Welcome to the December 2007 issue of the High-Growth Government Contractor newsletter from PVBS.
As we look back on 2007, we are very excited to see the growing number of high-growth government contractors that have moved to Microsoft Dynamics NAV for Government Contractors from PVBS. Many of these companies have graduated from a basic entry-level accounting application with limited functionality, such as QuickBooks, and needed a more feature-rich, intuitive solution. Others have moved from older, inflexible legacy programs such as Deltek GCS Premier. And others were looking for a great Microsoft solution and found it with Dynamics NAV.
We're particularly excited about two of our customers that have had a great deal of success moving to Dynamics NAV from less functional programs. EMW (Herndon, VA, www.emw.com) and Dovèl Technologies (McLean, VA, www.doveltech.com) have been servicing many Defense, Civilian, and Intelligence agencies for years. We published case studies on both companies on our web site this month.
The EMW case study represents something we frequently see, which is the need for DCAA compliance. EMW expected to start winning a large number of contracts around the world to service the Federal Government and wanted to ensure that the financial systems were well established in advance of the expected DCAA (Defense Contract Audit Agency) audits on their cost-plus and other contracts. The EMW COO said, "We can see how Dynamics NAV lets us do more with less."
Dovel leadership knew that the growing company had well exceeded the capabilities of QuickBooks. They needed an accounting solution that the DCAA would approve and were convinced that DCAA would not approve their usage of QuickBooks, an accounting software solution that was not designed to meet the needs of government contractors least of all ones that were growing quickly. QuickBooks was enough to get the company started but once it started winning Federal Government business, it quickly became a liability that threatened the company's growth.
Finally, we'd like to wish all of our clients, partners, friends, and colleagues a great holiday season and a prosperous and successful 2008.
Best regards,
Bernard Mustafa
CEO, Pleasant Valley Business Solutions
www.pvbs.net |
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House Approves Changes in Set-Aside Programs; Big Implications for High-Growth Government Contractors |
This article was submitted by Business Research Services Inc. (Bethesda, MD), publishers of Set-Aside Alert. Subscription information can be found at www.setasidealert.com.
The House has passed legislation giving new preferences to service-disabled veterans, increasing the limit on sole source contracts, and overhauling the 8(a) program. The Small Business Contracting Program Improvements Act, H.R. 3867, would also allow immediate implementation of the set-aside program for woman-owned businesses, but the Bush administration says that provision may be unconstitutional. The House approved the bill Oct. 30 on a 334-80 vote. It was sponsored by Small Business Committee Chairwoman Nydia Velazquez, D-NY, and Rep. Mary Fallin, R-OK. It now goes to the Senate. The Senate Small Business Committee approved a separate contracting bill. (more) |
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Make Sure Your Firm's Holding the Bag at the End of the Year |
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Black Ink (Fairfax Station, VA) offers Dynamics-NAV for Government Contractors from PVBS as a hosted application. Black Ink President Carl Sweetnam, a former government contractor CFO and senior consultant at the Goodman and Company accounting firm, frequently contributes to High-Growth Government Contractor News. He has extensive knowledge about the challenges high-growth government contractors face from an accounting and financial management perspective.
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Contractor Must Take Contract Oversight Responsibility |
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By K. D. "Ken" Bricker, CPA, DABFA
Senior Partner
Goodman & Company
Government Contractor Services Group
A contractor's goal should always be to assure they are administering, (which includes estimating, accumulating and reporting costs) within the guidelines of the FAR and in compliance with all of their contracts. While the Procuring Contracting Officer (PCO) is responsible for the content of a given contract, typically an Administrative Contracting Officer (ACO) is assigned responsibility for a contractor and the administration of any contracts they may hold.
Accordingly, if the cognizant agency is the Department of Defense (DoD), the Defense Contract Management Agency should act as the Contract Administration Office (CAO). The assigned ACO is then responsible for assuring that the contractor meets their obligations to have an adequate accounting system and that the contractor provides timely incurred cost submissions to the cognizant auditor as well as many other administrative functions required by the FAR and likely included in the contracts. (more) |
Be sure to visit and register at our new and improved blog!
Sincerely,
Bernard
Pleasant Valley Business Solutions
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Microsoft GovCon Blog Helps Build Community |
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We're excited to see that Microsoft has launched a new blog and portal site to help build more community for high-growth government contractors. GovCon, A Gathering Place for the Fast Growing Government Contractors, is ripe with fresh content. Click here for the blog. It's a great complement to the PVBS blog.
The blog contains articles of value for government contractors in the Microsoft community including product news and case studies featuring new Microsoft Dynamics customers. There are links to Microsoft customer videos, such as an interesting new one that shows how the Air Force is using Microsoft Dynamics CRM: Air Force Request for Forces. It also has tips for Dynamics users.
Microsoft Government Contractor Business Development Director Christine Zmuda, who manages the blog, has also included industry news such as minority business updates and legislation and code of conduct updates that would affect government contractors. She said the blog will eventually house white papers and other documents that will help government contractors better manage and grow their business.
"In my role as the Government Contractor Lead from Microsoft, I was surprised to find there were not many community sites for the small to midsize government contractor," she said. I'm hoping this will make a difference."
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This exciting day is geared to help government contractors capture more business and manage financial growth. Curt Kolcun, VP of Microsoft Federal, will keynote this Summit and will provide insight to Government Contractors on trends in federal business. Breakouts will follow with industry experts and Microsoft customers who will share their best practices on building businesses and leveraging Microsoft Dynamics solutions to support that growth.
Sign up for the First Annual Microsoft Government Contractor Summit
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