NASA contractors face a unique compliance challenge that trips up even experienced government contractors: you’re working on cutting-edge space technology while meeting the same earth-bound cost accounting regulations as every other federal contractor. Your engineers might be designing Mars rovers or analyzing satellite telemetry, but your accounting systems still need to prove every dollar spent…
DCAA defines adequate internal controls as your ability to ensure costs charged to government contracts are accurate, allocable, and allowable under FAR Part 31 cost principles. Your controller might have 20 years of public accounting experience, but if your system allows unallowable costs to flow into government contract cost pools, you fail the adequacy test….
If your business is pursuing or currently holds government contracts, you’ve likely encountered the term “DCAA compliant accounting systems.” Understanding and implementing these systems isn’t just a regulatory checkbox—it’s essential for maintaining contract eligibility, ensuring accurate billing, and protecting your business from costly audit findings. At Hour Timesheet, we work closely with government contractors every…
Discover why thousands of teams are moving from spreadsheets to modern time tracking software If you’re here, you’re probably searching for an Excel timesheet template to track employee hours. We get it—Excel is familiar, it’s free, and it seems like the obvious choice. But before you download another template, let’s talk about why an Excel…
A Pennsylvania-based defense contractor faced $16.4 million in questioned costs and automatic adverse audit opinion after missing critical response deadlines during their fiscal year 2024 incurred cost audit. The contractor’s failure to provide requested documentation within the initial 30-day response period established by DCAA audit notification procedures resulted in systematic presumptive cost disallowance affecting overhead…
A Florida-based systems integrator faced $43.8 million in defective pricing adjustments after DCAA auditors discovered the contractor failed to disclose current cost or pricing data during negotiations for contracts exceeding the $2 million Truth-in-Negotiations Act threshold. The audit revealed systematic failures spanning 52 contracts over four years where the contractor possessed vendor quotations, internal cost…
A Massachusetts-based defense contractor faced $22.7 million in questioned costs after DCAA auditors discovered systematic failures to maintain adequate vendor qualification and selection documentation during their fiscal year 2024 incurred cost audit. The contractor’s reliance on informal vendor relationships without documented technical capability assessments, financial responsibility verification, or past performance evaluation violated Federal Acquisition Regulation…
A Virginia-based aerospace contractor faced $18.6 million in questioned costs after DCAA auditors discovered systematic failures to document make-or-buy decisions for subcontracted work exceeding the $2 million threshold during their fiscal year 2024 proposal audit. The contractor’s practice of subcontracting manufacturing operations historically performed in-house without documented economic analysis, capacity utilization assessment, or government notification…
If your company holds government contracts, you’ve likely encountered the alphabet soup of compliance requirements: DCAA, FAR, DFARS. Among these, one question consistently keeps government contractors awake at night: “Is my Excel timesheet DCAA compliant?” The short answer? Not likely. While Excel can technically record time, meeting the Defense Contract Audit Agency’s stringent requirements is…
A Texas-based aerospace manufacturer lost $6.8 million in allowable facilities capital cost of money during their fiscal year 2024 contract negotiations after DCAA auditors rejected their net book value calculations for systematic violations of Cost Accounting Standard 414. The contractor’s failure to properly exclude fully depreciated assets, adjust for accumulated depreciation timing, and segregate land…
