What is Unanet? Modules, integrations and alternatives
Unanet is a project-based business management suite built for government contractors and other project-driven firms. It combines project accounting, timekeeping, billing, resource planning and CRM. Defense and aerospace suppliers that sell to the US government use it for cost-accounting and indirect-rate work that general ERP handles awkwardly.
Also known as: Unanet GovCon, Unanet ERP, Unanet CRM
Unanet is a software vendor whose products center on project-based accounting. Its GovCon offering is aimed at companies that hold government contracts and must track costs by contract, task and funding line, apply indirect rates, and produce invoices and incurred cost submissions in the form a contracting officer expects. It also has offerings for architecture, engineering and consulting firms, which share the same project-accounting core.
For aerospace and defense, the relevant audience is the services and engineering side of the business: program offices, engineering services firms, small primes and subcontractors that bill time and materials, cost-plus or fixed-price work. These firms often care more about compliant timekeeping, rate structures and contract billing than about shop-floor production planning.
In a manufacturing stack Unanet usually sits next to, not instead of, a production ERP. A manufacturer with a government services arm may run a production system for MRP and inventory and use Unanet for the contract-driven project side, exchanging cost and billing data between them. Teams should be clear about which system owns the general ledger before they integrate.
Modules and capabilities
Project and contract accounting
Tracks costs and revenue by contract, task and funding line, and supports indirect rate structures for government work.
Timekeeping and expenses
Captures employee time and expenses against projects with approval workflows and audit trails suited to contractor timekeeping expectations.
Billing and invoicing
Generates invoices by contract type, including cost-plus, time and materials and fixed-price arrangements.
Resource and project management
Plans staffing against projects and tracks project schedules, budgets and forecasts.
CRM and opportunity management
Tracks pipeline, opportunities and bids that feed into awarded projects.
Financial management
General ledger, payables and receivables functions that support the contract accounting model.
Integrations and data access
APIs
Unanet exposes APIs for exchanging project, time and financial data with other systems; confirm the current API scope for the modules you license.
Production ERP
Cost, labor and billing data is commonly exchanged with a manufacturing ERP when a company has both production and contract-services operations.
Payroll and HR
Time and labor data typically flows to payroll and HR platforms through scheduled exports or integrations.
Banking and payments
Standard financial file formats and bank connections support payables and receivables processing.
Reporting tools
Data can be extracted to BI tools for contract performance and backlog reporting.
Strengths
- Built around the cost accounting vocabulary of government contracting
- Timekeeping and rate handling designed for contractor audit expectations
- Single suite covering pipeline through billing for project-driven firms
- Narrower and often quicker to adopt than a full general-purpose ERP for services-heavy contractors
- Focused vendor with a long history in the contractor market
Limitations
- Not a production planning system; discrete manufacturing MRP, shop floor and inventory depth is not its purpose
- Manufacturers with large physical operations will still need a separate production ERP or MES
- Integrations between Unanet and a production system require deliberate design of ownership of ledger and cost data
- Compliance outcomes depend on how the customer configures rates, policies and procedures, not on the software alone
Where AI helps Unanet users
- - Natural-language questions over project cost, backlog and burn rate for program managers
- - Flagging timesheet anomalies, late submissions and charging patterns before they become audit findings
- - Drafting invoice narratives and variance explanations from project data for human review
- - Reconciling cost and billing data between Unanet and a production ERP, with exceptions surfaced for accountants
- - Private, on-prem retrieval over contract documents and policies so contract data does not leave the organization
Evaluating Unanet? Check these
- Map your contract types and rate structure first, then test each in a demo with your own sample data
- Decide whether Unanet or your production ERP owns the general ledger before integration design
- Ask your auditors or accounting advisors which timekeeping and accounting system features they expect to see
- Confirm API coverage for the exact data you need to exchange
- Verify hosting and data location terms against your contract clauses and any export-control obligations
- Evaluate implementation partners that have worked with companies of your size and contract mix
Common alternatives: Deltek Costpoint, Deltek Vantagepoint, Oracle NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance, Sage Intacct, Acumatica.
Frequently asked questions
What is Unanet used for?
Unanet is used by government contractors and project-driven firms to manage project accounting, timekeeping, billing, resource planning and opportunities. It is most relevant to firms that must track costs by contract and apply indirect rates in a way that supports government review and audit.
Is Unanet an ERP for manufacturers?
Not in the production sense. It covers contract and project accounting rather than MRP, shop floor control or inventory. A manufacturer with a government services business may use it alongside a production ERP, with data exchanged between the two systems.
Does Unanet make a company compliant with government accounting rules?
No software alone does that. Unanet provides features designed for contractor accounting and timekeeping, but compliance depends on the company's policies, rate structures, procedures and how the system is configured. Your accounting advisors and auditors should validate the setup.
What are common alternatives to Unanet?
Deltek Costpoint and Deltek Vantagepoint are frequently compared for government contracting. Some firms use general ERP such as NetSuite, Dynamics 365 or Acumatica with contract-accounting configuration or add-ons. The right choice depends on size, contract types and production needs.
Can AI be added to Unanet data?
Yes, through supported APIs and exports. Useful uses include natural-language project cost questions, timesheet anomaly checks and invoice drafting, all with human approval. Organizations with sensitive contract data can run models privately on their own infrastructure rather than sending data to a public service.
Running Unanet?
We add AI, chat, automation and integrations to the systems manufacturers already run, on-prem if needed.
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