New Union Provides Broader Resources to GovCon Clients
Effective January 1, 2024, The McKelvey Group (TMG) is excited to announce the merging of its Government Contract Advisory & Pricing practice with RKI USG Contracting Consulting practice (https://rkiaccounting.com), creating an industry leader in Government Contracting.
RKI is a full-service USG Contracting Consulting practice dedicated exclusively to serving U.S. Government contractors on their accounting and compliance needs. Together with TMG, the companies have worked closely over the past five years in a highly specialized market and discovered a shared mission statement for Government Contractors – to provide meaningful, practical, and lasting USG contracts compliance services measurable at the bottom line. Both organizations have deep expertise in the Government Contracting space and decades of experience supporting the industry. Officially coming together was the next logical step.
“TMG’s team code is to be Reliable, Ethical, and Dynamic. This has enabled our team to provide valuable and innovative solutions for our clients to date and furthering our partnership with RKI will only extend and build upon those successes. I am very excited for the opportunities to come,” said Matt McKelvey, President of The McKelvey Group.
Ryan Koenitzer, Principal of RKI added, “The transfer of TMG’s Government Advisory and Pricing practice into RKI allows us to broaden our client and resource relationships, while staying laser-focused on the U.S. Government contract industry and its unique service needs in an exceedingly regulated environment. We are thrilled to have Matt and his team join ours as we continue to serve this dynamic industry! ”
TMG will continue to support existing active clients and projects for outsourced accounting services, training, and valuations. Over the next several weeks, TMG will coordinate with current clients who are part of this transition.
About The McKelvey Group
Headquartered in Gaithersburg, MD, The McKelvey Group, Inc. (TMG) has been providing services to companies in the Government and Commercial markets for 25 years. TMG’s proven services in Finance & Accounting, Government Pricing Proposals, Business Valuations, and Customized Training have earned TMG its reputation as the DC area’s premier financial consulting firm for fast-growth companies. With consultants holding more than 100 combined years of Federal contracting experience, the direct involvement in more than $20 billion in proposals and contract awards, and extensive knowledge of the FAR, DFAR, CAS requirements, and DCAA, TMG has provided successful results for its clients since 2001.
About RKI
RKI is a full-service U.S. Government Contracts Consultant Practice dedicated exclusively to assisting contractors and grantees with their U.S. Government accounting and compliance needs. Services include Indirect Cost Rate Preparation, CAS Compliance, Cost/Pricing Proposals, DFARS Business System Reviews, and DCMA/DCMA Support. Since 2010, RKI’s mission is to ensure businesses stay compliant with federal regulations and maximize their federal contracts and grants. RKI has personnel in the Washi
The McKelvey Group is honored to have participated with Public Contracting Institute (PCI) to provide Government Contracting Negotiations training for the Merage Institute’s Homeland Security Program in Cosa Mesa, CA on June 9. The US-Israel Innovation Bridge Executive Leadership Program provides 2-weeks of comprehensive business training to Israeli executives of leading companies providing innovative technology like security and defense solutions, drones, and robotics, just to name a few. The Merage Institute organizes US business school professors, respected CEOs, and leading practitioners to provide the business training, and TMG’s Matt McKelvey was among those invited. It was a rewarding experience to meet this distinguished group. Thank you, PCI and Merage Institute, for this wonderful opportunity!
Congratulations to JPA Health for winning the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) National Education and Awareness Social Marketing Campaign: Employer Efforts to Support the Mental Health of Health Workers contract. The value of this contract is $5.7M over 2 years, beginning June 1, 2022. The McKelvey Group has provided JPA Health with financial consulting support over the years and for this recent contract win, TMG provided pricing proposal development support. We are so happy to celebrate with them on this incredible win!
A Government-Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) is a contract in which multiple government agencies purchase products or services together resulting in lower costs. GWACs are typically used to purchase modern technology and are applied primarily for information technology solutions. Agencies can therefore purchase total IT solutions more efficiently and economically.
If you are a company seeking to add GWAC or AWAC (Agency-Wide Acquisition Contracts) to your portfolio, The McKelvey Group can help. We can provide tools to analyze existing contract data. We can also support your company to develop proposals for winning these types of contracts. Contact us to learn more.
Are you a Government Contractor looking to deepen your knowledge in Costpoint, Acumen, or Maximizing your P-Win in Pricing?
The McKelvey Group is pleased to partner with Deltek at their Zoom event – Deltek Learning Zone Live happening April 5-6! This exclusive virtual event brings top industry experts together to deliver practical insights to Government contractors on a variety of topics.
Tracks include Schedule Quality in Acumen Fuse, The Transformative Power in Costpoint BI, and Optimizing the Pricing Process to Maximize P-Win, just to name a few. TMG will be presenting the Government Contracting Track from 1-4 ET on April 5. CPE credits will be offered.
Please join us for this immersive event! $595 for the 2-day session.
Creating staffing, the blend of labor categories, levels, and hours required to perform on a Government contract is one of the most challenging aspects of responding to any Government solicitation. For most companies, this is done on a bid-by-bid basis, which requires significant time and resources reinventing the wheel with each subsequent proposal.
