Guide · Accounting Software
Deltek Costpoint Alternatives for Small Government Contractors
Most contractors with 3 to 50 employees don’t need Costpoint, or any ERP, to pass a DCAA pre-award survey. DCAA doesn’t approve software. It looks at your methods, procedures and controls. QuickBooks set up for government contracts, with a project timekeeping tool and a rate workbook, can pass when it’s run correctly. Here’s how the options compare, and when an ERP really is the right call.
- 12 years inside DCAA
- 100+ DoD contractors audited
- CPA led
- QuickBooks, Costpoint, SAP & NetSuite
- Remote, nationwide
By Alexander Mungov, CPA, former DCAA Supervisory Auditor
Last updated: September 13, 2026
The short answer
Do you need Costpoint? Usually not yet
Not to win or perform your first cost-type contracts. There’s no list of approved accounting software. DFARS defines an accounting system as your “system or systems for accounting methods, procedures, and controls” that produce accurate and timely financial data (DFARS 252.242-7006(a)). DCAA’s own small business training makes the same point: many software packages can be part of an acceptable system, and the same packages can be set up in a way that fails.
The pre-award survey on Standard Form 1408 tests design. Can your books separate direct from indirect cost, collect cost by contract, allocate indirect cost consistently, tie labor to timesheets, keep unallowable costs out and determine contract cost at least monthly? For cost-reimbursement work the rule sits in the overhaul text of FAR 16.301-3(a)(3): the contractor’s accounting system must “adequately segregate, accumulate and allocate costs specifically attributed to the contract or order.” None of that names a product.
A small contractor with a few contracts and a simple fringe, overhead and G&A structure can meet every one of those criteria in QuickBooks Online. An ERP starts to earn its cost when volume and complexity turn the manual pieces (the rate workbook, the timesheet review, the billing spreadsheet) into the weak link. The triggers are below, and the full survey criteria are in our DCAA pre-award audit checklist.
The options
The realistic options for a small contractor
Four paths cover almost every contractor in this size range. Product facts come from each vendor’s own website as of September 13, 2026. Where a vendor doesn’t publish a price, we say “priced by quote.”
1. QuickBooks Online, configured for government contracts
What it is: the general ledger you may already own, set up with each contract (and each line item, where needed) as a project, direct and indirect accounts split, separate accounts for unallowable costs, and each month locked after close. Add a timekeeping tool where employees enter time daily by project, with supervisor approval, that ties to payroll. Indirect rates come from a workbook built from the trial balance.
Price: Intuit lists its prices on its pricing page. Plus, the plan with project profitability tracking and classes, lists at $140 a month for 5 users. Advanced lists at $340 a month for 25 users. Timekeeping is a separate subscription.
Watch for: the rate calculation and most controls live outside the software, so somebody has to own them every month.
2. QuickBooks plus a GovCon add-on
What it is: several vendors sell tools that sit on top of QuickBooks and add what it lacks for government work, most often indirect rate calculation, labor distribution, and timesheets with approvals and a record of every change. The ledger stays in QuickBooks.
Price: varies by vendor. Check each vendor’s own site.
Watch for: one more system to reconcile. The add-on’s reports have to tie to the general ledger every month, and someone still decides how pools and bases are defined.
3. Unanet GovCon ERP
What it is: a cloud ERP built for government contractors. Unanet’s GovCon overview lists financials, indirect rates and cost pools, timekeeping that stops employees from entering time in advance and keeps an audit trail of changes, project, contract and CLIN tracking, and incurred cost reporting. Its small business page says it’s built for contractors “from small businesses winning their first cost-type contract to large enterprises.”
Implementation: Unanet says most government contractors are fully live within three to six months.
Price: priced by quote.
4. JAMIS Prime ERP
What it is: a cloud ERP for government contractors and federally funded nonprofits. The JAMIS Prime page describes job cost tracking of direct, indirect and overhead expenses “for each contract, project, and subtask,” allocation of indirect costs to final cost objectives, timekeeping and labor distribution, contract and subcontract management, and billing, with a FedRAMP Moderate option.
Price: priced by quote.
5. Deltek Costpoint
What it is: Deltek’s ERP for government contracting and defense work. The Costpoint page covers project and contract accounting with cost segregation and burdening, billing and revenue recognition, time and expense, indirect rate management, procurement and manufacturing. That last pair matters most to hardware makers.
Price: priced by quote.
