Contract Finance

A cost proposal is a certified document under FAR 15.408 Table 15-2. One wrong cost element does not cost you points. It triggers a DCAA audit of every rate.

Closeout runs 6 to 36 months depending on contract type. The FAR 4.804 timeline, quick-closeout procedures and final rate settlement decide when you actually see the money still held.

Over 10,000 federal contracts have been terminated since early 2025. If the notice lands, the accounting decisions you make in the first 30 days decide how much you recover.

CMMC costs are recoverable or absorbed depending entirely on how you book them. Misclassify a single cost pool and a recoverable investment becomes a questioned cost finding.

Year-end close is not a bookkeeping exercise. It is the first phase of your incurred cost submission. Every entry from December to February decides whether that filing survives DCAA.

FAR 31.205 defines what you cannot charge to a federal contract. Miss one category and you expose the firm to questioned costs, penalties and rate adjustments on every open contract.

Government contractors face a 45-75 day payment cycle commercial businesses never see. Forecasting, invoicing discipline, financing options, and reserves that absorb the shocks.

Contract profitability needs CLIN-level cost tracking, not commercial P&L thinking. Setting up job costing, catching an underperforming contract early, and protecting margin across fixed-price, cost-reimbursable and T&M work.