Friday, June 21, 2019

Getting DCAA Compliant In Your Accounting: Tips And Guidelines

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.

When accounting procedures are said to be Defense Contract Audit Agency compliant, it means that they have been carried out according to the guidelines and the recommendations offered by the audit agency. For instance, the DCAA recommends that your accounting system have the ability to track costs separately, including direct as well as indirect costs. They also want a timekeeping system to be integrated with the accounting system to keep track of 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.

Not many people understand that there is more than one type of Defense Contract Audit Agency audit. The basic audit types include pre-award audits, the forward pricing audits, and incurred cost audits. Other related costs include CPSR reviews. There are also circumstances which can lead to the DOD requesting specific audits, which are classified as special audits. When you know the specific audit type you are about to get, you prepare appropriately.

It is also important to understand that the government does a pre-award survey before they allow a certain contractor to do work for them. The survey is supposed to help figure out if the business has what it takes to perform the tasks specified by the contract. The items which are part of this contract include the financial stability of the business, the acceptability of the accounting system, and other related measures.

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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