KIHOMAC

Industries: Government
Product: Accountlink for QuickBooks

What Journyx did for us:
“Journyx provides an excellent platform for logging timesheets, tracking labor costs and integrating with QuickBooks.”

– Adam Grimm, Director for Strategic Programs, KIHOMAC

Journyx provides a DCAA-Compliant Time Tracking Solution for KIHOMAC’s Contractors

KIHOMAC, a government contractor that provides program management and system engineering services, conducts engineering analysis, and develops sustainment solutions for aerospace vehicles, is currently experiencing a major growth trajectory. In fact, KIHOMAC’s rapid growth led to them being named as one of Washington Technology’s fastest growing government contractors of 2010.

Challenge

Just like every contractor working on government contracts, KIHOMAC must adhere to standards set forth by the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) to keep track of employee time each day and properly apportion that time to the contracts the employees work. KIHOMAC originally tried to accomplish this by using paper timesheets but found the process unwieldy and unorganized with so many employees. Because of the looming possibility of a DCAA audit where meticulous time records must be shown, government contractors can’t afford to have unorganized records. KIHOMAC sought a web-based solution that is DCAA-compliant, integrates with QuickBooks accounting software, and can be accessed by employees from anywhere.

While not every business that is awarded a contract will be audited by the DCAA, preparation for the audit should be taken seriously. Failure to pass an audit can result in costly setbacks, and in extreme cases, indefinite contract postponement or reassignment. The guidelines for the DCAA audit are well documented, and a detailed explanation of the background and process of the audit can be found here. The first step should be looking at a way to track time for employees and any contracted labor you will be using.

Solution

“We looked at several different time tracking solutions, and Journyx was the clear winner,” said Adam Grimm, Director for Strategic Programs for KIHOMAC.

Approximately 105 KIHOMAC employees track their time daily in Journyx. KIHOMAC also uses Journyx to generate reports when executives need a greater understanding of historical data.  Additionally, Journyx reports give KIHOMAC management a big picture of current projects, tasks and the people working on them to ensure employees are fully tasked and no one’s time is being wasted.

Benefit

Growing with QuickBooks? No Problem!

In addition to capturing full audit history of any changes made in the time management system, Journyx can easily exchange data with QuickBooks to ensure a smooth path to passing future audits. Many government contractors falsely believe that they will either outgrow QuickBooks or that it doesn’t comply with DCAA standards.

“The integration between QuickBooks and Journyx is simple,” said Grimm.  “QuickBooks is fully-featured accounting software (we use QuickBooks Enterprise to enable multiple simultaneous users) and we haven’t found anything that it won’t support. We believe QuickBooks can take us through at least the $25M revenue mark and beyond.”

Labor can often be the largest expense in defense contracts. Using a web-based system that automates many labor intensive processes, such as capturing and reporting contract-specific data and providing critical support documentation for audits, helps companies see success with a government contract. Journyx customers see significant reductions in labor cost.

Making a Great Product Even Better

“Journyx provides an excellent platform for logging timesheets, tracking labor costs and integrating with QuickBooks. KIHOMAC also needed a system to provide cost, schedule and performance tracking for our program managers. We took the initiative and built a toolset that integrates seamlessly with Journyx,” said Grimm.

Grimm explains how the tools they created work with Journyx: “KIHOMAC provides a toolset for tracking and managing program cost, schedule and performance for government contractors. The data from Journyx is combined with contracted labor rates to provide a cost snapshot to program managers. The system tracks variance against cost goals and provides an area for tracking and managing program risks, issues and personnel requirements. The financial reporting tools fill gaps commonly found in QuickBooks implementation by allowing invoice development and financial reporting in formats that align with DCAA guidance and government requirements.”

“Innovative customers like KIHOMAC are such an asset to Journyx,” said Journyx CEO Curt Finch. “Journyx has provided time management solutions to government contractors for 15 years. Thousands of companies use Journyx to ensure that they fully comply with DCAA regulations.  For government contractors, Journyx provides a compliant and verifiable time management process from end to end.”