Allowable or Unallowable? Most business owners try to avoid nondeductible expenses for tax purposes per the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rules. Government contractors take this a step further by avoiding unallowable costs as per Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR). What makes…
Read MoreHow Can the HUBZone Help?
How Can the HUBZone Help? The world of government contracting can be a difficult world to establish a new business, especially a small business. This has been addressed through the ‘Small Business Reauthorization Act of 1997’. As a result, the…
Read MoreDCAA Compliance Checklist
DCAA Compliance Checklist For government contractors, it is extremely important to be Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) compliant. Now that tax season is almost over, government contractors should take some time to make sure they are DCAA compliant. Below is…
Read MoreMaintaining Payroll
Maintaining Payroll The beginning of the year is behind us, but we still have a lot to look forward to. For one thing it means learning from last year’s mistakes and starting fresh. Chiefly, the payroll process is one area…
Read MoreAllowable Travel Costs
Allowable Travel Costs Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) If a government contractor incurs business travel costs, then all the costs should be fully allowable, right? Not necessarily, the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) provides guidance on allowable travel expenses in the…
Read MorePreaward Survey Failures– Part 2
Top 5 failures in a Preaward Survey Part 2 of 2-part series In part 1 of this series, we identified the top 5 epic fails of the preaward survey as involving the labor distribution, policies and procedures, generally accepted accounting…
Read MorePreaward Survey Failures– Part 1
Top 5 failures in a Preaward Survey Part 1 of 2-part series The preaward accounting system survey or audit (better known as preaward survey) is an evaluation on the prospective contractor’s accounting system. It is documented on SF 1408. This evaluation…
Read MoreWho needs an Incurred Cost Submission?
What is an Incurred Cost Submission and Who Needs to Submit One? The Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) clause FAR 52.216-7 requires government contractors to submit final annual indirect cost rates six months after the fiscal year end; known as the…
Read MoreCost Reimbursement Contracts
Cost Reimbursement Contracts Federal Acquisitions Regulations (FAR) 16.301-1 defines cost reimbursement contracts as contracts which allow for payment of allowable costs up to the agreed estimated ceiling amount. There are four types of cost reimbursement contracts. A cost sharing contract…
Read MoreOverhead versus G&A Indirect Costs
Overhead versus G&A Indirect Costs Is there an important difference between a general and administrative (G&A) expense and an overhead (OH) expense? Do these indirect costs really matter? The answer is yes if you want to remain a government contractor…
Read More