SBIR and STTR Accounting Guides
Budgets, indirect rates, and audit readiness for small businesses that win and manage SBIR and STTR awards.
SBIR & STTR·
SBIR Phase I to Phase II: How to Get Your Accounting Ready Before the Award
Phase I rarely tests your books. Phase II often does. What changes between SBIR phases, what a pre-award accounting review checks, and how to get ready while Phase I is still running.
Read article →12 min read
SBIR & STTR·
The SBIR Phase II Readiness Guide: Accounting From Phase I to Getting Paid
A complete guide to the accounting side of an SBIR or STTR award: the program, the pre-award review, agency rules, timesheets, unallowable costs, indirect rates, the Phase II budget, TABA, and billing. A summary of each step, with a link to the full article.
8 min read
SBIR & STTR·
TABA: How SBIR Companies Can Use Technical and Business Assistance Funds
What Technical and Business Assistance (TABA) funds cover, how much you can request in Phase I and Phase II after the 2026 reauthorization, what they cannot pay for, and how to budget and track them.
7 min read
SBIR & STTR·
Getting Paid on a Cost-Reimbursable SBIR Phase II
How invoicing works on a cost-plus-fixed-fee Phase II: what you can bill, how billing rates and the fee fit in, and what happens to your rates after the fiscal year ends.
8 min read
SBIR & STTR·
Unallowable Costs for SBIR Companies: What the Government Will Not Pay
What the government will not pay for on an SBIR contract or an NIH grant, from entertainment and alcohol to interest and fundraising fees, and how to keep those costs out of your rates and invoices.
9 min read
SBIR & STTR·
How to Build Your SBIR Phase II Budget
What goes into an SBIR Phase II budget: the direct cost categories, how to justify each line, where your indirect rate and fee fit, and the limit on subcontracting.
12 min read
SBIR & STTR·
Timesheets for SBIR Companies: Why Everyone, Including the CEO, Tracks Time
Timekeeping is one of the areas where SBIR companies most often get caught out. What a compliant timesheet looks like, why the CEO needs one too, and why percentage-of-effort habits from academia do not carry over.
7 min read
SBIR & STTR·
How to Build the Indirect Rate in Your SBIR Phase II Cost Proposal
Your Phase II cost proposal needs an indirect rate you can defend. Fringe, overhead, G&A, the fee, and the backup documentation a reviewer will ask for.
9 min read
SBIR & STTR·
SBIR Grants vs. SBIR Contracts: How Your Agency Shapes Your Accounting
Will DCAA review your books before Phase II? It depends on which agency funds you and whether your award is a grant or a contract. A map of NIH, NSF, DOE, NASA, and DoD.
8 min read
SBIR & STTR·
SBIR and STTR Explained: How the Government Funds Small Business R&D, and Where It Leads
A plain-English, source-backed guide to SBIR and STTR, the federal R&D funding programs for small businesses: the three phases, who is eligible, SBIR vs STTR, and how Phase III leads into federal contracts and DCAA compliance.
8 min read
Built by GovCon insiders, for GovCon teams
WiseCost combines 20+ years of government contracting experience with modern software engineering. Our mission: make DCAA compliance simple, affordable, and automatic, so you can focus on winning and delivering contracts.