Before you select specific accounting
software, you’ll need to make sure that it can handle certain functions and
tasks. Here’s a brief overview of some DCAA
accounting system requirements for DCAA compliance:
Ø
Time Tracking: Different work related to a government contract must be
tracked separately. So, you need to find an accounting system that helps you to
punch in and clock-out whenever you are working on those tasks.
Ø
Direct and Indirect Costs: Your accounting system should understand
the difference between direct and indirect costs. For instance, labor and
materials used for a contract would both be included in the direct cost. But
utilities like gas, electricity, and water are not directly attached to one
project. These are called indirect costs.
Ø
General Ledger: The transactions related to a government contract
should be reconciled with all other business accounts. Your general ledger must
be updated daily. Ledger postings should contain all company activity.
What the DCAA is looking for in the SF1408
requirements
- Segregation
of direct and indirect costs.
- Identification
and accumulation of direct costs by the contract
- Consistent
allocation technique for indirect costs to intermediate and final cost
objectives.
- Accumulation
of cost under general ledger control under the SF
1408.
- A
time-keeping system that spots employees’ labor by intermediate or final
cost objectives.
- A
labor distribution process that charges direct and indirect labor to the
final cost objectives.
- Interim
determination of costs charged to a contract through regular posting of
books of accounts.
- Exclusion
from the costs charged to the government contracts of amounts that are not
permissible.
- Identification
of costs by contract line units and items.
- Segregation
of preproduction costs from the production costs.
