What is DCAA compliant accounting software?

DCAA compliance requires: Timekeeping that captures hours by project and cost type daily, segregation of direct and indirect costs, a complete and unaltered audit trail, and policies and procedures documented in writing. The accounting system must be capable of producing the Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) reports that DCAA auditors expect.

Timekeeping is the most scrutinised element. DCAA auditors look for evidence that employees are recording their time daily, not reconstructing it at the end of the week. The system must have a timestamp showing when each timesheet entry was made. Systems that allow backdating without an audit trail will fail a DCAA review.

Deltek Costpoint and Unanet are the most widely used DCAA-compliant accounting platforms for government contractors. GovCon accounting requires specialized software that most general accounting tools do not provide. Attempting DCAA compliance with a general-purpose tool like QuickBooks is possible but requires expert setup and maintenance.

If your business is growing toward government contracting and you are not yet DCAA compliant, engage a GovCon accountant before you submit your first bid. Winning a contract and then failing the accounting system audit is a painful and expensive outcome. Getting the right system in place before you need it is much less disruptive than retrofitting compliance requirements onto a system that was not designed for them.