Introducing the TMG Staffing Template, a valuable time-saving model created by TMG’s Pricing Analysts! This template will reduce your time on creating the staffing model so you can concentrate on other parts of your pricing proposal.
The TMG Staffing Template has the following powerful functionalities:
TMG’s Staffing Template is available now for the introductory discount price of $749*
*Regularly priced at $1,199
Buying Time in the Pricing Proposal Process
TMG’s Tried-and-True Approach
We received an inquiry recently from a company that was in dire need of pricing advice. The situation was this: Their Government proposal was due for submission in 2 days, but they were not confident on how to interpret a requirement stated in the RFP. Indeed, the RFP was unclear on this point as it was inconsistently referenced in two sections. Unfortunately, the company had lost its opportunity to ask a clarifying question of the Government during the Q&A period, and with no time left, they were pressured to submit their rates and cross fingers that their calculations were right. This is a high-risk gamble considering the investment already spent on preparing a response to the RFP and what was at stake to lose! Providing many companies with pricing support over the years, we have seen all too many times how time pressures affect the success of a company’s Government bid. In pricing, time is the enemy. There is always a crunch in the process, so you must stay ahead of the curve.
You might think that our cost proposal development approach is some fancy algorithm. It’s not. It boils down to being supremely organized, paying attention to every detail from the get-go, and being diligent in maintaining this approach throughout the entire proposal process. When you have the time, use it wisely. Complete as many things as you can and stay organized throughout the process. It will save you when it gets down to crunch time later. It starts with a critical review of the RFP, the very first step of our process, which happens as soon as possible at the RFP’s first release, draft stage preferred.
It doesn’t matter if the RFP is hundreds of pages long. We train our Government Pricing Analysts to thoroughly read every page of the RFP, collecting key information and questions during the first read. This includes attachments and amendments – every single page. Yes, it may take 4 hours and require extreme focus, but we believe it is a necessary step that lays a solid foundation for delivering a quality proposal we can be confident about.
We believe in standard processes. It keeps teams in sync and helps us stay in compliance with the numerous requirements of a Government RFP. So naturally, we have a set process for the RFP Review, and we strongly encourage you to have one, too. In our process, the key information is collected and entered in an RFP Key Info Excel Sheet. Our clarifying questions to ask the Government are entered in an RFP Questions Development Excel Sheet as we catch them, also during the first read. Everything is detailed and referenced with RFP page numbers and links to save time later when every minute will count. Once these Excel sheets are completed, they are dropped into our RFP Compliance Matrix, which is managed by the lead Pricer. As a standard process, no other pricing work begins until this comprehensive RFP review and data collection step is completed.
Once all the RFP key information and Government questions are consolidated in our RFP Compliance Matrix, the pricing team is set up for success to tackle the next pricing task. Of course, having a great pricing lead is essential to manage things from here. But by always preparing our RFP Compliance Matrix first as a standard process, the pricing team operates more efficiently, reducing unnecessary stress. (There will be enough of it later when you’re building the cost volume!)
Get your team primed and ready with a standard RFP review process and do it as soon as possible before actual pricing work begins. In the case of our company inquiry at the beginning of this story, we provided the best solution option given their time constraints. But if a standard RFP review process was followed, the Government questions could have been collected at the start and submitted well before the Q&A due date arrived, when time ran out and stress was high.
You can purchase our Pricing Tools & Templates at TMG Academy Online!
Congratulations to the joint venture partners and teammates of Mitchell Vantage Systems, LLC for winning the NASA Software Engineering Services III (SES III) contract. The SES III contract is a cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract. The total contract value is $359 million, and the total period of performance is five years, beginning April 1, 2022. The work will be performed primarily at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Mitchell Vantage Systems LLC will provide products and service expertise to support flight software, ground software, and science data systems, as well as software technology infusion, mission environments, software engineering, software systems engineering, secure coding, software/data systems project management, mission operations, and mission validation capabilities. This contract supports work in NASA’s Engineering and Technology Directorate that focuses on the development of reusable, secure flight and ground architectures and frameworks to reduce mission cost, maximize development schedules, minimize customer programmatic/technical risks, and increase the scientific value of information products.
All of us at The McKelvey Group really enjoyed providing direct pricing support to Vantage Systems and pricing advisory services to MCSG Technologies for the SES III proposal. And we witnessed firsthand the outstanding work of the experienced technical and proposal personnel at both companies necessary to produce this winning proposal. We are beyond excited for the partners on this outstanding win!
The McKelvey Group Releases Episode 7 of TMG’s Expert Series Podcast
Featuring Marc Hamann of TMG on Forensic Pricing
Gaithersburg, MD – The McKelvey Group, Inc. (TMG), DC metro area’s premier financial consulting firm for fast-growth companies, is excited to release its 7th episode of the TMG Expert Series Podcast, featuring an interview with Marc Hamann, Vice President of Pricing Solutions, who shares the influence behind TMG’s expanded new pricing service.
