Choosing Between Unanet and QuickBooks-Based Solutions for Your First GovCon Contract
Unanet vs. QuickBooks-based compliance tools: where each shines, the real decision factors for small government contractors, and a common progression path.
Unanet occupies an interesting position in the government contracting software market. It's less expensive and less complex than Deltek Costpoint, but still a full ERP that requires implementation, data migration, and training. For small contractors evaluating their options, the question often comes down to: is Unanet worth the investment, or can I get compliant with what I already have?
What Unanet Does Well
Unanet was designed for professional services firms doing government work. It handles project accounting, timekeeping, expense management, billing, and reporting in a single integrated platform. For contractors who want one system to manage everything, it delivers.
The user interface is more modern than Deltek's, the implementation is shorter (typically 6–12 weeks vs. 3–6 months for Deltek), and the pricing is more accessible — though still substantial for small companies. A 10-person team will typically pay $500–1,500/month plus $15,000–40,000 in implementation fees.
Where Unanet shines is in its project accounting depth. If you need detailed project budgeting, earned value analysis, variance reporting, and government-format billing, Unanet provides these natively.
There's a less-discussed dimension worth weighing: who actually navigates the day-to-day in the system. Jordan Glaze, Business Development Specialist/Accountant at Wendroff & Associates, CPA, frames it this way:
"Deltek and Unanet are still largely desktop-based. They don't integrate the way QuickBooks Online does. For a business owner without an accounting background, navigating Deltek or Unanet is significantly harder — you essentially have to delegate the bookkeeping entirely to your accountant."
— Jordan Glaze — Business Development Specialist/Accountant, Wendroff & Associates, CPA
Where QuickBooks-Based Solutions Compete
The alternative approach — keeping QuickBooks Online and adding a compliance tool — competes on speed, cost, and simplicity.
Setup takes hours, not weeks. There's no data migration because your data stays in QuickBooks Online. Your bookkeeper and CPA continue working in the system they know. Monthly costs are typically $150–400 for a small team, with no upfront implementation fees.
The compliance coverage is focused: DCAA-compliant timekeeping, labor distribution, and journal entry posting. These are the specific capabilities QuickBooks Online lacks for government contracting. Everything else — AP, AR, payroll, bank reconciliation, financial reporting — continues to happen in QuickBooks Online as before.
The Real Decision Factors
Project accounting needs. If you need robust project budgeting, EVM reporting, and complex billing scenarios, Unanet has a meaningful advantage. If your needs are primarily timekeeping, cost allocation, and compliance, a QuickBooks Online-based solution covers it.
Number of active cost-type contracts. Managing 2–3 contracts with QuickBooks Online + a compliance tool is straightforward. Managing 15+ contracts with complex funding structures and billing requirements starts to justify Unanet's richer project management features.
Your team's comfort with change. Switching to Unanet means everyone — employees, supervisors, finance, your CPA — learns a new system. Keeping QuickBooks Online with an add-on means the change is limited to how employees record time and how you run labor distribution.
Timeline pressure. If you need to demonstrate a compliant system for a proposal due in 30 days, Unanet can't get you there. A QuickBooks Online-based compliance tool can.
Budget reality. For a contractor whose first government contract is worth $500,000, spending $50,000+ on an ERP in year one is a tough equation. A $2,000–4,000 annual spend on a compliance add-on is proportional to the contract value.
There's also a useful revenue benchmark for when the math shifts. As Jordan Glaze puts it:
"Most contractors think they have to migrate from QuickBooks well before they actually do. The right move is to add the right tools, not to switch systems. The real migration trigger is around $10–20 million in revenue, which is when you can also justify hiring an internal accountant."
— Jordan Glaze — Business Development Specialist/Accountant, Wendroff & Associates, CPA
Sarah Sun, CPA, frames the same threshold from a different axis — contract count and total cost of ownership:
"For most small businesses — under 10 contracts, not subject to a formal DCAA audit but wanting to be compliant — moving to Deltek or Unanet is overkill. The software fee is high, the maintenance cost is high, and the in-house expertise required adds another layer of cost."
— Sarah Sun, CPA — Wendroff & Associates, CPA
A Common Path
Many successful contractors follow a progression: they start with QuickBooks Online + a compliance add-on for their first few cost-type contracts, build revenue and operational complexity, and evaluate whether to move to Unanet or Deltek when they reach 30–50 employees with a portfolio of active awards. The foundation in both cases is the same: an accounting system that satisfies the 14 SF-1408 criteria — whether you use Unanet or QuickBooks Online to do it.
This isn't a compromise — it's a rational allocation of resources. You invest in compliance infrastructure proportional to your current needs, and upgrade when the business justifies it.
Where WiseCost Fits
This comparison comes down to a real trade-off: Unanet gives you a purpose-built GovCon ERP but asks you to leave QuickBooks behind for a migration, while QuickBooks alone keeps your books simple but was never built for DCAA-compliant timekeeping or labor distribution. WiseCost is the "QuickBooks Online + compliance add-on" path referenced throughout this article. It runs as a compliance layer on top of the QuickBooks Online you already use, adding DCAA-compliant timekeeping, timesheet approval, labor distribution across direct and indirect cost pools, and journal-entry posting with an immutable audit trail — the controls a DCAA auditor looks for — without an ERP migration. For a 2–60 person contractor on T&M or cost-type work, it closes the compliance gap while keeping QuickBooks as the system of record.
| WiseCost (on QuickBooks Online) | Unanet | QuickBooks alone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| DCAA-compliant timekeeping | Yes | Yes | No |
| Labor distribution to cost pools | Yes | Yes | No |
| Keeps QuickBooks / no migration | Yes | No | Yes |
| Full project accounting / ERP | No | Yes | No |
| Typical setup time | Hours | 6–12 weeks | — |
| Starting price | $149/mo, 5 users | $500–1,500/mo + implementation | Existing QuickBooks Online subscription |
Which is right for you? Choose Unanet if you've outgrown QuickBooks and need a full ERP for complex project accounting. Stay on QuickBooks alone only if you don't yet hold contracts with DCAA requirements. If you need to be audit-ready on the QuickBooks Online you already run — especially at 2–60 employees — WiseCost is built for exactly that.
See how WiseCost makes QuickBooks Online audit-ready. Start a 14-day trial — no credit card required.
Where does your accounting system stand today? Take our free DCAA Readiness Self-Assessment before you compare software vendors — knowing your gaps first makes the buying decision much sharper.
Reviewed by Jordan Glaze — Business Development Specialist/Accountant — and Sarah Sun, CPA — Wendroff & Associates, CPA.