Case study · Finance
WiseCost, DCAA compliance for government contractors.
WiseCost is DCAA compliance software for US government contractors: timekeeping, timesheet approvals and labor distribution on top of QuickBooks Online. Cambalache designed and built it, first as a prototype and then as the full product, which already has more than 20 paying customers.
20+
paying customers, per the CEO on Clutch
- Client
- WiseCost
- Industry
- Finance & GovCon
- Location
- Arlington, Virginia
- Platforms
- Web and QuickBooks Online
- Status
- Live
01The client
WiseCost serves small and mid-sized US government contractors that need to pass a DCAA audit without moving to an enterprise ERP.
02The idea
DCAA compliance without the enterprise price tag: compliant timekeeping and labor distribution built on the QuickBooks Online that contractors already use, with no migration and no ERP project.
03What we built
- DCAA-compliant time tracking by project and cost category, with timesheet approvals
- Automated labor distribution that posts journal entries to QuickBooks Online
- An immutable audit trail of every action, built for DCAA floor checks
- AI-assisted payroll import from any CSV export, with warnings for mismatched hours
- One-click QuickBooks connection that imports accounts, employees and classes
- A GovCon setup, from the prototype to the full product
04How we worked
First a prototype, then a bigger product with labor distribution, time tracking, DCAA compliance and the GovCon setup, per the client's review on Clutch.
05The launch
Live at wisecost.us with a free trial, integrated with QuickBooks Online.
The product
Live, with real users.
20+
paying customers
Working and tested, with a low error rate
Delivered on time
Quick answers
About WiseCost, in short.
Who built WiseCost?
WiseCost was designed and built by Cambalache, a product studio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, that ships fixed-price MVPs, platforms and AI agents.
What is WiseCost?
DCAA-compliant timekeeping, timesheet approvals and labor distribution for US government contractors, built on top of the QuickBooks Online they already use.
Which platforms does WiseCost run on?
Web and QuickBooks Online.
How much does it cost to build a product like WiseCost?
It depends on the scope. A product like WiseCost usually starts from one of our fixed-price packages: Validate, $3,900 in 2 weeks for one core flow or one automated process; Launch, from $8,000 in 8 weeks; or Scale, from $15,000 in 10–14 weeks for marketplaces and heavy integrations. You get the exact price and launch date in writing before any code is written.
How every project runs, this one included.
See the process →Days 1–3
Scope
Week 1
Staging link
Every week
Demo
Launch day
Handover
Building something in finance & GovCon?
Tell us what you need. You get a fixed price, a launch date and the code in your GitHub from day one.