Overview
DCAA (Defense Contract Audit Agency) compliance requires government contractors to maintain rigorous time tracking systems that meet specific audit standards for labor hour accountability.
Key Requirements
Contemporaneous Recording
- Record time daily as work is performed
- No retroactive time entry
- Same-day documentation
- Accurate to task level
Detailed Documentation
- Specific contract/project codes
- Task descriptions
- Hours by category (direct, indirect, overhead)
- Overtime separately tracked
- Leave time documented
Audit Trail
- Who entered time
- When it was entered
- Any modifications logged
- Approval chain documented
- Tamper-proof records
Supervisor Approval
- Manager review required
- Approval documented
- Timely approval (weekly)
- Exception handling
Prohibited Practices
- Rounding time entries
- Estimating or averaging
- Retroactive entry
- Buddy punching
- Unapproved changes
- Generic descriptions
Software Requirements
DCAA-compliant systems must have:
- Daily time entry capability
- Electronic signatures
- Audit trail logging
- Supervisor approval workflow
- Report generation
- Secure data storage
- User access controls
Common Vendors
- Deltek Costpoint
- Unanet
- Replicon
- BigTime
- Journyx
Consequences of Non-Compliance
- Contract payment withheld
- Audit findings
- Increased oversight
- Contract termination
- Suspension/debarment
- False claims penalties
