Guides
Government contract accounting, explained by someone who audited it.
Practical guides for contractors on DCAA audits, cost accounting rules and pricing. Each one is written from twelve years inside DCAA and two running compliance on the contractor side, and each one says what the regulation requires and how it actually gets reviewed.
- 12 years inside DCAA
- 100+ DoD contractors audited
- CPA led
- QuickBooks, Costpoint, SAP & NetSuite
- Remote, nationwide
Latest
Guides
The contract brief: what to pull out of the award
DCAA briefs your contracts whether you do or not. What the FAR requires in one, what DCAA tests, and the CLIN to charge code map nobody else publishes.
DCAA compliant accounting software: what actually exists
No product is DCAA approved. What gets evaluated instead, and what QuickBooks, Unanet and Costpoint each solve.
Can AI replace your accountant?
What automation genuinely does well, where it fails, and why balanced books are not the same as correct books.
Reasonable compensation for an S corp owner
No safe harbor, no 60/40 rule. What the IRS weighs, what reclassification costs, and how to set a number you can defend.
Your accountant stopped answering. What now?
The one message to send first, the records to collect before you leave, and how to switch without missing a deadline.
What online bookkeeping actually costs in 2026
Pilot, Bookkeeper360 and 1-800Accountant compared on published prices, plus what the monthly fee leaves out.
Provisional billing vs forward pricing vs final rates
Three indirect rates, three purposes. Which one bills, which one prices, which one settles, and what confusing them costs.
How to choose a CPA firm for government contracting
The six questions to ask, what disqualifies a firm, what it should cost, and when you don’t need a specialist.
How much does DCAA compliant accounting cost?
Published numbers for the system build, the monthly work and the incurred cost submission, plus what moves the price.
How to calculate indirect rates for a small business
Fringe, overhead and G&A with a worked example for a ten-person firm, and what must come out of the pool first.
How to bill a cost-plus contract
What goes on the voucher, how indirect cost reaches the invoice, what gets withheld, and why vouchers come back.
We just won a cost-plus contract. Now what?
The three things that must be true before your first invoice, the first 30 days, and the two clauses that catch people.
Your accountant can’t do government contract compliance
Changing firms mid-contract: the order of operations, what to collect before you give notice, and when a split beats a switch.
SBIR Phase II accounting system requirements
A cost-plus Phase II needs an acceptable accounting system before award. Without one you are offered fixed price, and you carry the cost risk.
Is QuickBooks DCAA Compliant? How to Set It Up for Government Contracts
No software is compliant on its own. The chart of accounts, job costing, timekeeping and rate setup that let QuickBooks pass a DCAA review.
DCAA Timekeeping Requirements: Sample Policy and Floor Check Questions
Which timekeeping rules are regulation and which are practice, a free sample policy to adapt, and the questions staff get asked in a floor check.
Deltek Costpoint Alternatives for Small Government Contractors
When a small contractor needs an ERP and when QuickBooks is enough, with QuickBooks, Unanet, JAMIS and Costpoint compared from their own sites.
DCAA Compliance Software or Outsourced Government Contract Accounting?
A QuickBooks add-on with your own staff, add-on plus a CPA at year end, or monthly outsourced accounting, compared row by row: who closes the month, watches funding and answers the auditor.
SF 1408 Readiness Self-Check
11 yes, partly or no questions mapped to the accounting system criteria, with what the auditor looks for on each gap. About 3 minutes, no sign-up.
Incurred Cost Submission Guide: Due Date, ICE Model Schedules and the DCAA Adequacy Checklist
When it is due, what each ICE model schedule from A to O shows, how to submit, and what gets a submission returned as inadequate.
DCAA Pre-Award Audit Checklist: The SF 1408 Requirements, Explained by a Former DCAA Auditor
Every SF 1408 criterion, what the auditor asks to see, where contractors fail, and a 30-day plan to get ready.
Pre-Award vs Post-Award Accounting System Review: What Each Tests and Which One You Need
A pre-award survey tests whether your system is designed to work. A post-award review tests whether it has been working. What each asks for, who triggers it, and which one to prepare for.
Nontraditional Defense Contractor: Definition, Status and What the FY2026 NDAA Exempts
What counts as a nontraditional defense contractor, how status is asserted and lost, and what Section 1826 of the FY2026 NDAA now exempts.
TINA and CAS Thresholds After the FY2026 NDAA: What Changed for Contractors
Certified cost or pricing data now starts at $10 million for DoD contracts after June 30, 2026, and CAS at $35 million. What changed and what did not.
Small Business
Guides for small business owners
The 1099 Threshold Is $2,000 for 2026
The threshold went up, which reads like less paperwork. The same section of the same law added cash tips, a Treasury Tipped Occupation Code and overtime to the 1099, and tied your workers’ tip deduction to receiving one.
The FICA Tip Credit Now Covers Salons, Barbershops and Spas
Section 45B was a restaurant provision for thirty years. From 2025 it covers barbering, nail care, esthetics and spa treatments. Worth 7.65 percent of qualifying employee tips, and worth nothing on booth renters.
Your First Year Self-Employed: The Tax Bill Nobody Warns You About
A worked example for a 1099 real estate agent: self-employment tax, quarterly estimates, and the Colorado sales tax account trap.
Is an S Corp Worth It? A Studio Owner’s Numbers
Break-even math at four profit levels, reasonable salary, and why below about $60,000 of profit an S corp costs more than it saves.
Who writes these
Every guide is written by Alexander Mungov, CPA, the founder of M2 CPA. He spent twelve years with the Defense Contract Audit Agency in Denver, Kabul, Wiesbaden and Nevada, finishing as a Supervisory Auditor, then ran FAR, DFARS and CAS compliance inside a venture-backed defense technology company.
The guides cite the statute or regulation behind each rule. The FAR is in the middle of a government-wide rewrite, and the Department of Defense is applying parts of it through class deviations, so every guide carries the date it was last checked. If a rule has moved since then, tell us and we will update it.
Guides are general information, not advice for your specific contracts. For that, book a call. Our rates are published.
Have a question the guides don’t answer?
Send us the clause, the deadline or the auditor’s email. We usually know within one call where you stand.