Trakload — DCAA Compliant
DCAA-compliant timekeeping, capacity planning, and project delivery in one platform — with an audit trail by default, three executive dashboards, a built-in AI assistant, and QuickBooks Online integration. Built for the firms that have to prove every hour.
New in Trakload
Now with AI and accounting built in
The latest additions to the platform — the capabilities that set Trakload apart from a plain timekeeping tool.
QuickBooks Online
Push approved, locked pay-period hours straight into QuickBooks Online as non-billable time activities — tagged to the customer, idempotent, and reconciled against your contracts. Employees and customers sync too, so your books and your timesheets stay in step.
AI Chatbot Help
Ask questions in plain language and get live answers scoped to exactly what you're allowed to see: who reports to whom, who's on which project, who's behind on timesheets, holidays, PTO balances, and dashboard KPIs — all permission-aware and read-only.
AI Document Author
Draft project briefs and narrative documents from your real project data — objectives, scope, phases, and contacts — so the blank page fills itself in and your team starts from a solid first draft.
The Platform
Everything a DCAA shop needs to run — in one place
From the timesheet to the audit trail to the executive dashboard, Trakload covers the full loop
without bolting together three tools.
DCAA-Compliant Timekeeping
Log time daily against real project tasks and phases, then submit and certify it. Effort links to CLIN IDs, billable and non-billable hours are separated and recorded distinctly, and PTO and company holidays are managed in the same place — every change captured in an automatic audit trail.
Project Intake
Turn raw requests into structured projects. A centralized library of briefs, user stories, and supporting assets means every engagement starts organized instead of scattered across inboxes.
Capacity Planning
Plan staffing with real-time heat maps and distribution bands that show exactly who is over-leveraged and where the team has room — before you commit the next project.
Plan & Track Projects
Run delivery your way with a Project Plan, Gantt chart, and Kanban board over the same data. Milestones stay visible and the team stays aligned, whichever view they prefer.
Client Portal
Not a login for the company that buys Trakload — a portal they open to THEIR clients and government CORs. Give the people you deliver to a read-only, audit-ready window into their own projects — funding, burn, plan-versus-actual, and labor distribution — scoped so they see only what they should. A client- and COR-facing view most DCAA tools simply do not offer.
Project Documents & AI Authoring
Write project briefs and support documents in a built-in rich-text author and editor — or let the AI Document Author draft them from your real project data (objectives, scope, phases, and contacts) so you start from a solid first draft.
Employee Tracking
See each person's capacity, utilization, allocation, and roll-off schedule at a glance — plus their active, upcoming, and completed projects. Know who is over-leveraged, who has room, and when they free up before you commit the next project.
Dynamic Org Chart
See the whole reporting structure in a live, expandable org chart built from your data — no manual maintenance, always current.
Customizable Employee Profiles
Every person gets a customizable profile page — About Me, tenure, education, certifications, and affiliations — so your team directory is rich, not just a list of names.
Leadership Visibility
Executives and HR see across the entire organization; managers see their reporting chain; employees see themselves. Visibility follows the role-permission matrix, so leadership gets the whole picture while everyone else sees exactly what they should.
Approval Workflow
Approvers can approve, reject, unlock, and edit on an employee's behalf — each with a recorded reason — and send automated reminders to anyone who's behind. Supervisory review and cosign are built into the flow the way DCAA expects.
Flexible Setup
Configure the platform to your business: custom project fields, roles and granular role permissions, departments, talent (employee) registration, company holidays, and PTO policies — all self-service, no code, no waiting on a vendor.
Time Settings & Overtime
Define your pay-period frequency, current pay cycle, and timesheet due-by dates, and manage overtime rules — including uncompensated-overtime tracking for salaried staff. Switch pay periods without re-plumbing your reports.
Audit-Ready Reports
Labor Distribution, Pay Period Closeout, Audit Log, and Timesheet Compliance reports give the business and its auditors the evidence packet they need — approved hours by employee, CLIN and contract detail, the full change history, and who's behind on logging or certifying.
CRM
Manage customer companies, contacts, and project briefs right alongside the work, so every client's history and project journey lives in one place instead of a separate system.
Secure Built-In Messaging
Communicate inside your Trakload network without worrying about leakage through email, Slack, or outside IM. A sandboxed messaging layer — manager-to-employee and peer messages, threads, and reminders — that never crosses Trakload's boundary. One secure platform: a real advantage for security- and compliance-minded teams.
Configurable Permissions & Groups
Shape who sees and does what. A per-role permission matrix, department structure, and reporting-chain scopes control access to time, reports, dashboards, CRM, and projects — right down to what each role can see and do. Tune it all in setup, no code required.
PTO Tracking & Accruals
Request, approve, and track paid time off in one workflow — with automatic accruals, balance forecasting, and an org-wide PTO calendar. Approved PTO flows straight into capacity and timesheets, so the availability you plan around is real, not theoretical.
Three Executive Dashboards
Three views of your business, one source of truth
Each dashboard answers a different question — and every number is clickable down to the people and projects behind it.
Talent Pool Overview
How healthy is my workforce?
- Team headcount, bench strength, and team utilization
- Role health — under-, healthy-, and over-utilized bands
- Critical roles with only one or two people (succession risk)
- 12-week utilization trend
Capacity Tracker
Who's booked, and who's free?
