Build the systems that protect your funding and support your growth.

FOCUS Resources helps innovation-driven small businesses establish audit-ready financial operations, SBIR/STTR compliance processes, and commercialization discipline.

Federal funding is not just an award. It is an operating system you have to run. Proposal budgets, timekeeping, indirect rates, subcontract oversight, and commercialization plans only protect the company if they hold up after the award — in drawdowns, site visits, and audits.

Led by Lea A. Strickland, MBA, MA, CMA, CFM, CBM, GMC, FOCUS Resources works with founders and finance leads to put those systems in place before a finding, a questioned cost, or a delayed invoice forces the issue.

What we put in place

Audit-ready financial operations. Chart of accounts, project accounting, timekeeping, indirect-rate support, and documentation that can stand up to DCAA, agency, and inspector-general review — not a cleanup after the fact.

SBIR/STTR compliance processes. Phase I through Phase II and beyond: allowable costs, effort reporting, subaward and vendor controls, foreign-risk and export considerations, and the policies and procedures reviewers expect to see.

Commercialization discipline. Milestone tracking, customer and partner evidence, and financial plans that connect the technical work to a credible path beyond the award.

How we work

We do not hand over a template and leave. Engagements are built around your award stage, agency, and current books — then transferred so your team can run the system day to day.

• Funding and budget readiness before you submit
• Award setup so costs, labor, and subcontractors are tracked correctly from day one
• Policies, procedures, and records that match how the work is actually done
• Review and remediation when an audit, desk review, or agency question is already in motion

Why companies call

Decades of cross-industry finance and federal-funding work, used on the practical problems that decide whether an award stays intact: questioned costs, weak timekeeping, indirect-rate gaps, and commercialization plans that do not match the books.

FOCUS Resources has been an invaluable resource for our small business. Lea took us step-by-step through bringing our accounting system and internal policies and procedures into compliance to meet DoD SBIR/STTR audit requirements. With her expertise and years of experience to fall back on, we are now confident we have the in-house skills necessary for day-to-day compliance related to government funding. We would 100% recommend her services to anyone looking for help with their government funding compliance system.

— Sarah Stitzel, Business Systems and Compliance, Elemance, LLC

Let’s get the system in place

If you are preparing a proposal, standing up a new award, or bracing for review, start with a consultation. We will look at where the funding is exposed and what has to be built to protect it.

(919) 234-3960 · [email protected]