CPA SERVICES BUILT FOR A&E FIRMS
Build a More Profitable A&E Firm Without Losing Control of the Numbers
Accounting, CFO advisory, tax strategy, and FAR Part 31 audits for engineering, environmental, planning, surveying, and infrastructure consulting firms.
WHERE DO YOU WANT TO START?
Two Different Problems, Two Different Front Doors
Most firms arrive here for one of two reasons, and they rarely overlap.
Run a More Profitable Firm
For owners who need reliable financial reporting, cash-flow visibility, project profitability, forecasting, tax strategy, and CFO-level guidance. This is the work you choose because the firm has outgrown the way it was managed at half the size.
Stay Ready for Government Contracting
For A&E firms dealing with FAR Part 31, indirect cost rates, state DOT requirements, AASHTO, and GAGAS audits. This is the work an agency requires, on the agency’s timeline, whether or not anything else in your finance function needs attention.
WHO YOU’LL BE WORKING WITH
I Spent 12 Years Inside GDOT Before I Started Auditing From This Side
I was an auditor at the Georgia Department of Transportation for ten years and served as its Audit Director for two. I’ve also sat on the original development team for the National Compensation Matrix, the tool most state DOTs and A&E firms use to test whether executive compensation is reasonable, and audits I’ve performed have been accepted through cognizant review in seven states.
That background shapes how I work on both sides of the practice. On a FAR 31 audit, I know what a state DOT’s audit group is going to ask and what a workpaper file needs to contain. On the accounting and advisory side, I know how indirect cost structure, utilization, and billing cycles actually drive an A&E firm’s economics, so the conversation starts past the part where you explain your business.
My goal is straightforward: help you make better financial decisions, understand your cash, and keep more of what the firm earns, without adding another thing you have to manage.
Forrest W. Cameron, CPA
Founder
WHAT WE DO
Four Services, Three of Which Build on Each Other
01
Accounting & Reporting
Know where the money is going and whether the numbers can be trusted. Monthly accounting, financial statements by the 15th business day, a dashboard built for owners, and a monthly conversation about what changed.
02
Virtual CFO
Know what a decision costs before you make it. Cash forecasting, project and firm profitability, hiring analysis, owner compensation, and scenario modeling for the decisions that don’t have obvious answers.
03
Tax Strategy
Make the decision before it becomes a tax return. Projections, planning options, and coordination between the business and personal sides, evaluated while you can still act on them.
Separately: FAR 31 Indirect Cost Rate Audits
An independent audit of your indirect cost rate for state DOTs and public agencies. This one isn’t a level of service. It’s a requirement, triggered by a contracting officer rather than by how your firm is run.
SMARTER FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT FOR A&E FIRMS
Why A&E Firms Work With Us
Industry-specific expertise
A&E and infrastructure consulting firms are the core of our practice, so you don’t spend meetings explaining how your business works.
Government-contract depth
Twelve years inside GDOT, a seat on the original NCM development team, and cognizant reviews passed in seven states. Very few CPA firms can say they’ve evaluated indirect cost rates from the state’s side of the table.
Proactive, not reactive
We’d rather flag a problem in September, while you can still do something about it, than explain it in March.
Fixed, predictable pricing
Engagements are scoped and priced up front. No hourly billing and no wondering what a phone call will cost.
20+
Years
Serving A&E firms
500+
Firms
Reviewed from the inside
A&E + GovCon
Specialization
Not a side practice
With over 20 years serving A&E firms and insight gained from reviewing the inner workings of more than 500 architecture and engineering firms, we understand the financial challenges, benchmarks, and decisions that drive a stronger firm.
NOT READY FOR A CONVERSATION YET?
The A&E Firm Profit Playbook
Seven CFO-level moves to improve cash, margin, and owner pay without chasing more clients. It covers the things that quietly drain profit from a project-based firm: slow cash conversion, scope creep, mix and pricing decisions, and margin leaks that don’t show up until the year is over.
Free, delivered instantly.
THE GOVERNMENT DOOR
How ready is your firm for a DOT indirect cost rate audit?
Most firms know an indirect cost rate audit requires documents. The harder question is whether those documents reconcile, support the rate, and can be produced without a last-minute reconstruction. This scorecard measures the five areas that matter most: accounting reconciliation, labor and timekeeping, rate structure and allocations, FAR Part 31 allowability, and audit support.
CLIENT REVIEWS
What Clients Say
★★★★★
Forrest has been an extraordinary asset for my business. As a new business owner, Forrest has provided invaluable advice to help me with business decisions as well as tax planning. I highly recommend him as a CPA as well as his fractional CFO services.
Troy Cobb
★★★★★
Forrest Cameron has performed my FAR(Federal Acquisition Regulations) overhead audits for many years. He meets with us to keep us audit compliant several times a year. He offers a wealth of knowledge and is very service oriented. He is a leader in the Transportation industry and is well respected and known by all. I recommend Forrest to all my colleagues. He is awesome!
Linda Edwards Theos
Vice President, Edwards-Pitman Environmental, Inc.
★★★★★
Forrest has been our accountant for the past three years and is a true professional and a breath of fresh air! He is extremely knowledgeable (particularly in the area of government contracting) and honest, and truly cares about his clients! I can’t say enough about my respect for his professional ethic. In summary, I have referred many people to him and I give him my highest recommendation.
Dona Franklin
★★★★★
My firm, JAT Consulting Services has worked with Forrest Cameron for over 20 years for audit services. His knowledge of the FAR (Federal Acquisition Regulations) is superior. It is my recommendation that firms working on Transportation projects that require an Overhead Audit should contact Forrest. He is one of the very best!
Jo Ann Tuttle
President, JAT Consulting Services, Inc.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How We Work
DO NOT DELETE
How are your services different from a general CPA?
Two ways. The practice is built entirely around project-based A&E and infrastructure firms, so the analysis starts from utilization, backlog, and indirect cost structure. And on the government side, twelve years inside a state DOT audit function is a perspective most CPA firms can’t offer at any price.
What size firms do you work with?
Complexity matters more than headcount. Most clients run between roughly ten and a hundred people, but the real signal is that the decisions in front of you have outgrown what your current financial information can answer.
How does pricing work?
Engagements are scoped and quoted as a fixed fee or monthly amount before any work starts. No hourly billing, and calls between meetings aren’t billed separately. Pricing for each service is on that service’s page.
Why do I need a CPA who specializes in A&E firms?
Because project-based economics don’t behave like other businesses, and because a tax or accounting decision made without understanding FAR Part 31 can quietly cost a government-contracting firm more than it saves.
How do I know which service is right for us?
Start with whether you trust your financial statements. If you don’t, start with Accounting & Reporting. If you do but they don’t answer what you’re deciding, Virtual CFO. If an agency is asking for an audited indirect cost rate, that’s a separate track. Full comparison here →
How do I know if I’m a good fit?
That’s what the first call is for, and we’ll tell you if we’re not. We’d rather recommend a lower service level, or another firm, than take on an engagement that isn’t right.
Start With a Conversation
Tell us what your firm is dealing with and we’ll tell you what the appropriate next step is, including whether that’s working with us.