Cleary Government Services, LLC

The growing demand for social change is driving governments worldwide to devise new initiatives that showcase a more substantial commitment to serving citizens. This shift, combined with the heavily disrupted economic landscape and talent pools, pushes businesses with imminent government projects to seek partners that can support them in winning contracts and then maintaining compliance with emerging regulatory and audit requirements.

Addressing this need is Cleary Government Services, LLC (CGS), a boutique, small CPA firm that supports large and small government contractors, from Fortune 100 companies to privatelyheld firms, with a wealth of government contracts consulting, accounting, and auditing expertise. From proposal preparation to contract negotiation and management, CGS competently serves the aerospace and defense, manufacturing, engineering, and construction (E&C), professional services, and environmental (water and wastewater treatment) industries.

CGS leverages its 60+ years of experience performing Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 31 indirect rate audits and government contracting compliance advisory services to provide two broad service lines: indirect cost rate audits and government contracts consulting.

Through indirect cost rate audits, CGS develops effective overheard rate structures that optimize cost recovery and minimize administrative burden. CGS’ audit services help clients to make faster and well-informed decisions as it completes the audits more quickly, efficiently, and on time. These overhead audits help clients to improve their cost recovery and financial performance in a government-compliant manner.

Through its consulting services, CGS supports its clients with their government contracting and compliance needs. These services encompass the entire life cycle of government contracts, from proposal preparation to indirect cost rate structures, policies, and procedures; government audits; compliance with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and the Cost Accounting Standards (CAS); required annual submissions and finally, to contract closeouts. CGS’ 60+ years of finance and accounting experience, coupled with its government contracting expertise, enable CGS to develop and implement unique and effective solutions so that companies can execute their government contracts in a compliant and profitable manner.

For new government contractors, CGS can assist by supporting proposal preparation, including the cost proposal; developing compliant indirect overhead rates and the related disclosures; preparing the necessary policies and procedures using its proven templates; and advising them throughout the submission, negotiation, and performance stages of the contract.

For established government contractors, CGS can provide many other consulting services, including dispute resolution, home office allocations, etc. CGS can also perform strategic benchmarking analyses using its proprietary data to identify opportunities to improve a business’ cost recovery, compliance, and profitability.

In short, “We are experts in government dispute resolution. CGS helps clients to finalize and negotiate overhead rates or reach an agreement for a particular contract, enabling them to pursue greater opportunities faster,” says Ms. Kinsley McBride, Partner at CGS.

CGS develops effective processes depending on each client’s unique needs. CGS strongly emphasizes fact-finding, reviewing the relevant documents and correspondence, researching the applicable regulations, and combining these with its government contracting expertise to create and implement practical and reliable solutions.

Another aspect of CGS’ customer-focused approach is establishing long-term client relationships, having worked with many clients for over ten years. These strong relationships enable CGS to gain a deeper understanding of a client’s needs and consistently help them improve their processes and profitability while adhering to the relevant regulations. Its numerous success stories with new and established government contractors highlight CGS’ proven track record.

For example, CGS recently assisted a client new to the government contracting market in submitting their annual reports on schedule in June–markedly faster than their usual October submissions. Similarly, CGS implemented a government contracts compliance program comprising a new corporate home office allocation methodology, corporate and segment CAS disclosure statements, DCAA audits, and annual cost submissions for a global E&C business. This program helped them recover roughly $175M in annual corporate office costs.

CGS also performs indirect cost rate audits annually for two leading E&C firms in the U.S. These successes demonstrate its competency in understanding the responsibilities of government contracting clients by balancing their consulting and auditing practices to deliver desired outcomes. Moving forward, CGS intends to continue helping clients succeed because its success is driven by theirs.