The new episode covers the fascinating topic of Forensic Pricing, and Marc uses the analogy of baseball to explain the concept. Consider this: The bid and proposal process in Government Contracting is amongst the most difficult of games to achieve success. Similar to the game of baseball, even the very best often fail more than they succeed. Given these statistics in the Pricing world, increasing win rates by even a few percentage points can provide a great deal of additional revenue for a company. With tough technical competition and procurement practices often bringing the final decision on many contracts down to price, having the best price is as important as it has ever been. Given that most companies win less than half the bids they submit, there is ample opportunity for companies to learn how to bid smarter on price. In baseball, increasing the batting average of the team usually increases runs scored, and ultimately games won. Similarly in the Government Contracting world, increasing success rates mean more wins, more growth, more revenue!
In Episode 7 of TMG’s Expert Series Podcast listeners will learn:
“We saw a real need to discuss Forensic Pricing based on industry trends we noticed in our consulting practice. Our podcast was the ideal platform to educate and inform our audience about this, as well as introduce our new service for anyone who needs it,” said Matt McKelvey, President of The McKelvey Group.
The McKelvey Group’s TMG Expert Series Podcast was created to share insights on Proposal Management from experts in the Government Pricing industry.
TMG’s Podcast Episode 7 on Forensic Pricing
Featuring Marc Hamann, Vice President of Pricing Solutions, TMG.
| Listen Now |
TMG’s Forensic Pricing Support Services
Read more about TMG’s approach to Forensic Pricing!
| Learn more |
About The McKelvey Group
Headquartered in Gaithersburg, MD, The McKelvey Group, Inc. (TMG) has been providing services to companies in the Government and Commercial markets for 20 years. TMG’s proven services in Finance & Accounting, Government Pricing Proposals, Business Valuations, and Customized Training have earned TMG its reputation as the DC area’s premier financial consulting firm for fast-growth companies. With consultants holding more than 100 combined years of Federal contracting experience, the direct involvement in more than $20 billion in proposals and contract awards, and extensive knowledge of the FAR, DFAR, CAS requirements, and DCAA, TMG has provided successful results for its clients since 2001.
TMG’s new product meets market need for online, on-demand training in Finance, Accounting, Government Pricing and Contracting
Gaithersburg, MD – The McKelvey Group, Inc. (TMG), DC metro area’s premier financial consulting firm for fast-growth companies, announces its exciting product launch of TMG Academy Online, a revamp and expansion of its training services division now offering brand new, self-paced courses and valuable on-demand content and tools. The TMG Academy Online platform allows more flexible options, meeting the need for its training market.
This move, prompted by the increasing market demand for online training, consistent positive reviews received from TMG’s instructor-led courses, and public interest for more subject training, marks a thrilling and significant milestone for The McKelvey Group. TMG Academy Online is founded on The McKelvey Group’s 20 years of experience supporting a diverse client group with an emphasis on training and education at the base of its consulting approach. Coupled with the appeal for more online training within TMG’s area of expertise, the formation of TMG Academy Online comes as a timely, evolutionary development.
TMG Academy Online provides flexible training options produced by TMG experts that cover various topics in Finance, Accounting, and Government Pricing and Contracting. With the new offering, learners can access valued training and resources designed and created by TMG’s experienced Accountants, Pricing Analysts and Subject Matter Experts in one convenient platform. And as a NASBA CPE sponsor, most courses will qualify for CPE credit.
TMG Academy Online premiers today and includes these training formats and content:
“Supporting a diverse group of clients over the years gives us an edge to knowing what works and what doesn’t in Government contracting. This is a dream come true for us to be able to share this real-world knowledge to anyone who desires to learn from our experience,” said Matt McKelvey, President of The McKelvey Group.
TMG Academy Online debuts with a solid catalog listing of training courses and content, but the offerings won’t stop there. “With an abundance of topics to cover, the possibilities are endless, and we look forward to adding frequently to our catalog. This is just the beginning for us, and it’s exciting!” added Matt McKelvey.
Pricing for TMG Academy Online courses and materials varies, including some free content. Professional levels vary from basic to advanced. Designed to appeal to both individual learners seeking to advance their professional development as well as companies needing to train a group, TMG Academy Online engages participants in real-life best practices to achieve full learning potential. See TMG Academy Online’s catalog for details and contact us for bulk pricing.
TMG Academy Online Details
For more information including a demo video and FAQ’s visit our dedicated webpage.
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TMG Academy Online Portal
Ready to view our catalog listing? Go straight there!
| Welcome to TMG Academy Online! |
About The McKelvey Group
Headquartered in Gaithersburg, MD, The McKelvey Group, Inc. (TMG) has been providing services to companies in the Government and Commercial markets for 20 years. TMG’s proven services in Finance & Accounting, Government Pricing Proposals, Business Valuations, and Customized Training have earned TMG its reputation as the DC area’s premier financial consulting firm for fast-growth companies. With consultants holding more than 100 combined years of Federal contracting experience, the direct involvement in more than $20 billion in proposals and contract awards, and extensive knowledge of the FAR, DFAR, CAS requirements, and DCAA, TMG has provided successful results for its clients since 2001.
