Interview with Ken Bricker, Goodman and Company, Senior Partner, Former DCAA Auditor

PVBS is teamed with some of the leading accounting firms for government contractors to bring its Dynamics NAV solution to the market. We interviewed Ken Bricker, senior partner with the Goodman and Company’s Government Contracting Services Group, to discuss industry myths concerning “DCAA certified” accounting and financial management software and why his firm chose to partner with PVBS.

Bricker has worked in the government-contracting and acquisitions arena since 1975. He has private sector experience as a Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer of a government contractor, as well as government experience as a Senior Auditor for the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA).

He has extensive knowledge of the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) and the Cost Accounting Standards (CAS). Bricker frequently assists clients with regulatory issues such as systems reviews (accounting, estimating, purchasing, billing), bids and proposals, rate structure development, forward pricing, wage determinations, claims (equitable adjustment, delay, termination), defective pricing, and incurred cost submissions.

Does the DCAA (Defense Contract Audit Agency) endorse or approve any specific accounting software packages?

No. What’s happened, though, is that over the years DCAA auditors have become familiar with a very small number of accounting applications that they have continued to see at the government contractor locations that they’ve audited. Since only a handful of accounting and financial software developers have focused on the needs of government contractors, some contractors might have presumed that these packages have a special DCAA-approved designation attached to them, which they don’t. There is no such designation as “DCAA-approved” or “DCAA-certified” software.

What do you see as the negative implications of this misperception?

Government contractors will continue to have limitations put on them because they believe they are restricted to using a small number of feature-limited software applications. Unfortunately some of the packages that contractors believe they should be using are based on older technology that does not take advantage of some of the capabilities that more modern and technologically advanced solutions have incorporated. This makes the task of providing timely and accurate reporting to government customers much more difficult.

What do DCAA auditors look for in a commercially available accounting package?

Auditors want to ensure that the accounting solution generates the reports they need to adequately show contract status and compliance. The reports need to show job costing and easily compare proposed rates with actual rates.  They want to review individual expenses for cost allowability.  Among other things, they want to evaluate contractors' policies, processes, procedures, controls, and performance. At the end of the day, DCAA identifies and evaluates activities which either contribute to or have an impact on proposed or incurred costs of government contracts.  The accounting solution needs to support these, and do more.

How should a government contractor go about selecting the right accounting solution to meet their needs?

Some of the accounting solutions available today, such as the Microsoft Dynamics NAV-based solution from PVBS, are much more flexible and easier to use than what has historically been on the market for government contractors.  They should look for offerings that are specifically built for companies that service the Federal Government. They should also look for rich solutions that are fully integrated and include reporting, web services, and business intelligence/analytics from within the application.

What does Goodman and Company offer its government contractor clients concerning the financial management and ERP software?

In addition to standard CPA services, we offer our government contractor clients a full realm of services based on our comprehensive understanding of cost accounting standards, FAR, and DCAA guidelines. We help our clients build their contracting infrastructure to avoid the business disruption that will come with a DCAA audit.  We also provide implementation solutions for their software applications.

What are some of the benefits of the PVBS solution as compared to other solutions on the market?

The myriad of reporting options from within Dynamics NAV give executives at government contractors many options that they don’t have with other solutions.  For example, with some of the older, less flexible systems on the market, you need to exit the main application just to print a report. I also like the inherent flexibility of the Dynamics NAV solution. This will give government contractors more control over their business instead of being controlled by the software.