Redstone Government Consulting Blog | Redstone Team (4)

The recent memo from the Defense Pricing Center (DPC) has created quite the stir around the current economic uncertainties in the government contractor community tied to inflation. The unfortunate reality is that for many years, economically speaking, the risk of inflation has been a steady 2-3% and so both contractors and the acquisition professionals on the other side have not had to realistically consider this factor in pricing/negotiating contracts. History has shown us that the threat is all too real and can cause significant hurdles for contractors to weather an inflationary period like we saw in the 80s, early nineties and as recently as 2009. The question of is it transitory or are we headed toward a recession is best left to our friend the magic 8-ball, but I do think there are a few things that all contractors should be aware of during this time.

There seems to be a lot of questions and misconceptions about purchase orders and subcontracts. Is there a difference? When is it appropriate to issue either instrument?

We recently got all of our employees together for a Spring Fling. BBQ, axe throwing, and spending time with one another. A great time was had by all!

This video is the second part of a two part series where we provide an overview of some of the expectations that come with completing a Government proposal and their respective realities.

This video is the first part of a two part series where we provide an overview of some of the expectations that come with completing a Government proposal and their respective realities.

In my last blog post, I discussed whether you could have a DCAA Approved Accounting System with QuickBooks. If you read it, then you know the answer is definitely – yes. This begs the next question though: QuickBooks Online (QBO) or QuickBooks Desktop? One might think that they’re essentially the same with one just being a cloud version and the other a local install. That could not be further from the truth. The two products are actually very different in terms of functionality and capabilities. A couple of years ago, I would have told you that QBO was just not an option for a government contractor. Appropriate job costing just couldn’t be done. In recent years though, Intuit has focused a lot of their internal development on QBO, and the product has come a long way. In this article we’ll go over some of the key differences between the two QB options, and hopefully help you decide which is right for you. Note that this is NOT a fully comprehensive comparison of all the different features, but rather a focus on some of the primary differences that are most relevant for government contractors.

I talk with business owners all the time that are either just starting their business, or just getting their existing business into government contracting, and one of the questions we address almost weekly is – Which accounting software built for government contractors should I go with? The answer is, maybe none of them. While the popular govcon accounting software solutions are a really good option for many government contractors, you certainly aren’t limited to those. If you’re a relatively small government contractor, then other products such as QuickBooks might be a better software solution.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all of us at Redstone GCI

A special thanks to our charitable committee members for 2021 and to all of the organizations we've supported for their efforts in making the world a better place for everyone.

On October 4, 2021, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed an amendment to its Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Supplement to support the HHS Electronic Invoicing Implementation Project and HHS’s transition to the Department of the Treasury’s Invoice Processing Platform. This rule would add HHS Acquisition Regulation (HHSAR) Subpart 332.70 (which is comprised of HHSAR 332.7000 through 332.7003) Electronic Submission and Processing of Payment Requests to provide policies and procedures for these requests.