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.
Contracts
Utilize the Contracts Module to set up any new Contracts Awarded or modifications to existing contracts. Add in the applicable contract provisions so you can reference back later. Unanet is consistently pushing updates, so there’s a possibility that this list will continue to evolve. Having your Contracts information in Unanet will allow you to utilize pre-populated ICS schedules within your Unanet Analytic Reports.
Project Setup
Prior to setting up a new project in Unanet, review the contract and deliverables for reporting requirements, CLINs, ACRNs, options, billing, etc. This will allow you to pull reports needed for customers and management. Should I track my funding or option years and the project or task level? These considerations depend on reporting requirements and how the contract needs to be managed.
Verify that all labor categories with rate escalations for each option year are added to the project even if no employees will be working it initially. Is the bill rate true for the Labor Category company-wide, or is the bill rate project specific? These are considerations depending on what type of contracts you have.
For billing purposes, does this project need to be a stand-alone, lead, or contributor project? What information am I required to provide on the invoice?
Notes
Use the notes section of your project to remind you why the project was set up in a particular way. Create a note with an action item for the PM to review a funding modification or award. Assign the note to the PM, so a notification is received. There are numerous options in the section. Make sure the Unanet Administrator sets up the system note type. You can also attach relevant documentation to the project in this area.
People Plans
Developing People plans for future work is integral in establishing the data needed to accurately forecast revenue and costs for Provisional Bill Rates and other management decisions. It also provides a metric of performance that gauges the expectation from the original cost proposal back to the actual performance.
Dashboard
We run 20% of the reports 80% of the time. Save your favorites to your Dashboard so it’s easy to run them often.
If your company needs assistance setting up any of these areas in Unanet, our team can help.
LaDonna is an Managing Consultant with Redstone Government Consulting, Inc. based in our firms Huntsville office. Her area of expertise includes supporting clients with implementation and daily operations using Unanet, as well as supporting Contracts, Proposal Pricing and Accounting Compliance. Professional Experience LaDonna has over 15-years’ experience in progressive accounting, finance, contracts and human resources related roles at both large and small business government contractors. Her diverse background on most facets of the government contractor back office brings a unique perspective to her support of Redstone GCI client software implementations. LaDonna began her career in Government Contracting as an accountant with a large government contractor. After several years of progressive experience, she was able to migrate to additional roles within the Company’s contracts organization, including as a Contracts Administrator where she supported both FAR Part 15 and FAR Part 12 Contracts. This experience led to LaDonna accepting a role with a small, but growing government contracts firm where she support accounting, contracts and HR functions during the Company’s growth and eventual acquisition. In this role, LaDonna was first exposed to Unanet and participated in the Company’s successful implementation and adoption process. LaDonna has utilized Unanet in the performance of her day-to-day role including, pricing, proposals, contracts administration, project control, DCAA audits and more. Her user experience coupled with her pursuit of the Unanet Certified Implementer designation will allow her to bring a truly unique perspective to our Unanet implementation and post implementation support engagements. LaDonna’s wide range of experience at small and large contractors and across the back office allows her to see the “bigger picture” and provide best practice advice to our clients across many subject matter areas. Education LaDonna has her B.S Degree from The University of Alabama in Huntsville and M.S in Contract Acquisition from Florida Institute of Technology where she graduated Magna Cum Laude.