Clear role boundaries
Employees enter their own time. Approvers review and approve. Admins manage reporting.
Guide
DCAA timekeeping requirements for small GovCon teams.
This guide covers practical controls teams usually need for time entry discipline, supervisory review, and defensible reporting.
This is not legal advice. It is operational guidance to help your team run a consistent process.
What reviewers typically look for
Traceable approvals
Approvals should be attributable to a person and timestamp, not implied through email chains.
Consistent evidence
Teams should be able to reconstruct what happened in a pay period without forensics.
Control areas and software support
| Control area | Operational expectation | System support |
|---|---|---|
| Daily entry discipline | Time is entered promptly and accurately by the employee. | Period-based entry screens with visible status. |
| Supervisory approval | Approval is explicit and attributable to a supervisor. | Submitted queue with approval events and timestamps. |
| Change transparency | Material edits and status changes are visible later. | Audit trail views and change history. |
| Reporting readiness | Approved data can be summarized and exported consistently. | Reports and export files from approved periods. |
Implementation checklist
- Define policy ownership and approval accountability by role.
- Train employees and approvers on period deadlines and correction flow.
- Run one period-end review checklist every cycle.
- Spot-check approval and audit records monthly.
- Document exceptions and remediation actions.
FAQ
No. Software supports process controls, but policy, training, and enforcement determine audit outcomes.
Ready when you are
Set up timekeeping your GovCon team can actually live with.
Start with practical controls and a process your team can follow every pay period without inventing new exceptions every Friday.