Practical guides for running the books
Honest writing on invoicing, cash flow, AR/AP, sales-tax compliance, and the messy realities of keeping a regulated small business audit-ready.
Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) for Government Contractors: Coverage, Thresholds, and What They Require
The Cost Accounting Standards are a separate rulebook from FAR Part 31 — not about whether a cost is allowable, but about measuring, assigning, and allocating costs the same way every time. Most small contractors are exempt, but growth, a big award, or a subcontract can pull you in. Here is who is covered, the difference between modified and full coverage, and what the standards actually make you do.
DCAA-Compliant Timekeeping: Why the Timesheet Is the Riskiest Document in Your Business
On a government contract, labor is the most scrutinized cost you have — and the timesheet is where labor is proven or lost. A timekeeping system that fails is the single most common reason a small contractor gets a finding. Here is what "total time accounting," daily recording, and a written timekeeping policy actually mean, and how to run a compliant timesheet without buying enterprise software.
Wrap Rate Explained: Turning a Salary Into a Fully Burdened Labor Rate
You pay an engineer $50 an hour, but you cannot bid the government $50 an hour — you would go broke. The wrap rate is the multiplier that turns raw labor into a fully burdened rate that carries its share of fringe, overhead, and G&A. Price it too low and every hour loses money; too high and you lose the bid. Here is how a wrap rate is built and how to use it without deceiving yourself.
Provisional Billing Rates: How Government Contractors Bill Overhead Before the Year Is Done
On a cost-type or T&M contract you have to bill your overhead and G&A every month — but your actual indirect rates are not known until the year closes. Provisional billing rates bridge that gap: estimated rates you bill with all year, then true up to actuals. Set them too high and you owe money back; too low and you starve your own cash flow. Here is how provisional rates work and how to keep them honest.
The Incurred Cost Submission: Settling Up Your Actual Indirect Rates
If you hold a cost-type or T&M contract, once a year you have to tell the government what your indirect rates actually were — not what you estimated, what they really came to — and reconcile every dollar you billed against them. That is the incurred cost submission, and an incomplete one gets bounced back. Here is what it is, when it is due, what goes in it, and how good books make it a report instead of an ordeal.
What Makes an Accounting System "Adequate" for Government Work (SF1408, Plain English)
Before you can win most cost-type government work, your accounting system has to be judged "adequate" — able to segregate costs, track them by contract, handle labor correctly, and exclude what it must. The checklist behind that judgment is the SF1408, and it is far less mysterious than it sounds. Here is what an adequate accounting system actually has to do, in plain English, and how ordinary good bookkeeping already gets you most of the way there.