Government contract accounting & compliance advisory
Built by the auditor who used to check your books.
Pre-award surveys, incurred cost submissions, indirect rates and audit response for small and midsize federal contractors. Advisory services that work alongside your existing accountant.
What we help with.
Starting prices on /pricingSF 1408 pre-award readiness
Most urgentA contracting officer has asked for a pre-award accounting system survey. We check your system against the same criteria the auditor will use and tell you exactly what to fix.
- Criteria gap matrix
- Corrective action plan
- Mock survey walkthrough
DCAA / DCMA audit support
You have a notice. We triage it, map the documents they will ask for, and sit with you through the response.
- Notice triage
- Document map
- Response support
Incurred cost submissions
Due six months after your fiscal year end. We prepare the schedules, reconcile them, and get the package ready for the ICE model.
- Schedule preparation
- Reconciliation
- Adequacy review
Indirect cost rates
Pools, bases and a written methodology you can defend in a rate review.
- Pool and base design
- Rate calculation
- Written methodology
Post-award accounting systems
DFARS 252.242-7006 reviews and remediation plans for contractors who already hold cost-type work.
- Criteria review
- Findings
- Remediation plan
Labor and timekeeping
The control DCAA tests first. Policy assessment, control testing and employee training.
- Policy assessment
- Control testing
- Training session
Why a former auditor
We know what the auditor is looking for because we were the auditor.
William Austin spent 20 years at the Defense Contract Audit Agency in Denver as an auditor, incurred cost technical specialist, supervisory auditor and GAGAS quality assurance auditor, with audit tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He went on to GAGAS quality assurance work at the VA Office of Inspector General and incurred cost audits at the Department of Energy OIG. He works daily in the FAR, DFARS, DEAR and CAS.
Roles and years are stated for background. Past government employment does not imply agency endorsement.
Where clients usually start.
Where clients start“The CO wants a pre-award survey and we bid in three weeks.”
“Our incurred cost submission is due and our books weren’t set up for it.”
“DCAA questioned our labor charging.”
“We just won our first cost-type contract and our accountant has never done this.”
Questions we get first.
William Austin is a licensed CPA in Colorado. PDS is an advisory practice, not a public accounting firm, and does not replace your CPA.
No one can. We prepare you against the criteria the auditor uses and tell you plainly where you stand.
No. We tell you what the system has to do and work with your accountant or vendor on how.
We reply within one business day and can usually begin a diagnostic within a week.
Starting prices for fixed-scope work are on the Pricing page. Audit support is scoped individually.
Next step
Tell us what you received.
A survey request, an audit notice, a deadline. Send the basics and we will reply within one business day.