Project Cost Accounting for DCAA Compliance

Project cost accounting for compliance with DCAA standards is simplified by TrackerSuite.Net, using account codes to identify and track direct, indirect and disallowed cost objects.

The integrated nature of TrackerSuite.Net applications allows defense contractors to identify and segregate costs for compliance with DCAA audit compliance. Utilizing TrackerSuite.Net, organizations can configure allocation bases via account codes for:

• Direct costs that can be tied directly to the project, such as labor for a specific task, or a purchase of materials required to create a project deliverable.
• Indirect costs that cannot be directly tied to the project, such as the rent for the workspace where project labor occurs.
• Disallowed costs, such as entertainment and some travel expenses.

These integrated applications include Project Tracker.Net, Time Tracker.Net, Expense Tracker.Net, Purchase Tracker.Net and Payment Tracker.Net.  In addition, TrackerSuite.Net also provides comprehensive, real time project cost reports via the Tracker Data Warehouse.

Simplifying Project Cost Accounting with TrackerSuite.Net

As the defense contract project moves forwards, labor and expenditures are charged against the project. Using TrackerSuite.Net, these charges are made through:

• Web timesheets in which employees report their work, in compliance with DCAA timekeeping practices. Time is charged against tasks profiled in Project Tracker.Net, each of which has account codes indicating what kind of cost object they represent.
• Expense reports in which charges are made against projects on a line item basis, where each item is assigned a code.
• Purchase orders and payment requests, which both contain General Ledger coding areas where the total cost of the purchase or payment can be broken down against multiple account codes.

Project managers and stakeholders can keep track of the projects expenditures, as well as variances in schedule and costs, via the Tracker Data Warehouse, which provides reports including Budget vs. Actual, Earned Value, Time Pies and more. These reports feature pivot tables, filters and drag and drop fields, allowing users to easily drill down on key data.