Cheryl Jefferson Cooke is Principal of Cheryl Jefferson & Associates, LLC. She specializes in the areas of government contract accounting, forensic accounting, litigation support, financial statements, internal control, and small business advisory.

Cheryl has 20+ years of experience working with small businesses consisting of 1 to 150 employees with revenue upward of $24 million. Her background ranges from public accounting to internal CFO functions. She has provided financial statement audits, compilations, and reviews; consulted with business owners for finance staff recruiting, budgets, projections, growth plans, staff training, and financial analysis. She has guided companies in all financial areas of government contract accounting including accounting system setup, continued compliance with the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR) and Defense Contract Audit Agency’s (DCAA) requirements, Cost Accounting Standards (CAS), policies and procedures, incurred cost submission, claimed cost analysis and indirect cost rate agreements. She has assisted small businesses with services ranging from basic accounting needs to strategic finance and due diligence. Her skills allow her to communicate with all levels of an organization, thus making her a trusted advisor and sounding board for major business decisions including legal matters involving financial accounting, reporting, and compliance.

Regardless of the complexity of the engagement, she has been able to always convey information in meaningful terms and evaluate and offer recommendations to business stakeholders for future improvement.