Audit 331286

Assistance Lising number: 84.010 Program title: Title I Agency: U.S. Department of Education Pass-Through entity: Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs Type of Finding: Material noncompliance Criteria: In accordance with 2 CFR 200.403, costs must be adequately documented to be allowable under Federal awards. Furthermore, under 2 CFR 200.431 employee benefit costs must be allocated to Federal awards in a manner consistent with the pattern of benefits attributable to the employees whose salaries and wages are chargeable to such Federal awards. Condition: We tested twenty-one transactions for employee benefits totaling $9,801 that were allocated to the Title I program general ledger. The Collaborative could not support these allocations. Cause: The Collaborative did not verify the accuracy of the allocation of employee benefits charged to the Title I general ledger by the payroll system. Effect: The allocation of employee benefit costs to the Title I program was not adequately supported as required by 2 CFR 200.403 for the transactions tested. Questioned costs: $9,801. Context: Total benefits charged to the Title 1 program were $337,839. Repeat finding: Not applicable. Recommendation: We recommend the Collaborative maintain a schedule detailing salary and benefit costs by employee for each Federal award. The Collaborative should recalculate the benefit costs for each employee to ensure their accuracy. Total salaries and benefits on the schedule should then be reconciled to the general ledger and to the Final Expenditure Report submitted to DESE. Views of the responsible officials and planned corrective actions: We will maintain a schedule that details all salary and benefit expenses charged against each Federal award and ensure that these totals are reconciled back to the general ledger and the Final Expenditure Report. We take some exception with this finding, as we believe the audit sample was pulled and formatted in a cumbersome manner and did not facilitate the process of clearly identifying all of the expenditures cited, which often represented portions of benefit costs paid for personnel and reflected in total on related insurance invoices, etc. The Director of Federal Programs and the Payroll Coordinator will be charged with ensuring the accuracy of this information and the related processes moving forward.

Assistance Lising number: 84.010 Program title: Title I Agency: U.S. Department of Education Pass-Through entity: Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs Type of Finding: Material noncompliance Criteria: In accordance with 2 CFR 200.403, costs must be adequately documented to be allowable under Federal awards. Furthermore, under 2 CFR 200.431 employee benefit costs must be allocated to Federal awards in a manner consistent with the pattern of benefits attributable to the employees whose salaries and wages are chargeable to such Federal awards. Condition: We tested twenty-one transactions for employee benefits totaling $9,801 that were allocated to the Title I program general ledger. The Collaborative could not support these allocations. Cause: The Collaborative did not verify the accuracy of the allocation of employee benefits charged to the Title I general ledger by the payroll system. Effect: The allocation of employee benefit costs to the Title I program was not adequately supported as required by 2 CFR 200.403 for the transactions tested. Questioned costs: $9,801. Context: Total benefits charged to the Title 1 program were $337,839. Repeat finding: Not applicable. Recommendation: We recommend the Collaborative maintain a schedule detailing salary and benefit costs by employee for each Federal award. The Collaborative should recalculate the benefit costs for each employee to ensure their accuracy. Total salaries and benefits on the schedule should then be reconciled to the general ledger and to the Final Expenditure Report submitted to DESE. Views of the responsible officials and planned corrective actions: We will maintain a schedule that details all salary and benefit expenses charged against each Federal award and ensure that these totals are reconciled back to the general ledger and the Final Expenditure Report. We take some exception with this finding, as we believe the audit sample was pulled and formatted in a cumbersome manner and did not facilitate the process of clearly identifying all of the expenditures cited, which often represented portions of benefit costs paid for personnel and reflected in total on related insurance invoices, etc. The Director of Federal Programs and the Payroll Coordinator will be charged with ensuring the accuracy of this information and the related processes moving forward.