If you advise businesses or nonprofits, your clients have asked you about SAM.gov, 501(c)(3) status, certifications or bidding — and it sat outside what you do. This page is about where that question can go.
GERC handles government registration, certification, grant writing and proposal work. We do not do accounting, law or document preparation for the courts. That separation is the point: we are useful to you precisely because we are not competing with you.
CPAs and accounting firms
What your clients ask you that we handle: how to sell to government, whether they qualify for small business certification, how to get a UEI, whether they can apply for a grant, and how to start a nonprofit properly.
What we send back to you: a great deal, and this is the part firms underestimate. Government contracting generates accounting work as a direct consequence — indirect rate structures, DCAA-compliant systems, incurred cost submissions, timekeeping requirements. Every nonprofit we form needs a 990 filer. Every S-corporation election we prepare needs someone to run the arithmetic first, and we tell clients that explicitly. Newly formed entities need bookkeeping from day one.
If you already specialise in government contractors or nonprofits, the overlap is close to complete and the referrals run naturally in both directions.
Business attorneys
What your clients ask you that we handle: federal registration after you have formed the entity, why a SAM.gov validation is failing, what a prime means by asking for a capability statement, and whether a solicitation is worth responding to.
One point of genuine mutual interest: SAM.gov entity validation compares a business against its formation record character for character. When it fails, the cause is often in the articles — a name, an address, an amendment never filed. We find it; you fix it at source.
What we send back: contract review, governance and bylaws questions with legal consequence, ownership disputes, subcontract and teaming agreements, and anything where a client needs advice rather than a prepared document. We say no to those and mean it.
Legal Document Assistants
LDAs get asked about nonprofit formation and federal registration constantly, because clients assume anything involving forms is one profession. Federal tax-exemption applications and SAM.gov registrations sit outside court document preparation entirely.
What we send back: clients who come to us needing family law, probate, unlawful detainer or other California court documents. That is not our work and we would rather hand it to a registered LDA than watch someone attempt it alone.
Bookkeepers
You see the entity before anyone else does, and you often see it operating without the registrations it needs. What we send back: every business and nonprofit we form needs books kept from the first month.
Insurance and surety bond brokers
Clients moving into public works need SB-PW certification before they can bid, and often do not know it exists. What we send back: those same clients need bonding and liability cover to satisfy solicitation requirements — usually urgently, because they discovered it at bid time.
Bankers and lenders
A borrower whose growth case rests on winning public contracts is a stronger credit if they are actually registered and certified. What we send back: clients who need feasibility studies for lending decisions, and businesses whose contract awards create working capital needs.
Prime contractors
You need certified small business subcontractors to meet participation goals, and the subcontractor you want is frequently not registered or certified yet. We get them compliant on your timeline rather than yours slipping.
How the arrangement works
- No fees, by default. We prefer straightforward reciprocal referral with no money changing hands. For CPAs this matters practically: a referral fee triggers a written client disclosure obligation under AICPA rules, and most firms would rather not create one. Fee-free keeps it simple for both of us.
- A short written protocol if you want one — who does what, how introductions are made, what gets reported back. Not a contract, just clarity.
- We stay in our lane. We do not pitch accounting, legal or document preparation services to your clients. Ever. If they raise it, we point them back to you.
- We close the loop. You hear what happened, within whatever the client is comfortable sharing.
- We return referrals that are not a fit. If government contracting is not a realistic route for someone you send, we tell them and tell you, and nobody is charged for the conversation.
Common questions
Will you approach my client about other services?
No. We handle what they came for. Anything outside our scope goes back to you.
Do I need to understand government contracting to refer someone?
No. If a client mentions federal or state contracts, grants, SAM.gov, a UEI, 501(c)(3) status, or a prime asking for documentation, that is enough of a signal.
Can you work as a subcontractor under our firm?
Yes. Some firms prefer to keep the client relationship and bring us in behind it. We are comfortable either way — tell us which fits how you work.
What are your professional boundaries?
We provide research, analysis, document preparation and writing. We are not attorneys, CPAs or enrolled agents, we do not give legal or tax advice, and we do not represent clients before the IRS. Where a matter needs a credentialed professional, we say so and refer it — which is the entire basis of this page.
Do you work outside California?
Yes. Federal registration, grant writing and proposal work are delivered nationwide. California-specific programmes apply to California businesses only.
Start with a conversation, not a commitment
Fifteen minutes is usually enough to work out whether our client bases overlap. If they do not, we will say so and neither of us has lost an afternoon.
Call (909) 454-7076 or book a consultation.
GERC is a woman-led advisory firm led by Dr. Shirley Ayangbah, a PhD legal economist with more than 14 years of experience. Based in downtown San Bernardino, delivering nationwide. CAGE code 11SD2, registered and active in SAM.gov, certified California Small Business (Micro) and for Public Works.
Related: government contracting support · industries we serve · our capability statement