- Hours booked vs. capacity this week; who is staffed
- Rolling off and starting soon; forward availability by horizon
- Behind-on-timesheets gauges — current and last closed period
- Top-utilized and most-underutilized staff
Projects
Is the portfolio on track?
- Portfolio health — on schedule vs. behind schedule
- In-queue and in-production counts
- Deploy windows — this week and the next 30 days
- Completed and on-time delivery, year to date
Compliance
What “DCAA compliant” actually means in Trakload
Government-contract timekeeping is governed by the FAR, DFARS, and the DCAA Contract Audit Manual (DCAAM 7641.90). Trakload is built to satisfy those controls — not just to claim the badge.
The core DCAA control is simple to state and hard to fake: every employee records their own time daily, against the correct project and cost objective, and certifies it — and a supervisor reviews and cosigns. Trakload enforces exactly that loop. Time is logged against real tasks and phases, tied to CLIN IDs, with billable and non-billable (direct and indirect) hours kept distinct. Nothing is edited silently: every create, edit, approval, unlock, and correction is written to an immutable audit trail with a recorded reason — the evidence a floor check or incurred-cost audit asks for.
Because pay periods differ by contractor, Trakload makes the cycle a setting, not a rebuild: choose weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly, set the timesheet due-by, and every report and approval follows automatically. At period close, the audit-ready reports below hand the business and its auditors a clean packet.
Daily, contemporaneous time recording (DCAAM 7641.90 §b(1))
Log time daily against tasks; the system flags anyone behind on a past working day.
Total Time Accounting — all hours, paid or not
Captures every hour, with uncompensated-overtime tracking for salaried staff.
Direct vs. indirect labor distinction
Billable and non-billable hours are separated, recorded, and reported distinctly.
Supervisor review and approval (§c(1))
Approve, reject, unlock, edit-on-behalf, and remind — supervisory review is built in.
Certification at period end (§b(6))
Employees certify their time; certification scope is configurable (day / week / period).
Complete audit trail of every change
Immutable, reason-stamped history on every entry — exportable for auditors.
The reports auditors and the business ask for
- Labor Distribution — approved hours by employee, with CLIN, contract number, and labor category, for incurred-cost submissions.
- Pay Period Closeout — approved-and-locked entries as the payroll handoff (Gusto, ADP, Paychex, QuickBooks).
- Audit Log — the immutable create/edit/approve/lock history, in one format whether the auditor starts with the employee or the manager.
- Timesheet Compliance — who is behind on logging or certifying, the days they missed, and the projects they should be charging to.
Trakload aligns its controls to DCAAM 7641.90 and the FAR/DFARS timekeeping requirements. Your specific audit posture should be confirmed with your DCAA liaison or GovCon accounting advisor.
FAQ
Questions government contractors ask
The short answers. For the detail behind any of these, request more information and we'll walk you through it.
Is Trakload actually DCAA compliant?
Trakload is built to the DCAA timekeeping controls: employees log time daily against real project tasks, certify it, and supervisors review and cosign. Billable and non-billable (direct and indirect) hours are separated, effort links to CLIN IDs, and every change is written to an immutable audit trail. It aligns to DCAAM 7641.90 and the FAR/DFARS timekeeping requirements — your specific audit posture should be confirmed with your DCAA liaison.
What if I'm not a government contractor?
DCAA Strict Mode is optional. Turn it off and Trakload runs as straightforward project timekeeping, capacity planning, and reporting — with no daily-certification enforcement — while keeping the dashboards, approvals, PTO, and QuickBooks integration. Turn it on when you need full government-contract compliance.
My company doesn't do government work — wouldn't Trakload be overkill for what we do?
Not at all. Trakload is well-suited for commercial contractors, agencies, and any business that needs reliable timekeeping and project management. Both Standard and Pro editions offer more features than competing solutions while delivering meaningful savings on licensing costs.
Is your pricing per user?
Yes — simple per-user, per-month pricing. Every feature in your plan is included: no add-on fees for PTO or approvals, no minimums, no surprises. You pay only for the seats you use.
Do employees have to log their time daily?
Yes — daily recording is the DCAA standard, and Trakload treats it that way. The system flags anyone behind on a past working day, and it is aware of company holidays and approved PTO so it never false-alarms on days no one is expected to work.
Can I change my pay-period frequency?
Weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, or monthly — it is a setting, not a rebuild. Set the frequency, current cycle, and timesheet due-by, and every report and approval follows automatically.
What reports will satisfy the business and its auditors?
Labor Distribution (approved hours by employee with CLIN, contract, and labor category), Pay Period Closeout (the approved-and-locked payroll handoff), the Audit Log (the full change history), and Timesheet Compliance (who is behind on logging or certifying, and the days they missed).
Does Trakload integrate with QuickBooks or payroll?
Yes — a native QuickBooks Online integration pushes approved pay-period hours as customer-tagged, non-billable time activities, and the Pay Period Closeout CSV hands clean data to Gusto, ADP, Paychex, or QuickBooks Payroll.
Can leadership see across the whole organization?
Yes, scoped by the role-permission matrix: executives and HR see the entire org, managers see their reporting chain, and employees see themselves — the same rules everywhere, including the built-in AI assistant.
Can approvers correct time, and is it tracked?
Approvers can approve, reject, unlock, edit on an employee's behalf, and send reminders — each with a recorded reason, all captured in the audit trail, exactly the way DCAA expects corrections to be handled.
Prove every hour — without the spreadsheet gymnastics.
See how Trakload replaces a stack of tools with one DCAA-ready platform.