Modernize Government Reporting and Make Data-Driven Decisions with B2Gnow’s Power Analytics

B2Gnow

Reliance on spreadsheets to track and analyze data is a common bottleneck in the government space. 

Public agencies generate large amounts of data and are required to keep meticulous records for reporting requirements. Yet many struggle to use the data available – especially when it’s only available on spreadsheets. 

To ensure these agencies reflect the true impact of all programs running, it’s necessary to move toward a tool capable of taking data and generating actionable insights. 

That’s why many public agencies and organizations are using Power Analytics from B2Gnow. 
Moving Away from Spreadsheets and to the Future of Reporting

With traditional spreadsheets and the manual effort it takes to keep these up-to-date, the resulting data is often fragmented, making it difficult to prove program success and prepare for audits. 

Because stakeholders need to see the outcomes of a program’s success, data that is outdated, hard to access, read, and visualize means the transparency necessary for decision making often isn’t there. This lack of transparency results in delays that can impact those working on community projects. 

To further complicate data access and visualization, each individual contributing to spreadsheets increases the chances of missing or deleting data, making errors, and impacting version control. 

However, with Power Analytics from B2Gnow, government agencies have a tool that helps measure what matters and visually display data, so all stakeholders have a strategic asset to:
  • View and comprehend using prebuilt standard datasets with five bundled reports – without relying on IT
  • Tailor reports to specific needs such as highlighting agency-specific compliance and diversity goals
  • Make data-driven decisions

In addition, B2Gnow’s Power Analytics:

With Power Analytics, view all payment details and awards by goal types with ease.

  • Offers immediate value out-of-the-box and serves as a foundation for custom reports
  • Extends the reporting capabilities of the B2Gnow platform to cover the widest range of reporting needs
  • Provides comprehensive ad-hoc, dashboard, and data visualization capabilities in ways stakeholders will understand
  • Deploys and scales easily with unlimited viewer (read-only) licenses
  • Enables collaboration as reports can be shared across the organization so stakeholders can make the best decisions
  • Allows reports to be bundled and tailored for agency-specific needs
Prioritize Performance, Clarity, and Ease of Use with Power Analytics

Power Analytics comes with bundled, pre-built reports, including B2Gnow’s Contract Compliance Audit Summaries and Subcontractor Overview Dashboards, so users can instantly feel confident in telling accurate, data-driven stories from day one. 

In addition, data fields within Power Analytics align with field names used within the B2Gnow interface, allowing users familiar with B2Gnow to use Power Analytics with ease – even from day one.  

Sharing data is also easy. 

B2Gnow’s Power Analytics has a free licensing model that includes one creator license with unlimited read-only views, allowing for reports to be shared internally across departments and publicly without restrictions. 

With this functionality, real-time reports of economic growth and opportunity, program performance, and goals are easily shared with key stakeholders. 

In addition, viewers don’t even need to log in to view reports – it is as simple as accessing a URL. 

Plus, data is refreshed nightly, providing the most up-to-date performance snapshots allowing users to identify issues early, document decisions confidently, and demonstrate program integrity.

With Power Analytics, view all payment details and awards by goal types with ease.

Let Data Tell the Story of a Program’s Success

The story of any program’s impact is held in the data an agency keeps, so don’t let it get lost in spreadsheets. 

Power Analytics ensures the narrative around all programs is unlocked, interactive, tailored, and full of pre-built insights. 

With B2Gnow’s Power Analytics, agencies experience the power of reporting designed to meet agency-specific compliance and diversity goals to start making informed, confident decisions organizations need and deserve.

Ready to learn more? Watch this webinar.

DBE Certification at Scale: DDOT’s Approach to the USDOT’s Interim Final Rule

B2Gnow

Managing disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) certifications can be complex, but not when agencies use the right tools.  

Stephanie Jenkins, business relationship specialist for the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) in Washington, D.C., focuses on certification for the transportation infrastructure businesses within the city’s eight wards along with her skilled colleagues. 

DDOT is part of a unified program with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit (WMATA), which makes up the District of Columbia Unified Certification program (DCUCP). 

In addition, DDOT is responsible for:
  • 1,100 miles of streets
  • 241 bridges
  • 1,600 miles of sidewalks
  • 453 miles of alleys
  • 144,000 trees adjacent to city streets
How DDOT is Moving Forward with DBE Certification

However, with recent changes brought forth by the US Department of Transportation’s Interim Final Rule (USDOT IFR) in late 2025, certification efforts for businesses operating on DDOT’s projects faced a new challenge.  

