Compliance Reference
Plain-language reference for the government-contracting compliance rules that shape how a GovCon back office has to work: what an adequate accounting system must do, which costs the government will and will not reimburse, and what an auditor actually looks at.
These pages are regulatory reference, not product documentation. They describe the rules themselves, so they are useful whether or not you are looking at Arcvue. For how a particular Arcvue screen works, use the Accounting and FP&A sections.
Reference material, not legal or audit advice. Where the primary DCAA source is not publicly downloadable, the page says so and names the sources it was reconciled across. Confirm against the current official text before relying on any of it for a contract submission or an audit response.
What is here
SF-1408 — Pre-Award Survey criteria
The 14 evaluation criteria an auditor scores when deciding whether your accounting system is adequate for cost-reimbursement work, with the form's own wording, the sub-elements under each, and what an auditor is checking for. Start here if you are preparing for a pre-award survey.
FAR 31.205 — Selected costs
Every FAR Part 31.205 subsection — 31.205-1 through 31.205-52 — with whether the cost is allowable, unallowable, or allowable only under conditions, plus the caps and cross-references that apply. Includes a summary table and a short appendix of the mistakes that most often get costs questioned. This is the lookup you reach for when deciding how to treat a specific expense.
DCAA Internal Control Questionnaire — accounting section
The working questions an auditor asks about your accounting system, grouped under the SF-1408 criterion each one supports, together with the five broader internal-control components they sit inside.
Common audit deficiencies
Twenty-five real findings — what the contractor did, which criterion it failed, and the source — including the weekly-timekeeping rejection that drew $23M in questioned costs and an 18-month suspension. Useful as a checklist of what to avoid.
DCAM §5-908 and §5-909 — timekeeping
The two paragraphs that define what an adequate timekeeping system must do: who may charge what, daily entry, total time accounting, certification and supervisor approval, the audit trail, and floor checks. Timekeeping is the single most common reason a labor system is found inadequate.
Keeping this current
DCAA and the FAR Council revise this material on their own schedule. Each page carries the date it was last checked and, where relevant, the revision it reflects. Refresh triggers: annually for SF-1408 and FAR Part 31, on any new DCAA Contract Audit Manual Chapter 5 or 6 release, and quarterly for the deficiency list, where new decisions accumulate fastest.