Cost Accounting for Government Contractors
Indirect rates, cost pools, unallowable costs, and the FAR Part 31 rules that decide what you can bill the government.
Cost Accounting·
Provisional Billing Rates vs. Final Rates: The Year-End True-Up Explained
What a provisional billing rate is, how the year-end true-up against final indirect rates actually works, and what triggers a mid-year adjustment.
Read article →9 min read
Cost Accounting·
How Cost Pools Become Rates: Pool ÷ Base, and Why Your Rate Grows Faster Than You Expect
You already know fringe, overhead, and G&A. This is the next step: how each pool becomes a rate by dividing it over a base, why each pool sits on a different base, and why that cascade makes your wrap rate larger than founders expect.
5 min read
Cost Accounting·
What Is a Wrap Rate in Government Contracting? (With a Worked Example)
A wrap rate is the single multiplier that turns an hour of direct labor into its fully burdened cost. Here is how to calculate yours, a full worked example, and how to read whether 1.5, 2.0, or higher is competitive.
8 min read
Cost Accounting·
How to Classify Any Transaction Into the Right Cost Pool
A four-question method for classifying any GovCon cost into the right pool (Direct, Fringe, Overhead, G&A, or Unallowable), with worked examples.
4 min read
Cost Accounting·
How to Classify Travel Costs on a Government Contract
The same trip can be a direct, overhead, or G&A cost depending on why you traveled. Here's how to classify travel costs, and what's never billable.
3 min read
Cost Accounting·
How to Classify Indirect Costs (Fringe, Overhead, and G&A)
What counts as an indirect cost, and how to tell whether it belongs in Fringe, Overhead, or G&A, plus the unallowable costs that never reach an invoice.
4 min read
Cost Accounting·
How to Classify Direct Costs on a Government Contract
What counts as a direct cost on a government contract: direct labor, materials, subcontracts, travel, and the mistakes that draw an auditor's attention.
3 min read
Cost Accounting·
Cost Pools Explained: The Five Building Blocks of a DCAA-Compliant Chart of Accounts
How the five cost pools (Direct, Fringe, Overhead, G&A, and Unallowable) organize a DCAA-compliant chart of accounts, and how to structure yours.
7 min read
Cost Accounting·
What Is a Chart of Accounts for a Government Contractor?
A plain-English answer: what a chart of accounts is, why a GovCon's looks different, and why it's the foundation of DCAA compliance.
3 min read
Cost Accounting·
Direct vs. Indirect Costs in Government Contracting: A Practical Guide
A practical guide to understanding and classifying direct and indirect costs for government contracts. Includes pool structures, allocation methods, and common mistakes.
7 min read
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