Redstone Government Consulting Blog | Compliant Accounting Infrastructure (15)

As a follow-up to our recent blog post, My CPA Audited My Financial Statements. Does That Mean My Accounting System is Adequate?  where we covered some differences between a financial statement audit and an adequate accounting system, we received several great questions from our readers.  We thought it might be beneficial to address them via a new blog post for the benefit of all our readers.  We welcome discussion on our blogs, though we do so in private via email.  In this case, though, these questions are ones we see frequently and impact all companies doing business with the U.S. Government.

Recently, there has been much discussion around comments made by Katie Arrington, the special assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition for Cyber in the Office of the Under Secretary of Acquisition and Sustainment in DoD.  She made the following statement before a roomful of vendors at the PSC meeting in Arlington, VA.

The topic of accounting system adequacy seems to be a recurring issue for many in the government contracting community.  Earlier this month in the ongoing “process of elimination”, GAO weighed in again on what is NOT considered a determination of accounting system adequacy.  In Shivoy B-413104.36, GAO rightfully denied a protest for unequal treatment in eliminating a proposed offeror due to lack of verification of a proposed subcontractor’s accounting system as adequate.

FAR Part 31.205 -1 – Public Relations and Advertising Costs

“Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.” (American Marketing Association)

“Advertising is the action of calling something to the attention of the public especially by paid announcements.” (Merriam-Webster)

“Public relations (PR) is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.” (Public Relations Society of America (PRSA))

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.

It’s everyone’s least favorite time of year.  That’s right, tax season.  For those of us who no longer work in public accounting, this time of year is now a welcome reprieve; although for us, it also marks the start of incurred cost season.  If you’re not sure what an Incurred Cost Submission is or have questions about that topic, visit our website for a variety of resources.

Unless you have undergone a DCAA Accounting System audit under the criteria in DFARS 252.242-7006 (a.k.a. DFARS Accounting System Audit), you do not know what a comprehensive audit is.  To start with there are eighteen criteria, some of which are as broad as “Accounting practices in accordance with standard promulgated by the Cost Accounting Standards Board, if applicable, otherwise, Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.”  This leaves the door open to pretty much endless questions.  But don’t worry, DCAA has narrowed it down to only 27 questions. 

Unanet offers a streamlined platform which works for many small contractors and offers a host of benefits you should consider, including smooth integration and a single platform for most of your financial processes. For all of our current Unanet users and potential Unanet users; the Unanet Practice Group would like to give you a quick view of additional products available within Unanet:

You now understand a little bit more about provisional billing rates from our first of this two-part series. In this second part of our coverage of provisional billing rates, we delve a little deeper into the purpose behind provisional billing rates as well as how to prepare them and the differences between provisional billing rates and proposal bid rates. Knowing these details will enable you to prepare an accurate DCAA submission.

For our 12/31 year-end contractors, this is a busy time of year.  Year-end books are ending and 2019 budgets are being formed.  This is also the time of year for submitting provisional billing rates or PBRs for contractors that have cost reimbursable type contracts such as cost-type and time and material contracts.