“The IFR ruling requires firms to submit a personal narrative as a part of their re-evaluation process to maintain DBE certification,” Jenkins said. “Many of these firms find the personal narrative to be quite challenging.”

The personal narrative portion of IFR requires a written statement from each business owner currently certified as a DBE to describe specific, individualized barriers faced in education, employment, or business, and how those obstacles demonstrate social and economic disadvantage resulting in measurable economic harm. With the personal narrative requirements, race and gender are no longer presumed indicators of disadvantage, which is a significant change for DBEs. 

Per the IFR, firms must submit a Personal Narrative and a Personal Net Worth statement to be recertified as DBEs by DDOT. Without these submissions, DBE goals will not be met until the recertification process is complete. DDOT has prioritized recertification for home-state businesses that are currently active on a contract. 

“DDOT currently certifies 481 home state firms and more than 1,351 interstate firms,” Jenkins said. “To make the recertification process easier, I’ve been able to run reports within B2Gnow to filter out which firms are our home state firms and which are interstate firms. B2Gnow has helped quite a bit with prioritizing our home state firms for recertification.”
Making the DBE Recertification Process Easier with B2Gnow

Jenkins said the strategic filtering available in B2Gnow’s certification module helps ensure DDOT works on the recertification process without needing to recertify the entirety of its DBE directory.

“Without this module, the recertification process could take months,” Jenkins said. “But the system is able to track all mandatory documents needed to complete a single application. A lot of states have not even begun the process of reevaluating because they lack information, but B2Gnow helps us provide them with information they need to complete their applications.”

Click here to listen as DDOT discusses the benefits of recertification using B2Gnow.

Next Steps for IFR Compliance

B2Gnow

Program operations and performance metrics are two of the heaviest hit areas for all agencies navigating the 2025 USDOT Internal Final Rule (IFR). 

The reason for this surrounds the operational challenges requiring mandatory re-evaluation of every certified firm based on individual circumstances rather than demographics alone combined with the temporary pause on counting utilization and setting new goals. 

While the scale of these changes is substantial, they are entirely manageable with the right structure in place. Agencies need to establish consistent workflows, centralize records, and leverage technology for documentation, communication, and decision tracking, to move forward with confidence.

The result of this strategic approach is a program that is more efficient, transparent, and defensible, positioning the agency for long-term success under the IFR, supporting staff, and withstanding audits.
6 Steps to IFR Readiness

To implement and maintain compliance efficiently, program leaders must focus on the following key steps:
  • Process assessment: Map current workflows and test new procedures on a small scale before a full rollout.
  • Communication: Clearly and consistently inform both staff and vendor firms about IFR requirements and status changes.
  • Goal management: Temporarily suspend goal counting and setting; restore credit immediately upon successful re-evaluation.
  • Re-evaluation: Assess all certified firms with individualized Social and Economic Disadvantage (SED) determinations; standardize review criteria.
  • Documentation: Ensure all documents are complete, log every determination with rationale, and store records centrally for easy retrieval during audits.
  • Record history: Regardless of the system used to manage contract compliance and goal tracking, it’s essential to maintain a complete, accurate record of firms’ certification history and contract performance data for compliance.

For agencies looking to simplify these processes and maintain complete, verifiable records, B2Gnow provides tools to track firm status, manage utilization, automate notifications, and centralize documentation.

Ready to learn more? Download this checklist.

Why Transparency is Your Best IFR Compliance Tool

B2Gnow

Communication is vital when it comes to the 2025 USDOT Interim Final Rule (IFR). 

With all the process changes necessary for the IFR, agencies need a proactive strategy for change management centered on communication. 

While creating a communication plan can seem daunting, it’s imperative for DBE compliance managers and program leaders to navigate mandatory re-evaluations and new compliance standards with consistent, clear communication. 

This communication plan is a key step in reducing errors and maintaining compliance with staff and vendors while also keeping key players informed and engaged.
5 Key Communication Tasks for Action

To maximize participation and minimize confusion during this transition, program leaders should focus on five key communication tasks:
  • Inform staff first: Staff need to be aligned and working toward the same objective. A communication plan that details IFR requirements, process changes, what’s needed from each role, and what can be expected is important. 
  • Send multiple notifications to firms: Transparency and repeated outreach maximize participation. Firms need multiple notifications about requirements and what to expect. Outreach campaigns that send automated reminders, and pending re-evaluation applications automatically notify firms until completed. Staff-generated decision letters can also be sent, saved, and shared within a vendor management system. 
  • Provide accessible guidance materials: Centralized guidance materials support clarity and compliance. Training videos and live training sessions assist in educating all involved in IFR changes.
  • Set up ongoing updates: Real-time visibility is critical to keeping everyone informed. With a vendor management system that provides dashboards, DBE compliance managers receive real-time visibility and notifications for ongoing updates.
  • Maintain transparency during audits: A logged history of communications reduces audit risk. All actions should be logged for audit trails, ensuring transparency and accountability.
The Power of Automation in Outreach  

When relying on manual communication, follow-ups consume significant staff time and often lead to overlooked steps. However, with a built-in communication outreach program, DBE program leaders can expect: 
  • Reduced errors and rework
  • Increased participation and compliance
  • Strengthened transparency and audit readiness

Ready to learn how other agencies are aligning with IFR? Watch now.

