ePATHUSA Looks to the ERP Gold Standard to Propel Growth

The Business Outgrows Quickbooks®

Growing at a fast pace, ePATHUSA, a Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) realized that QuickBooks® would no longer be able to support their business needs and it was time to look for an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution. “In order to scale our business and expand our capabilities, it was without question that we needed to upgrade our accounting system to a robust ERP,” Hari said.

While QuickBooks sufficed during ePATHUSA’s infancy stage, the company’s future plans included taking on more contracts with HHS, as well as expanding into the defense community. As such, it became crucial to implement a comprehensive, federally compliant accounting system.

According to Hari, implementing an ERP involves a learning curve. However, he emphasized the significance of investing time in learning the software. This way, they can establish systems that can accommodate the growth of their business and comply with industry regulations. Hari cautioned against taking shortcuts, particularly when working with the government, as it may not be beneficial in the long term.

A Streamlined Path to Financial & Cybersecurity Compliance

For ePATHUSA to continue expanding its business, win more contracts, work with HHS, the CDC and the DoD, and live up to its awards – business processes must be buttoned up. It was important for the company to invest in software that supports what the government contracting industry requires of them– like DCAA compliance. “QuickBooks did not support our compliance requirements,” shared Hari. “It was critical that we upgrade our accounting system to Deltek Costpoint, which includes built-in compliance support.” With aspirations to provide services for new agencies, ePATHUSA obtained the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) level 1 self-certification, with plans to meet level 2 requirements.

“Deltek just made sense,” said Hari. “Our business needed to implement a system that supported not only our financial compliance requirements, but also the cybersecurity compliance regulations. Deltek’s Costpoint project-based ERP solution is the whole package and continues to make investments in cybersecurity for its customers.”

Gold Standard Selected for Industry Expertise

Within a closely connected community, it was imperative for ePATHUSA to choose a vendor with a well-established reputation in government contracting. “We were looking for a system that was considered to be the industry standard,” shared Hari. “Deltek has 40 years of government contracting expertise, and is well-known, particularly in the D.C. metro area.”

When the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) conducts an audit, they know and trust Deltek’s systems because Deltek Costpoint is the gold standard in the industry. Also, with such a large number of government contractors familiar with Deltek, using Costpoint helps expand your talent pool when looking for new hires.

“During our evaluation, we assessed Unanet and Deltek,” explained Hari. “The difference being Unanet's system is unfamiliar to the market. Deltek Costpoint brings four decades of industry expertise – it’s known, it’s proven and it’s trusted. Choosing Deltek Costpoint will make recruiting resources a lot easier for our team, as most contractors have Costpoint experience.” And will ultimately help save ePATHUSA time and resources on training and onboarding, as new hires will most likely be familiar with the ERP system.

ePATHUSA Looks to the Future

In addition to continued growth, winning contracts with the DoD and achieving their CMMC level 2 certification, ePATHUSA hopes to improve their internal Time & Expense process with Deltek Costpoint, as well as end-to-end financial traceability.

In conclusion, Hari expressed his team's aspiration to precisely track hours and resources through implementing Deltek Costpoint, which accurately reflects financial transactions in accounts receivable and accounts payable. Eventually, the team aims to establish a comprehensive accounting process with Deltek’s purpose-built solutions that meets their organization's needs.