Statement of Condition: Internal control weakness - documentation of approval over allowable costs could not be located for select expenses, and ineffective control procedures over posting of approved indirect cost rate allocation.
Criteria: National Association of Wetland Managers’ internal control...
Statement of Condition: Internal control weakness - documentation of approval over allowable costs could not be located for select expenses, and ineffective control procedures over posting of approved indirect cost rate allocation.
Criteria: National Association of Wetland Managers’ internal control policies and procedures, indirect cost negotiation agreement, and the Uniform Guidance.
Cause: Procedures are in place requiring supervisory approval of documentation before costs are coded to grants, but procedures were not performed on all invoices. Also, ineffective control procedures over posting of indirect payroll cost allocation as indicated by compliance finding.
Corrective Action Plan:
Contact person: Marla Stelk, Executive Director
Corrective action to be taken: NAWM does not believe that corrective action is required for this finding. NAWM has strong procedures in place requiring supervisory approval of documentation before costs are coded to grants. In some circumstances, invoices are emailed to the Executive Director, who approves them by giving instructions regarding payment over email. Email approvals are maintained as record of this internal control. In our digital world with the ability to work remotely, there are times when the Executive Director and Accounting Manager are not physically located in the same office space. However, this does not diminish the strength of our internal controls for review and approval of allowable costs.
However, as recommended above, NAWM has hired a professional financial consultant to review our indirect cost accounting procedures, make recommendations to improve our processes, and assist in implementation of these recommendations.
Anticipated completion date: End of current fiscal year (December 31, 2025)