The Most Important Secrets You Need To Know About DCAA Compliant Agency

By Catherine Mitchell


People who are interested in government contracting understand that before getting approval, you need to do a lot of cleanup to your books. The biggest issues that people face when venturing into business contracting is DCAA compliance. When your accounting procedures are DCAA compliant, it means that you are operating within the law. Operating within the law helps you reduce the time spent on legal issues and also avoid complications. Here are tips and guidance for all people new to government contracting and trying to get compliance.

The DCAA the arm of the government charged with the responsibility of auditing all contracts connected to the department of defense. There are times when the DOD contract Audit Agency can be brought in to assist the government with other audit-related services. The DCAA audits billions of dollars annually to make sure that taxpayers are getting what they are paying for.

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 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.

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.

Before getting a government contract, the agency may perform what is known as a pre-award survey. The survey is meant to establish whether your business can perform all the tasks specified by the contract. The survey will look at your business financial ability, whether the accounting system is acceptable and can keep track of costs.

As a small business contractor, you will be wondering whether there are resources out there to help you prepare for the audit process. There is a lot of reliable information online on how to prepare for the audit. The information resources include links, checklists, and other sources of data which give you guidance on what will be needed from you before you get compliance.

These are just a few of the important things to understand about Defense Contract Audit Agency compliant accounting. The most important bit is to always get an expert to handle the auditing preparation process. They will tell you what you need to do to achieve compliance and help you do everything according to the books.




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