Achieving Audit-Ready Documentation for IFR Compliance

B2Gnow

Disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) compliance managers are experiencing an urgent focus on accountability and compliance as they work to ensure all elements of the 2025 USDOT Interim Final Rule (IFR) are put into place. 

For a defensible program, compliance managers need to focus on clear, verifiable documentation that meets the needs and expectations of auditors. 

To do this, records need to show a complete and auditable history of every element of a program, including clear, verifiable records that show how decisions were made, what communications occurred, and how any changes to goal credit or firm status were handled. 

Maintaining this level of detail supports compliance, reduces confusion, demonstrates due diligence, and is what ultimately protects agencies during an audit. This method also ensures that all decisions can be explained in the future because of proper documentation.
5 Tasks for Audit Readiness

Achieving true audit readiness requires five key tasks, all centered on centralizing data and automatically tracking actions.
  • Centralize all records: To speed up retrieval during an audit, all documents must be instantly searchable. Agencies need a searchable, centralized document repository, which stores all certification-related data, including staff reviews, final decisions, and firm communications.
  • Track goal credit changes accurately: Tracking goal credit changes accurately prevents reporting errors and limits confusion within the vendor community. 
  • Log communications and follow-ups: Demonstrate due diligence by logging all communications and follow ups.  
  • Ensure payment records are complete: Accessible and complete payment records support audit verification. DBE program managers need to ensure payments, verification, and prompt pay elements are stored in one easy-to-access location.
  • Confirm current certification records: Agencies must confirm all certification-related records are current and documented to ensure compliance and readiness.

The true value of this comprehensive approach is proven when the audit begins. 

With a central document repository, all files are searchable and retrievable, which helps reduce review time and minimizes risk during the auditing process. 

Listen as officials with the state of Oregon discuss successes with the IFR requirements in this on-demand webinar. Watch now.

The IFR Mandate: Why Pausing Goal Credit is Only Half the Battle

B2Gnow

One of the most impactful and challenging rules for agencies adhering to the 2025 USDOT Interim Final Rule (IFR) surrounds the temporary suspension of goal credit for certified firms on all contracts. 

While the pause on goal credit is temporary, it is imperative for agencies to continue documenting a record of each firm’s eligibility and utilization history. That means reporting for goal credit still needs to happen as it is critical for fairness, compliance, and audit protection. 

To navigate this mandatory suspension successfully, program leaders need to focus on establishing robust data integrity practices that ensure a complete audit trail and seamless restoration of eligibility.
The Dual Challenge: Suspend Counting, Maintain Tracking for IFR

Agencies face a dual mandate: they must stop counting goal credit, but they cannot stop the essential work of contract management. This requires a strategic approach:
  • Continue Payment Tracking: Throughout the re-evaluation period, agencies must continue tracking payments to support prompt pay requirements and ensure consistency for primes and subs. This data collection must continue even while utilization counting is paused, ensuring all necessary history is available when the suspension lifts.
  • Real-Time Status Updates: Agencies must diligently track and update firm status—pending, re-evaluated, or decertified—to maintain accurate reporting.
Keep History at the Forefront: Make Updates, Don’t Delete Records

One of the biggest risks during this transitional phase is data loss or fragmentation. That’s why it is important for agencies to update and categorize vendor records without deleting these items.  

Maintaining a complete vendor history is essential for distinguishing between data used for internal tracking versus data used for external reporting. This distinction avoids misreporting, facilitates undoing mistakes, and maintains an unbroken historical record. 

Recording all goal and eligibility changes provides a crucial audit trail, making it easy to see all changes, who made them, and when.
Easy Goal Restoration for Audit Readiness

When a firm successfully completes its mandatory re-evaluation, agencies need to be prepared to restore eligibility instantly. To do this, consistent tracking of firm status ensures correct goal reporting resumes from the moment eligibility is restored.

Remember, the IFR goal credit suspension is a temporary state, but the integrity of an agency’s program history is permanent. Consistent tracking of goal credit and firm status prevents misreporting and confusion later. 

