Every year since 2017 CohnReznick and Unanet have published the results of a comprehensive survey of the Government Contracting community, The Gauge Report. The report covers many topics and areas of interest but each year they choose a theme to provide a focal point, and 2021’s report is out: Creating A Winning Proposal.
We’ll be extracting items of interest to our specific customer community for the next several months and going deeper into the results and what they mean to us, the financial and accounting segment of Government Contracting.
Please also take the time to download the entire report – it’s a very interesting read and tells us a great deal about what’s happening now in our industry, how contractors are feeling about the future and current state and what our community is up to.
Karen Louis, CPA, PMP
Managing Member | WJ Technologies
Managing Member | WJ Technologies
O: 703.885.8158 | M: 571.334.3496
E: karen.louis@wjtechnologies.com
BLOG FEATURES
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Avoid Accounting System Implementation Delays
Implementing a new accounting system is a major commitment that is often underestimated. Many things can cause a go-live date to go off track – but they can be prevented. By planning wisely, you can avoid the common reasons system implementations are delayed.
Budgeting and Forecasting for Government Contractors: 10 Tips for Improving the Process for Profitability
Spending valuable time performing tasks that an automated system could do can be costly, time consuming, and prone to errors. Workarounds have significant impacts on the quality of both financial and managerial accounting information. Learn how we can help.
INDUSTRY TRENDS
We were provided a sneak preview of the 2021 Gauge Report from CohnReznick and Unanet on August 25. The recently released report is filled with interesting items that we’ll be covering in this and future newsletters.
One of these highlights is a survey question that we find intriguing every year – asking what worries people in our industry the most.
The respondents range in roles from Controller to Program Lead, and so on. The corresponding graphic is always interesting to see.
“Budget and Funding Constraints” tops the list again, but the numbers have stayed steady: about half of the respondents ranked it as number one.
“Lack of Qualified Talent” was second. This seems to be a headline everywhere – but the jump on urgency here in government contracting is significant, moving from about 30 to 50 percent of respondents’ top concern.
“Cost of Compliance” moved from less than 20 percent to over 50 percent. This is a big change, but not surprising to us. Part of this seems to come from CMMC requirements. Small businesses in the industry are talking about the burden of compliance in other ways as well, like audit prep and software costs for tools that will help them achieve compliance.
Finally, “Lack of Integrated Project Management/Accounting Tools” has come up from zero, to 10 percent, to 20 percent, and now sits at 30 percent.
The software industry is integrating their back-office systems more and more, connecting pipeline software to planning software to financial software, taking goals into plans and then –hopefully – into day-to-day reality. It’s been interesting to see CRM tools used in a way that’s more involved, more precise, and more a part of the future strategic planning for the firms.
Is this happening in your company? Are you interested in learning more? We can help. Download the 2021 Gauge Report, it’s a worthwhile read.
Contact us to learn more about integrating your systems, getting more out of your CRM and project planning.
*Graphic and data from 2021 Gauge Report
ON THE WIRE
Navigating government contract and grant compliance: Optimize your indirect rate
“Taking the time and effort to develop a supportable indirect rate based on your organizational structure may be worth more in the long run if you can maximize cost recovery and profitability.”
New cybersecurity threats your business needs to know about
“In a world of remote work, cybersecurity is a top concern. 14% of CEO’s are more concerned about cyber threats than in 2020. Read on to learn more about the risks to be aware of and preventative measure to take to mitigate those risks.”
CMMC assessment requirements could be changing, potentially raising costs for some
According to @FedScoop, the cost of CMMC assessments could rise as the @DeptDefense looks into new requirements. With the rise in costs, the small business community is sure to take a hit.
MEET OUR TEAM
Michelle Pham
Senior Accountant/Systems Consultant
Michelle is a Senior Accountant/Systems Consultant, who has more than 20+ years of Deltek product experience including Costpoint, GCS Premier, and Time & Expense (T&E). She has a solid planning, risk management assessments/mitigations, and organizational skills in coordinating all aspects of project from inception through completion. Being effective resource utilization (of personnel, facilities and equipment) along with her energetic, forward thinking and creative, well-disciplined are some of her key strengths to manage multiple assignments, while meeting tight deadline schedules.
Michelle has an in-depth knowledge in financials accounting and Costpoint, she can manage all accounting and financial operations including general ledger, payroll, A/P, A/R, projects set up, billing, month-end closing, budgeting, and forecasting. She also manages and reviews subcontractor cost, schedule, and performance and provides feedback as required.
Michelle has a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the Strayer University, Virginia and currently working on her MBA. Her hobby is taking pictures of all the nice places that she visits when she has the chance to travel.
She can be reached by email: Michelle.pham@wjtechnologies.com.
CLIENT SUCCESS STORY
WJ Technologies helps companies reach their full potential
SparkCognition Government Systems (SGS), a wholly owned subsidiary of SparkCognition, is the first full-spectrum artificial intelligence company devoted entirely to the government and national defense mission, applying next-generation AI systems to address critical national security initiatives. After purchasing Deltek Costpoint ERP, they realized they needed help to implement the new software in a cost-efficient and timely manner.
“The WJ Technologies team absolutely saved me – they came in and immediately asked questions that made us think about what we really needed this system to do for our company. They helped dial things down to a point that wasn’t so overwhelming and gave me the training I needed to be able to run it confidently on my own.”
– Keri Lansdell, Senior GovCon Accountant, SGS
Connect With Us
WJ Technologies LLC was founded in 2007 by CohnReznick to provide accounting system solutions and services exclusively for government contractors. The experts at WJ Technologies provide clients a one-stop shop for accounting solutions, software solutions, product training and government compliance needs. Recognitions include Project Excellence and Premier Partner of the Year awards from Deltek and the Unanet Partner of the Year for 2017 and 2019.
The company is headquartered in Herndon, Va.
To learn more, visit https://wjtechnologies.com/
