Audit 383563

U.S. Department of Agriculture Passed Through the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction and the Minnesota Department of Human Services Federal Financial Assistance Listing # 10.565 All Awards Federal Financial Assistance Listing # 10.568 All Awards Food Distribution Cluster Activities Allowed/Unallowed and Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance Criteria – 2 CFR 200.303(a) establishes that the auditee must establish and maintain effective internal control over the federal award that provides assurance that the entity is managing the federal award in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and conditions of the federal award. Condition – As part of our audit, two payroll allocation errors were identified. It was determined that some errors resulted in overallocation of costs while others in underallocation of costs. Cause – No formal review of the allocations were completed before or after each payroll. This resulted in incorrect amounts being allocated to the programs. Effect – The failure to adequately review payroll allocations resulted in incorrect charges to the program. Questioned Costs – None Reported. Context/Sampling – A nonstatistical sample of 8 pay periods out of a population of 26 pay periods were selected for testing. 2 pay periods had an error. Repeat Finding from Prior Year(s) – Yes, Finding 2024-004. Recommendation – It is recommended that the Organization implement processes and controls to ensure that payroll allocations are reviewed and approved with each payroll processed. Views of Responsible Officials – Management agrees with the finding.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Passed Through the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction and the Minnesota Department of Human Services Federal Financial Assistance Listing # 10.568 All Awards Federal Financial Assistance Listing # 10.569 All Awards Food Distribution Cluster Eligibility Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance and Noncompliance Criteria – 2 CFR 200.303(a) establishes that the auditee must establish and maintain effective internal control over the federal award that provides assurance that the entity is managing the federal award in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and conditions of the federal award. This includes a process to ensure proper completion of all tracking forms and documentation, including documented reviews in relation to eligibility. Condition – During our review of the eligibility determinations, it was identified that there were various instances where applications or other eligibility determinations and reviews were not completed timely or accurately. The files were missing the documented processes or were completed after the prior form’s expiration dates. Cause – Due to oversight by management, all forms were not completed and documented within participant files. This was largely due to differences in fiscal years, calendar years, and terms of the applications and certifications not being appropriately considered when completing and monitoring the various eligibility documents. Effect – The Organization’s internal control process was not appropriately enforced and monitored, resulting in lack of timely documentation of eligibility determination. However, it is noted that the agencies were subsequently determined to be eligible for the program. Questioned Costs – $29,692 Context/Sampling – A nonstatistical sample of 32 participating agencies within TEFAP who received $2,061,190 in food commodities, out of a population of 151 agencies receiving food commodities totaling $5,958,935, were selected for eligibility testing. 4 out of the 32 eligibility determinations tested had an error, with 4 of those resulting in questioned costs, as reported above. Repeat Finding from Prior Year(s) – Yes, Finding 2024-003. Recommendation – Management should review internal control procedures to ensure all eligibility determination reviews are documented and retained in the file and consideration is appropriately given to fiscal year, calendar year, and application terms. Views of Responsible Officials – Management agrees with the finding.