DCAA Compliance Time Tracking
Defense Contract Audit Agency requirements for time tracking by government contractors, mandating detailed, contemporaneous recording of labor hours with strict audit trail and documentation standards.
Last updated: 2026-03-14 18:50
Overview
DCAA (Defense Contract Audit Agency) compliance requires government contractors to maintain rigorous time tracking systems that meet specific audit standards for labor hour accountability.
Key Requirements
Contemporaneous Recording
- Record time daily as work is performed
- No retroactive time entry
- Same-day documentation
- Accurate to task level
Detailed Documentation
- Specific contract/project codes
- Task descriptions
- Hours by category (direct, indirect, overhead)
- Overtime separately tracked
- Leave time documented
Audit Trail
- Who entered time
- When it was entered
- Any modifications logged
- Approval chain documented
- Tamper-proof records
Supervisor Approval
- Manager review required
- Approval documented
- Timely approval (weekly)
- Exception handling
Prohibited Practices
- Rounding time entries
- Estimating or averaging
- Retroactive entry
- Buddy punching
- Unapproved changes
- Generic descriptions
Software Requirements
DCAA-compliant systems must have:
- Daily time entry capability
- Electronic signatures
- Audit trail logging
- Supervisor approval workflow
- Report generation
- Secure data storage
- User access controls
Common Vendors
- Deltek Costpoint
- Unanet
- Replicon
- BigTime
- Journyx
Consequences of Non-Compliance
- Contract payment withheld
- Audit findings
- Increased oversight
- Contract termination
- Suspension/debarment
- False claims penalties
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