Meticulous tracking and centralized records ensure accurate reporting and IFR compliance, transforming a complex mandate into a defensible, auditable process.

Need more guidance? Download the IFR Readiness Guide now..

Structured Certification Process: The Non-Negotiable for IFR Readiness

B2Gnow

Agency certification processes need to be standardized, defensible, and repeatable in a post 2025 USDOT Interim Final Rule (IFR) world. 

Reframing success under the IFR is to understand that compliance is not just the final destination, it’s the auditable journey to that decision. Decision-making and application tracking needs to be consistent to ensure applications are collected, documents are tracked, or reviews are completed creates vulnerability to errors or audit risk. 

That’s why it’s imperative for program leaders to commit to structured, repeatable processes to govern eligibility and audit readiness. In doing so, agencies stay consistent and keep clear, reliable records as firms move through the new certification requirements. 

To do this successfully, it’s important to understand the three areas under the most scrutiny by the IFR: Mandatory consistency, verifiable records, and centralized control.
  • Mandatory Consistency: The IFR requires consistent review standards across the Unified Certification Program (UCP). From the moment an application is received, this consistency must be enforced. Agencies must standardize required documents, using templates and checklists to promote fairness and enforce consistent criteria for all applicants. Applying consistent review criteria reduces errors and significantly supports audit readiness.
  • Verifiable Records: To align with IFR documentation requirements, it is vital to log every determination with a timestamp and clear rationale, creating immediate, audit-ready documentation. Auditors expect clear, verifiable records that show precisely how eligibility decisions were reached.
  • Centralized Control: To prevent lost records and missed steps, all documents must be stored in a central, accessible location. Centralizing document storage prevents lost records and ensures files are searchable and retrievable in seconds when requested by auditors.

Consistency is critical across all evaluations, and every decision must be documented for audit readiness. 

Ready for the next step? Take a look at the IFR Checklist.

Why Workflows Are the Best Defense Against IFR Audits

B2Gnow

Heightened documentation is the new norm for agencies moving forward with requirements for the 2025 USDOT Interim Final Rule (IFR). 

While re-certifying firms is top of mind for program leaders, to accomplish this recertification, it is vital to strategically assess internal processes to ensure consistency, security, and audit readiness – and many of those internal processes involve documentation. 

However, before initiating a large-scale re-evaluation, program leaders need a firm understanding of existing operations (consider this foundational work a pre-audit to defend against future scrutiny).

To do this, it is imperative to understand how an agency handles all stages of compliance including: 
  • Certification and re-evaluation
  • Contract compliance and payments
  • Goal tracking and reporting
  • Audit preparation
4 Steps to Build a Structured Action Plan

To operate in a way that aligns with the IFR, leaders should consider following a structured action plan by doing the following:
  • Map Current Processes to Identify Gaps: Improve understanding of current workflows and identify structural gaps by mapping existing certification, compliance, and audit processes.
  • Identify Documentation Inconsistencies: Prevent costly errors or delays during mandatory re-evaluations by tracking inconsistencies in documentation. 
  • Automate Manual Workloads: Automation reduces workload and significantly improves data accuracy, particularly for status notifications and follow-ups. Determine which tasks exist today that can be automated. 
  • Ensure Coverage and Accountability: To better ensure continuity and accountability, assign clear responsibilities and backups for all critical tasks. This is essential during staff changes or a compliance audit.
The Hidden Risk of Email-Based Workflows

Overreliance on manual systems is the greatest threat to creating processes that align with compliance. 

While common, when document verification and application tracking is carried out almost entirely through email, audit and security risks rise because email does not reliably protect sensitive information or maintain a clear, continuous record. Additionally, email makes it easy to miss steps – especially when staff changes occur. 
Create Defensible Operations

To move away from manual email processes for document verification and application tracking, program leaders should consider creating a centralized action plan to track every step, assign responsibility, and leverage automated notification. In doing so, an agency experiences a secure, consistent, and fully auditable process. 

Ensuring workflow documentation now saves hours of follow-up later, helps staff understand and follow the compliance process, and transforms agencies into defensible operations.

Ready to learn more? Check out this on-demand webinar.

A 3-Step Action Plan for an IFR Compliant & Defensible DBE Program

B2Gnow

When the 2025 USDOT Interim Final Rule (IFR) was issued in October 2025, it introduced immediate and mandatory changes to the operation of disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) and airport concession disadvantaged businesses enterprises (ACDBE) programs nationwide. 

What that meant for program leaders was this: For businesses to be eligible for federal transportation funding, every Unified Certification Program (UCP) needed to quickly re-evaluate all currently certified firms. 

