Getting DCAA Compliant In Your Accounting: Tips And Guidelines

By Catherine Mitchell


If you are interested in getting into government contracting, then you know there is a need to clean up your practice. One of the biggest headaches that people have when trying to venture into this business is getting DCAA compliance. Defense Contract Audit Agency compliance means that you will be dealing with the business according to the law. It also means that you reduce the time spent on legal issues. If you are new to this business, here are some tips and pointers that you will find useful when trying to become dcaa compliant.

The DCAA the arm of the government charged with the responsibility of auditing all contracts connected to the department of defense. There are times when the DOD contract Audit Agency can be brought in to assist the government with other audit-related services. The DCAA audits billions of dollars annually to make sure that taxpayers are getting what they are paying for.

Accounting procedures are termed as Defense Contract Audit Agency compliant when they are carried out according to the recommendations of the DOD audit agency. A few of the basic recommendations that are offered by the DCAA include having an accounting system with the ability to keep track of costs separately and classify them as direct as well as indirect costs. Other common requirements include having a time tracking system integrated into the accounting system to be able to track all transactions in real time.

The other important thing to understand is what exactly a Defense Contract Audit Agency audit entails, and what the department will be looking for in the process. First, you have to understand that there is a difference between the audit items which are looked at by commercial agencies and those looked at by government agencies. The government focuses on things such as allowable and unallowable costs, cost pools, and indirect cost pooling.

There are different types of Defense Contract Audit Agency audits. These include forward pricing, incurred cost, pre-award and CPSR review. There are times when contracting offices request independent financial opinions on specific parts of a contract. When this happens, the agency categorizes them as special audits. It is important to know the type of audit that you are about to get and what it entails.

Before getting a government contract, the agency may perform what is known as a pre-award survey. The survey is meant to establish whether your business can perform all the tasks specified by the contract. The survey will look at your business financial ability, whether the accounting system is acceptable and can keep track of costs.

There are resources that are available to help small business contractors to help them prepare for the audit process. The resources include links, checklists, and other important information about what is required before one can be certified s compliant.

These are just a few of the important things to understand about Defense Contract Audit Agency compliant accounting. The most important bit is to always get an expert to handle the auditing preparation process. They will tell you what you need to do to achieve compliance and help you do everything according to the books.




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