Time Reporting

The unique pricing and cost considerations for government contracts necessitates detailed time keeping policies & procedures to accurately charge labor to contracts.  Labor often represents a significant cost element on government contracts, and as such, it typically receives considerable attention from both contractors and government auditors.  CGS aids clients in developing policies & procedures as well as employee training to help ensure compliance.  Government contracts require a practice of Total Time Reporting involving several key concepts for successful compliance:

  • How does your project accounting system accumulate and ultimately assign the employee labor costs to the benefitting projects?
  • How does your time reporting policy account for labor corrections and the proper review and approval of all hours submitted by employees?
  • How does your company distinguish between direct and indirect labor activity, and do your practices comply with the relevant Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and Cost Accounting Standards (CAS) guidance as applicable to my contracts?
  • The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires companies to compensate hourly (“non-exempt”) employees for overtime hours but does not require overtime pay for salaried (“exempt”) employees.  So, how does your company account for overtime hours incurred by salaried employees and charged to government projects?
  • Time (and ultimately costs) reported by government contractors falls under the False Claims Act requirements which subject contractors to penalties ranging from fines to civil and criminal prosecution for improper time reporting practices.  Well-designed Policies & Procedures are critical to success and compliance.
  • Federal construction contracts require compliance with the Davis Bacon Act (DBA) and the payment of prevailing wages.  Is your company’s time keeping and payroll system capable of tracking and paying prevailing wages?

CGS assists clients by guiding them through the alternate approaches for tackling the key concepts of Time Reporting and develops solutions unique to each contractor’s operations, industry and specific needs.  An effective approach to Time Reporting allows contractors to ensure compliance without unnecessary complications or interruptions to daily operations.

Please contact us for more information on how we can assist your company with its time reporting polices & procedures.