6. Deltek Costpoint Essentials
What it is: the GovCon product on Deltek’s small business page. The Costpoint Essentials page pitches GovCon capability “without the complexity or cost of enterprise ERP” and bundles Costpoint project accounting, time and expense, business intelligence, and budgeting and forecasting. Deltek’s other small business products on that page, such as Ajera and Vantagepoint, are aimed at architecture and engineering firms.
Price: Deltek publishes one: $800 a month, based on a 10-user license, with licenses and implementation included.
Implementation: Deltek says live in 60 days or less.
Side by side
Comparison at a glance
Categories, not a feature audit. Confirm the specifics with each vendor before you sign.
| QuickBooks, configured | QuickBooks plus add-on | GovCon ERP (Unanet, JAMIS, Costpoint) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical fit | A few contracts, one simple rate structure | Several flexibly priced contracts, rates calculated in software | Many concurrent contracts, multiple pools or entities, larger staff |
| Contract types | Fixed-price, T&M and cost-type, with job setup and a rate workbook | Same, with rate and billing support from the add-on | All types, with contract, funding and billing rules in the system |
| Indirect rates | Workbook built from the trial balance | Calculated in the add-on from QuickBooks data | Calculated and applied (burdened) in the system |
| Timekeeping | Separate tool: daily entry by project, approvals | Often part of the add-on | Built in, with entry rules and a change audit trail |
| Project and CLIN cost | Projects, sub-projects or classes | Projects plus add-on reporting | Native contract, task and CLIN structures |
| Implementation | Reconfigure the file you have; effort depends on the state of the books | Setup plus add-on configuration | Vendor-led project; Unanet says three to six months, Deltek says 60 days or less for Essentials |
| Published price | Yes, on Intuit’s site | Varies by vendor | Costpoint Essentials only; others priced by quote |
| Who runs it monthly | Your bookkeeper or an outside firm, with a CPA reviewing | Same | Same, plus someone who knows the system’s setup |
Head to head
Unanet vs QuickBooks, and Unanet vs Costpoint
Unanet vs QuickBooks
They’re different kinds of tools. QuickBooks is a general ledger, and making it work for government contracts depends on the setup and the monthly routine around it. Unanet is a GovCon ERP where timekeeping rules, pools and contract structures are part of the system. With a handful of contracts and a simple rate structure, QuickBooks set up correctly is usually enough and costs less to own. With many cost-type contracts, several pools and a stack of timesheets to approve every week, the enforced workflow in an ERP starts to pay for itself.
Unanet vs Costpoint
Both are purpose-built GovCon ERPs with detailed feature lists on their own sites. Costpoint’s page also covers procurement and manufacturing. Unanet’s pages put weight on project management, resource forecasting and business development. Deltek publishes a price for its small business package; Unanet prices by quote. The practical questions are the same for either: who configures pools and bases, who maintains the chart of accounts and contract setup, and who reviews the close each month. Ask each vendor to demo one of your real contracts on your own rate structure.
Decision triggers
When to move off QuickBooks
Headcount alone isn’t the trigger. These are the conditions where an ERP is usually worth the switch.
CAS coverage
Small businesses are exempt from CAS entirely (48 CFR 9903.201-1(b)(3)). Once you’re not small, CAS applies to negotiated contracts above $35 million under 41 U.S.C. 1502 as amended by the FY2026 NDAA, and full coverage starts at $100 million government-wide from October 1, 2026. Details are in our TINA and CAS thresholds guide.
Many concurrent cost-type contracts
Each cost-type or T&M contract means provisional billing, funding tracking and a share of the incurred cost submission. With a few, a workbook is fine. With many, each with its own fee, ceiling and billing terms, manual billing becomes the risk.
Complex multi-tier pools
Fringe, overhead by site or business line, material handling, G&A, maybe a service center. Every extra tier multiplies the links in a workbook. An ERP burdens cost as it posts.
More than one legal entity
Intercompany charges, shared services and rates that span companies are hard to keep straight across separate QuickBooks files.
Enforced workflow at scale
When approving timesheets, chasing late entries and documenting every correction takes a real share of someone’s week, system-enforced rules and an automatic change trail save labor and audit risk.
A prime or agency requires it
Sometimes the contract, a prime’s subcontract terms or a program office asks for reports or data your books can’t produce. Read the requirement closely. Sometimes a new report solves it; sometimes it means a new system.
A pre-award survey on the calendar isn’t, by itself, a reason to buy an ERP. Implementing new software under a deadline adds risk. Fixing the setup you already have usually doesn’t.
