In this case, a small business needs help immediately (but the good news is that you are starting fresh, so the time and costs associated with setting up your system are minimized). The following is a rough order of tasks needed to get a system up and running:
ReliAscent will take a look at your current QuickBooks® system and in a cursory review, identify gaps in DCAA compliance that need to be fixed. These gaps typically fall under the major areas identified in the governments Form 1408. The next step is for ReliAscent to provide a quote to the company on how to fix this. This normally involves a one time up-front expense for the conversion of the QuickBooks® file and then a monthly charge going forward, for ReliAscent to help with compliance issues, invoicing, indirect rate calculations and management, creating subsidiary job cost reports, as well as other accounting functions.
Once the conversion method is selected, work can begin. The main tasks encountered in a conversion include:
Sometimes, a small business has a general ledger program already in use when they decide to start accepting work from the Federal Government. This system may be able to be made compliant (ReliAscent® has worked with several other general ledger systems in the past, making them compliant). Several steps should be reviewed prior to proceeding with making the accounting system compliant. This is a partial list of considerations prior to converting the system:
Many times it may be determined (in this evaluation), that it may be easier to simply convert the system to a QuickBooks®-based system, since this is an already proven system, it's easier to convert, and easier to operate in a compliant manner, due to the vast experience the ReliAscent team has with this type of system.
The first step would be to review the QuickBooks® system in a cursory fashion to see if it meets the general guidelines of SF1408. If not, a conversion can be recommended as described above. If the cursory review looks good, then a more detailed review may be in order to see if the system is compliant. This is normally done in the form of a Mock audit.
Contact us to discuss in detail how this might work for you. Any assistance you request from ReliAscent® will be an allowable (recoverable) cost under your contract.
For more information on the individual requirements/components of a DCAA compliant accounting system, download our popular white paper: "A Quick Guide to the DCAA Compliant Accounting System - Understanding the SF 1408."
We look forward to working with you, and if you have any immediate questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us at any time!