Guidelines On DCAA Compliant Accounting Procedures

By Catherine Mitchell


Government contracting is different from general contracting because of the stringent procedures followed before getting compliance. The biggest challenge which people face when getting into business with the government is the inability to get DCAA compliance. You cannot be allowed to contract for the government if your accounting books are not DCAA compliant. When you are compliant, it means that all your operations are according to the book and that you will reduce the time spent dealing with legal complications. Below are a few tips to guide you along the process.

The DCAA is an abbreviation for the auditing agency. This is the department of the government which audits all the contracts that are connected to the DOD. There are also times when the audit agency may be involved in performing audits that are not connected to the audit agency. The Defense Contract Audit Agency audits billions of dollars each year with the aim of making sure that money is not getting lost through loopholes, which can be sealed.

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 most important thing to learn about the DOD audit agency is exactly what their audit entails. There is a huge difference between the parameters that are followed by commercial auditing agencies and those followed by the Defense Contract Audit Agency. The government focuses on areas such as allowable costs, indirect costs, unallowable cost pooling, and cost pools, among other related issues. Your preparation for an audit should focus on these areas.

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.

The other essential thing to understand about the government contracting process is that you will need a pre-award survey to be carried out before you are allowed to work with them. The survey helps determine if your business has the capacity to carry out the responsibility specified by the contract. For instance, they may look into the financial stability of the business and if your accounting system is acceptable among other important factors.

Next, it is good to know that there are resources allocated to help people interested in getting into government contracting to understand the process and prepare for it. There are government websites that contain a lot of reliable information about preparation for the audit, links, and checklists that help you get ready for the process. These offer the guidance needed before getting compliance.

These are a few of the most crucial things to understand about Defense Contract Audit Agency compliance in accounting. It is advisable to contract someone who understands DCAA accounting and DOD accounting processes. They will assess your business and help you understand the issues you need to fix before getting Defense Contract Audit Agency compliance certification.




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