Reimbursement tools that integrate with Unanet sync expenses directly to project charge codes, eliminating manual entry and cost allocation errors across phases and labor categories. Vergo's native Unanet integration maps employee expenses to the correct project, phase, and labor category before they reach the GL.
Engineering firms live by project-based accounting. Every dollar spent in the field — per diems, mileage, site materials, subcontractor meals — must trace back to a specific project, task, and billing category in Unanet. When that connection breaks, controllers spend hours reconciling expense reports against project budgets, and reimbursements pile up waiting for coding corrections.
The problem compounds for firms with field engineers and project managers submitting expenses from job sites, client offices, or remote locations. Paper receipts, email-based approvals, and manual spreadsheet uploads introduce lag, errors, and audit risk — especially when DCAA compliance is a factor.
Common pain points for engineering firm controllers managing Unanet reimbursements:
Vergo is a card-agnostic expense management platform built for construction. Connect any corporate or project credit card and get full visibility and control over field spending.
At minimum, the integration should pass project code, phase, labor category, expense type, amount, date, and employee ID. Line-item detail — not batch totals — is essential for accurate project cost reporting in Unanet. Receipt image links and approval metadata should also be retained for audit traceability.
DCAA-compliant reimbursement processes require contemporaneous expense recording, itemized receipts, and clear segregation of allowable versus unallowable costs. Expense categories must map to FAR cost principles, and the system must maintain an auditable trail from submission through approval to posting, with no after-the-fact edits without a logged reason.
Yes. Vergo's Unanet integration pulls live project and phase data so employees select from valid, active charge codes when submitting expenses — not free-text entries that require correction later. This eliminates the most common reason reimbursements stall in AP: missing or invalid project codes at the time of submission.
Most engineering firms require sequential approval: project manager approves first to confirm project coding, then department head or principal reviews for policy compliance, then controller or AP gives final authorization before payment. Some firms add a separate review step for expenses over a defined dollar threshold or for government-contract projects requiring additional scrutiny.
Yes. Vergo's mileage tracking automatically applies current IRS reimbursement rates and logs trip details — start location, end location, and purpose — required for DCAA audits and project cost allocation. Mileage expenses sync to Unanet with the same project and phase coding applied to all other reimbursement types.
Generic expense tools that lack Unanet integration force AP clerks to manually re-enter or import expense data, introducing coding errors and creating reconciliation gaps between the reimbursement system and project actuals. For engineering firms with government contracts, this also creates DCAA audit exposure when expense records cannot be traced directly to posted project costs.