While the government doesn't like to be kept waiting for money that's owed to it, it's a very different story when it comes to paying what it owes. But now enterprise software provider Deltek Inc., based in Herndon, Va., has released Deltek Costpoint 6, which is designed to shorten the billing cycles for project-oriented government contractors, while meeting stringent government guidelines. "We've added literally hundreds of enhancements to Costpoint 6," says Matt Fogo, Deltek's senior vice president of product development. "These enhancements can be broken down into three categories: strengthened controls; compliance; and ease-of-use."

Costpoint 6, which is a package application, provides 165 out-of-the-box Sarbanes-Oxley reports that help streamline compliance efforts. It offers a new audit trail module, which provides strong, effective controls to monitor and audit access to sensitive data. Costpoint 6 provides a full segregation of duties module to prevent innocent errors as well as deliberate fraud. And Deltek has added a number of screens such as quick requisition and quick project screens, which make the application simpler to use.

The application also offers new and enhanced billing, forecasting and cash management capabilities, including: wide area work flow (WAWF), which supports e-billing in compliance with Department of Defense (DoD) requirements to eliminate paper; billing enhancements such as accounting classification reference numbers (ACRN) and General Services Administration (GSA) schedule support; enhanced cash forecasting providing what-if cash forecasting scenarios; multi-currency consolidations; an integration console, which allows reports and processes to be shared, thus providing real-time integration with third-party applications; accrued leave journal entry, which automatically records the financial liability of employees' accrued leave to capture leave costs and post them to the general ledger; and a master production scheduling module that helps manufacturers plan and align production processes with customer requirements.