Interview with Bernard Mustafa, PVBS Chief Executive Officer

Bernard Mustafa became the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Pleasant Valley Business Solutions (PVBS) in 2004.  Mustafa, a seasoned executive with deep experience bringing financial and accounting solutions to government contractors, has enjoyed a long and varied career at companies as diverse as American Express, Corning Hazelton, government contractor Standard Technology, Inc. and Microsoft Dynamics NAV value added reseller Integrated Business Systems. At these companies, he has held chief financial officer and chief operating officer titles. He has also has run successful independent consulting practices over the years.

He answers questions about the role PVBS plays as the Microsoft alternative for government contractor project accounting and financial management.

The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is frequently a key decision maker when a company invests in a project accounting and financial management solution. What kind of CFO would be most interested in the PVBS solution?

Almost all of our sales engagements involve CFOs, in addition to chief operating officers, controllers and business owners. The CFOs we deal with work for growing companies where the business requirements are becoming more complex. These CFOs recognize that they need a better technology solution to help provide the management team with the right information to make key decisions.  Our CFO customers realize that it takes more than just brute manpower to get the analysis and reporting that are needed to their constituents in a timely manner and they are willing to make that kind of investment.  They also are excited about how Microsoft has begun developing technology that supports the business needs of government contractors such as themselves.

Why are Chief Operating Officers particularly interested in the PVBS solution?

I’ve been a COO myself and know that you’re responsible for holding project and program managers accountable for results, so they need the right reporting tools to make timely decisions. Dynamics NAV, (formerly Microsoft Navision) with SQL Server Reporting Services, gives them the tools they need to make better decisions.  Additionally, you’re able to get executive level info seamlessly from the accounting department using SQL technologies including reporting and business analytics.  Growing business operations get more complex and when they go into a new business line, such as services to products or vice versa, they find that these different business models require different systems. Fortunately, Dynamics NAV satisfies both of those requirements.

Some of the executive level information that COOs need includes basic financial statements and trends of business indicators, such as changes in overhead or G&A rates to trends in accounts receivables and payables. They can also get cash flow status and project profitability reports in a timely manner.

How can senior executives grow their business with a solution such as Dynamics NAV for Government Contractors from PVBS?

The solution allows you to grow without losing control of your business. Most of our customers are high growth companies that need key indicators of their cost ratios, project profitability, and company profitability. They come to us for a scalable tool that allows them to grow and diversify their business without worrying about the accounting system and requirements.

How can they get information in near real time in order to make decisions before it's too late?

Information is available to the proper subscribers from the moment it is entered, with proper security considerations, and without being dependent on accounting close. From the moment your employees enter time and expense over the web, the data is available for project managers to review. Once time is posted, it’s available from a project profitability perspective as well. Dynamics NAV leverages all of the Microsoft technology which helps our clients.

How does the PVBS solution support DCAA Compliance?

Out of the box, the solution is structured around Standard Form 1408 (Pre-award Survey of Prospective Contractor Accounting System) for pre-award survey of accounting system adequacy. Dynamics NAV allows you to segregate your costs, maintain homogenous cost pools, recognize revenue and invoice in a fashion that is required by government agencies. Dynamics NAV is a full ERP system that provides solutions way beyond what is required for DCAA compliance of an accounting system.  It goes beyond accounting and gives professionals throughout the rest of the organization, such as project managers and marketing managers, what they need to make decisions. The flexible reporting structure fits in very well to help government contractors produce the information that they need. The solution does exactly what government contractors need their cost accounting system to do. Plus, as a full-featured ERP system, it goes way beyond what they would expect.

Why would executives at government contractors be interested in a solution from Microsoft?

Microsoft will invest more in their business solutions this year than most other companies will produce in revenue!  They have continued to commit further integration with the other Microsoft Office products. Microsoft sells their software through the partner channel and works with them to build deep vertical products from their very strong general product. A perfect case in point is PVBS which has a unique and specific focus on government contractors and has spent the past few years developing a deep product on the Dynamics NAV platform. Microsoft is committed to servicing and supporting the channel. Plus, most people in our user community are comfortable with the Microsoft technology so the learning curve is shorter.

How can senior management analyze trends and more easily look to the future using the PVBS solution?

One of the things that our customers continue to laud us on is the breadth of reporting functionality in our solution. For example, if a contract is trending downward, the real time reports will give them the data they need to better deploy resources to best manage the contract. Using the budgeting tools built into the system they can look at trends of various key indicators and make decisions in a timely manner. Flexibility of reporting can allow them to tailor key indicators to what their business requirements are instead of being hindered by canned reports that may not be applicable or germane to their specific requirements. The solution’s flexibility means that you’re not forced to work in a way that you are not accustomed to.

Does the PVBS solution do everything from a project accounting and financial management perspective that government contractors need?

Dynamics NAV is a full ERP system with specific government contractor functionality built out. We believe that it is competitive and superior to any other government contractor system out there. We welcome the opportunity to compete and show the software.

Compared to other solutions on the market, how does the PVBS solution give executives ready access to information to help them make better decisions?

There are many reporting options from within Dynamics NAV from web based reporting and analysis for managers who are remote to financial reports that can be delivered electronically, printed, or viewed on the web.

Dynamics NAV is very “flexible.” How does this benefit government contractors?

Every company is different. There are different cultures and requirements. How do you best use a financial system to allow you to operate based on what’s important to your business versus how the software wants you to use it. Dynamics NAV focuses on what’s important based on how you want to do business in the manner you need to do.  The underlying development methodology is based on a flexibility that recognizes that every company is different. If your software can only work one way, there will be a lot of dissatisfied users.

You have 20 plus years of industry experience. Talk about the differences government contractors face concerning accounting requirements and financial management as compared to other commercial companies.

The fact that I’ve been in a role of chief operating officer, chief financial officer and consultant to government contractor means that I’ve seen businesses run from a number of perspectives.  The government contractor market is very competitive especially for small and mid market companies. The competition nature really requires executives to have the info they need to make decisions in a timely manner. We understand trends of indirect rates and pricing requirements. The market is so competitive that you can’t survive without this type of information. Information requirements are increasing so that the requirements for performance based contracts will drive the need for timely info to higher levels.