The real cost
The hidden cost isn’t the license
Someone has to run the system every month, in QuickBooks and in Costpoint alike. An ERP enforces rules and does the math. It doesn’t decide whether a cost is direct or indirect, catch an unallowable charge coded to travel, reconcile the job cost ledger to the general ledger, update provisional billing rates or prepare the incurred cost submission. An ERP does not replace a controller.
So compare the full monthly cost: software, plus the time of whoever keeps it right. For most small contractors the second number is the bigger one. Deltek’s Costpoint Essentials price, for example, covers licenses and implementation. It doesn’t cover the person who closes the books.
That’s the work we do. We run the accounting on the system you have. You keep your QuickBooks when it can be set up correctly, with jobs, the direct and indirect split, unallowable accounts and project timekeeping. We do the bookkeeping. You’re not getting a memo. A CPA reviews every month-end close.
- Core, from $800/month: up to about 7 employees, one or two contracts.
- Cost-Type, from $1,500/month: cost-type or T&M work, monthly indirect rates and provisional billing rate tracking, multi-state payroll.
- Controller, from $2,500/month: up to 50 employees, several cost-type contracts, controller-level work.
- One-time projects: indirect rate structure and build from $3,000; timekeeping policy plus staff training from $1,200; SF 1408 pre-award readiness review from $2,500.
Incurred cost submissions, tax returns and R&D credit studies are quoted separately. Details are on our pricing page.
Accounting costs are ordinary indirect costs, usually G&A, and generally allowable if reasonable and allocable. On cost-type work you recover them through your indirect rates. On firm-fixed-price work they’re part of the price you bid.
Staying on QuickBooks? Start with our guide to QuickBooks DCAA compliance. Need the system built from scratch? See DCAA-compliant accounting systems.
How to choose
Choosing in four steps
List your contracts by type
Count the cost-type and T&M contracts you have now and the ones you’re bidding.
Sketch your rate structure
Write down your pools and bases, and whether they’re likely to change as you grow.
Price the whole month
Software, plus the hours to close, review coding, compute rates and bill.
Demo with your own data
Ask each vendor, and us, to walk one real contract from timesheet to invoice.
Questions
Frequently asked
Do I need Costpoint to pass a DCAA audit?
No. DCAA looks at your accounting methods, procedures and controls, not the brand of software. Small contractors pass pre-award surveys on QuickBooks set up with jobs, a direct and indirect split, unallowable accounts, project timekeeping and a rate workbook that ties to the ledger.
Is there DCAA-compliant accounting software?
Not in the sense of an official list. DCAA does not approve or certify software. Vendors describe products as built for DCAA compliance, meaning they include controls that help, but a system is compliant only if it’s set up and operated to meet the criteria.
What is the best Deltek Costpoint alternative for a small business?
For most contractors with 3 to 50 employees, QuickBooks Online configured for government contracts, with a timekeeping tool and a rate workbook or add-on. If you’ve outgrown that, compare Unanet GovCon ERP, JAMIS Prime and Deltek’s own Costpoint Essentials using your real contracts and rate structure.
How much does Deltek Costpoint cost?
Deltek publishes one price: Costpoint Essentials at $800 a month, based on a 10-user license, with licenses and implementation included. Full Costpoint is priced by quote. Either way, budget separately for the people who run the system every month.
Unanet vs QuickBooks: which does a small government contractor need?
QuickBooks is a general ledger that works for government contracts when it’s set up and run correctly. Unanet is a GovCon ERP with timekeeping rules, pools and contract structures built in. A few contracts and a simple rate structure usually point to QuickBooks; many cost-type contracts and multiple pools point to an ERP.
When should a government contractor move off QuickBooks?
When complexity, not headcount, makes the manual pieces the weak link: CAS-covered contracts, many concurrent cost-type contracts, multi-tier pools, several legal entities, a need for enforced approvals and audit trails at scale, or a prime or agency requirement your books can’t meet.
Does an ERP replace a controller?
No. An ERP enforces rules and does the math, but someone still classifies costs, catches unallowables, reconciles the ledger, updates billing rates, closes the month and prepares the incurred cost submission. The license is usually the smaller part of the monthly cost.
Can you work with the system we already have?
Yes. We run the accounting on the system you have. If QuickBooks can be set up correctly, you keep it. GovCon monthly accounting starts at $800 a month for our Core tier, and our pricing page lists every tier.
More
Related services and guides
QuickBooks DCAA compliance
Whether QuickBooks passes, and exactly how to set it up.
Not sure you need a new system?
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