Since 2025, the impact of this update continues to be felt especially as it represents a fundamental shift in eligibility and reporting requiring proactive implementation to keep DBE and ACDBE programs running smoothly.
What Do the IFR Changes Mean?

To stay compliant with the core changes in IFR, immediate shifts are necessary regarding: 
  • Individualized Social and Economic Disadvantage (SED) Determinations: Assumptions based on race or gender are no longer allowed under the IFR. Now, each business owner must submit a Personal Net Worth (PNW) statement and a personal narrative (PN) to demonstrate SED status.
  • Mandatory Goal Pause: Agencies are required to temporarily suspend goal counting for utilization and refrain from setting new goals for bids and RFPs until a firm completes its re-evaluation.
  • Heightened Documentation: Verifiable records of every decision, communication, and process change are required by auditors, resulting in a heavy emphasis on documentation for program leaders.
Achieve IFR Compliance in 3 Steps

DBE and ACDBE program leaders looking to achieve compliance efficiently need to implement a structured, three-step action plan to move forward successfully. 
  • Step 1: It’s important to map and standardize current certification and compliance workflows to quickly identify gaps and automate manual tasks. In addition, standardize document requirements, like the PN and PNW submissions, and apply consistent review criteria across every UCP to reduces errors and support fairness.
  • Step 2: For goal pause management, establish clear procedures to temporarily suspend and then restore goal credit. Remember, it is critical to continue tracking payments during this pause to maintain prompt pay consistency. 
  • Step 3: Ensure audit readiness by logging all determination decisions with clear rationale and timestamps. This level of detail demonstrates due diligence and protects agenices from audit mishaps or scrambling for information. In addition, maintain transparent communication by informing staff of process changes and sending multiple, documented notifications to firms about their re-evaluation requirements to maximize participation.

The right structure and centralized records are the keys to a defensible program. 

By establishing consistent workflows, agencies can leverage technology to manage utilization, automate notifications, and centralize documentation for efficiency and success under the IFR.

Want to learn more? Download the IFR checklist now.

Overcoming Difficulties in Prevailing Wage Compliance

B2Gnow

Prevailing wage compliance can be difficult for even the most seasoned contractors and government agencies. 

While prevailing wage law isn’t new, updates to the federal Davis-Bacon Act in 2023 – the first major update to the federal prevailing wage law in 40 years – created a need for heightened compliance requirements. 

Under this new federal update, those working on government-funded construction projects face new requirements and stricter accountability to ensure workers on these projects receive a minimum prevailing wage. 

These updates to the Davis-Bacon act include:
  • Increased civil penalties for each violation 
  • Enhanced record-keeping requirements for a thorough examination into minimum prevailing wage for each worker
  • New ways of calculating wages and fringe benefits

In addition, state-level Little Davis Bacon Acts also shifted to expand coverage to offsite work and increased penalties for violations. 
What Makes Prevailing Wage Compliance Difficult?

Contractors and government agencies deal with prevailing wage compliance on a daily basis, yet face many difficulties due to the complexity of the law.  

For contractors, some of these issues surround:
  • Applying the wrong wage rate
  • Worker misclassification (resulting in workers receiving a lower pay rate than required for the work performed)
  • Underpayment 
  • Unlawful deductions
  • Poor record keeping

These common errors can result in contractors experiencing back wages, liquidated damages, debarment, and sometimes criminal charges. Government agencies face risks by failing to catch contractor mistakes and not having enough staff to review Certified Payroll Reports (CPRs) resulting in delays in payments, potential audit failure, and loss of project funding.
Manage Compliance With Ease Using the Right Tools

Contractors and government agencies want to focus on the job at hand, not every nuance to prevailing wage compliance law. That’s why it’s important to look for prevailing wage tools to help manage these requirements. 

When considering labor compliance software, it’s important to ask:
  • Can this labor compliance software streamline and automate the collection, review, and management of CPRs?
  • Does this prevailing wage software solution integrate with a contract compliance system for sharing contract and project information seamlessly? 
  • Does my labor compliance solution offer single sign-on (SSO) capabilities? 
  • Will my labor compliance solution allow for on-site employee interviews to validate pay rates and classifications against submitted CPRs?
  • Is there an option for users to provide selfie and geolocation details to verify the identity and location of the worker?
  • Can the system automate daily logs and compare data against the certified payroll before submission to prevent discrepancies? 

If the answer to these questions is no, then taking the time to consider what labor compliance tools can help make prevailing wage compliance a non-issue. 

Ready to learn more? Watch this on-demand webinar to hear how industry experts made compliance look easy.