions started out with an amazing motivational speaker, Carey Lohrenz. Carey was the 1st Female F14 Pilot in the US Navy. Carey overcame many obstacles as the 1st Female F14 Pilot. Talk about inspiration! As someone who was used to flying at Mach 2, working in a fast-paced and constantly changing environment, she spoke about adapting quickly to avoid risks and shared steps in leadership that will help your team win every time.

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Topics: Unanet

Redstone's Unanet Release 22.3 Brief

 DOWNLOAD PDF VERSION: Redstone's Unanet Release 22.3 Brief

Redstone is excited to provide our Unanet Clients with the new features and functions that are part of Unanet Release 22.3. There are numerous new functionalities that will help clients streamline their processes.

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Topics: Unanet

2021 Year End Considerations for Government Contractors


As the year comes to an end, many of you are ready to close the door on 2021. But before you dive head-first into 2022, let's take a moment to ensure you have finished your year-end process. Unanet is a comprehensive accounting system that offers clear procedures for closing. Still, we all know that government contracting comes with unique accounting challenges, and extra help can come in handy! Therefore, we at Redstone GCI wanted to provide a checklist and a few links to the Unanet Support Site to help guide you through the Year-End Process smoothly and efficiently:

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Topics: Unanet

Unanet: Maximizing Your Planning

Unanet’s robust project management and budgeting features are primary reasons some of our clients choose Unanet as their accounting system of choice. One of our main goals during an Unanet implementation is to utilize as many of the project management features in the system as possible and train our clients on maintaining the correct information to manage their work properly. What are your project management and budgeting needs? The following options are available in Unanet:

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Topics: Compliant Accounting Infrastructure, Unanet

1099’s in Unanet: Year-End Process Made Simple!

Each year’s end brings a set of additional financial close tasks to our desks. The deadline to file 1099’s is January 31st, leaving a lot of companies scrambling to file these forms in time. Let me tell you how Unanet has automated the process for our clients using their software:

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Topics: Compliant Accounting Infrastructure, Unanet

The Power of Pay Codes in Unanet

Have you ever considered the power of the Pay Code function in Unanet? Pay Codes are the earnings and leave categories your organization uses to track and classify reported hours on employees’/subcontractors’ timesheets.

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Topics: Compliant Accounting Infrastructure, Unanet

General Ledger (GL) Budgeting in Unanet

The budgeting process for any company can be a daunting process.  But, like most things, hard work pays off, and establishing a detailed budget is a critical element to ensure a healthy and profitable company.

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Topics: Compliant Accounting Infrastructure, Unanet