Unanet vs PROCAS for a Small Government Contractor

Small contractors reach this comparison when QuickBooks starts to feel tight: a cost-type contract is coming, indirect rates live in a spreadsheet, or an auditor from the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) is on the calendar. Unanet and PROCAS are two of the names that come up most. Both are built for government contractors and both replace QuickBooks, so the choice affects your books, your team and your budget for years.

The short answer

Unanet GovCon is an ERP, an all-in-one business and accounting system, built around government contracting, with a core package, add-ons and a partner network for implementation. PROCAS is a project accounting system for growing government contractors, with accounting, timekeeping, expense reporting and management reporting in one product. Choose Unanet if you want a broader platform that includes business development and room to add modules. Choose PROCAS if you want accounting and timekeeping in one focused system.

Unanet runs from about $500 to $1,500 per month for a 10-person team, plus $15,000 to $40,000 for implementation. PROCAS does not publish pricing, so ask both for a written quote for your user count.

Both systems replace QuickBooks. Before you compare them, decide whether moving your books is what you need.

Unanet vs PROCAS at a glance

	Unanet GovCon	PROCAS
What it is	ERP built around government contracting	Project accounting system for growing government contractors
If you are on QuickBooks	Your books move into Unanet	Your books move into PROCAS
Core package	DCAA-oriented timekeeping and accounting, automated labor distribution, project accounting, financial management and business development	Accounting, timekeeping, expense reporting, management reporting and a web API
Add-ons	AR automation, vendor invoice automation, advanced analytics, proposal support, and asset, inventory and manufacturing management	Timekeeping, expenses and reporting are integrated, with no add-on systems, as PROCAS states
Indirect rates	Handles indirect rates and cost pools natively, as Unanet states	Calculated and allocated automatically; stored by year as provisional, budgeted, projected or actual
Incurred cost submission (the annual report of your actual costs and rates)	Preset reports that fill the schedules of DCAA's Incurred Cost Electronically (ICE) model	Lists support for schedules A to F, H, I, K and L
Billing	Billing and collections for government contracts	Invoicing for cost-reimbursable, time-and-materials (T&M) and firm-fixed-price contracts, including provisional-to-actual true-up
Business development	CRM GovCon, and proposal tools	Not listed among its modules
Time to start*	Most contractors fully live in 3 to 6 months, as Unanet states	Not published
Price*	From about $500 to $1,500 per month for a 10-person team, plus $15,000 to $40,000 for implementation	Not published

*Timelines as published by each vendor in November 2026. The Unanet estimate comes from a quote and is not a published price. Ask each vendor for a written quote and timeline for your user count and modules.

What Unanet GovCon offers

Unanet describes its platform as built for government contractors of any size, from small businesses winning a first cost-type contract to large enterprises. For small businesses it starts from a foundation of timekeeping and accounting, labor distribution, project accounting, financial management and business development, and you add modules as you grow. Implementation help is available from firms in its Partner Network.

Unanet itself says QuickBooks may be enough for early-stage contractors with simple needs, and that it may fall short once a company takes on cost-reimbursable or T&M work, manages indirect rates or relies on spreadsheets. It also states plainly that DCAA does not certify individual accounting software products.

What PROCAS offers

In PROCAS, time and expense data convert automatically to financial transactions, and a job cost ledger tracks costs by project, task and contract line item (CLIN). Indirect rates are set up through a point-and-click structure, and billing covers true-up from provisional to actual rates.

Its pitch is a single product: timekeeping, expenses and management reporting are integrated, and connections through its API come with standard user licensing, with no additional setup or licensing fees from PROCAS. On security, it states a third-party assessment against Level 1 of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC 2.0), the Defense Department's cybersecurity standard, and independent SOC 2 security audits.

How to choose between them

You want CRM and proposal tools from the same vendor. Unanet lists them; PROCAS does not.
You want one focused accounting product. PROCAS presents its modules as a single integrated system.
You handle controlled unclassified information. Ask each vendor what its hosting covers. Unanet offers a FedRAMP Moderate option (a federal cloud security level), and PROCAS lists its CMMC and SOC 2 assessments.
You want an outside firm to set it up for you. Unanet has a Partner Network of firms that do this. Ask PROCAS how it handles setup.

Whichever you lean toward, ask both vendors for the same things in writing: the total first-year cost, including implementation and data migration; who will run the system day to day; and how your open contracts and history will move over.

Do you need to replace QuickBooks at all?

Either system means a migration, and that is a project of its own: your books, open contracts and history have to move over, and your team has to learn a new system while the work keeps running.

An ERP earns its cost when you need what only an ERP does: integrated government billing, deep project accounting, or many contracts and users. Many small contractors have a narrower gap, on the labor side: daily timekeeping, labor distribution and indirect rates. That gap can be closed on top of QuickBooks Online, with no migration, by a compliance layer such as WiseCost.

Each path can meet the SF-1408 (the form used to evaluate a contractor's accounting system), because DCAA evaluates your system and how you use it. How to Choose DCAA Software for a Small GovCon walks through the four approaches, Is Unanet Overkill for a Small GovCon? separates what DCAA requires from what an ERP adds, and Unanet GovCon Alternatives for Small Contractors compares the wider field.

FAQ

Unanet runs from about $500 to $1,500 per month for a 10-person team, plus $15,000 to $40,000 for implementation. PROCAS does not publish pricing. Ask both for a written first-year total for your user count, including implementation and data migration.

Both are positioned as replacements for QuickBooks: your books move into the new system. If you want to keep QuickBooks Online as your ledger, a compliance layer such as WiseCost works on top of it.

No software is DCAA approved. DCAA evaluates your accounting system as a whole, including your policies and how your team follows them. Unanet states this on its own site.

Usually when integrated government billing, deep project accounting or many contracts and users start to outgrow QuickBooks, and when you have someone who can run the system.

The Bottom Line

Unanet and PROCAS are both serious systems for government contractors. Unanet offers more breadth and a partner ecosystem. PROCAS offers a focused product with accounting, timekeeping and reporting together. Get written quotes from both, and first make sure replacing QuickBooks is the step you need. If your gap is on the labor side, you may be able to close it where your books already are.

Want to compare a compliance layer before moving your books? Start a 14-day free trial connected to your QuickBooks Online, or take the free DCAA Readiness Self-Assessment to see which gaps you have first.