The GovCon Back Office: What Breaks and How to Fix It

The Four Pillars

Project-based cost accounting: DCAA timekeeping, indirect rate calculation, WAWF/PIEE invoicing, FAR Part 31 unallowable segregation.

HR and payroll: SCA wage determinations, H&W fringe, OFCCP affirmative action, DISS clearance crossovers tied to start dates.

Contracts and subcontracts: FAR/DFARS clause review, NDA/TA negotiation, modification tracking, flow-down enforcement.

Industrial security and cybersecurity: FSO managing DISS and NISPOM, ISSM owning NIST 800-171/CMMC and the SSP.

Why It Breaks

The spreadsheet squeeze: rate calcs and SCA tracking outgrow Excel; one broken formula creates billing errors or False Claims exposure.

Silos: HR hires without telling Security, contracts negotiates without telling payroll. Employees show up Day 1 and can't badge in.

Reactive compliance: SSPs get updated only when CMMC assessments are announced. Floor-check failures become a recurring event.

The do-it-all executive: CEO is also FSO, Contracts Manager, and Head of HR. Growth stalls at the bottleneck.

How to Fix It

Move off spreadsheets to a GovCon ERP (Unanet, Deltek Costpoint, JAMIS) that natively enforces DCAA timekeeping and indirect rate application.

Integrate the workflows. Offer-letter signed should automatically trigger HR onboarding, FSO DISS crossover, IT provisioning, and accounting charge-code setup.

Outsource deep expertise. You don't need a $200K-a-year ISSM for one enclave or a senior GovCon controller to run ICS prep. Buy those capabilities by the hour.

Drive compliance culture from the top. DCAA timekeeping and NISPOM procedures aren't suggestions - they're conditions of employment.

Want help putting this into practice?

Desra Group operates the back office for growing defense contractors so leadership can focus on winning and executing the mission.