Findings #2025-001 and #2025-005 – Material Weakness. Applicable federal programs: U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, 93.566, Refugee and Entrant Assistance State/Replacement Designee Administered Programs, Passed through Texas Office for Refugees: 10/01/24 – 09/30/25, FFY2025-27946V-ASA...
Findings #2025-001 and #2025-005 – Material Weakness. Applicable federal programs: U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, 93.566, Refugee and Entrant Assistance State/Replacement Designee Administered Programs, Passed through Texas Office for Refugees: 10/01/24 – 09/30/25, FFY2025-27946V-ASA RSS, 10/01/24 – 09/30/25, FFY2025-27946V-AUSAA-RSS, 10/01/24 – 09/30/25, FFY2025-27946V-CMA, 10/01/24 – 09/30/25, FFY2025-27946V-RSS, Passed through United States Conference of Catholic Bishops: 10/01/24 – 09/30/25, 25RSI13A, Passed through U. S. Committee for Refugees: 10/01/24 – 09/30/25, RHP-2025-YMCA-Houston TX-03, 93.567, Refugee and Entrant Assistance Voluntary Agency Programs, Passed through U. S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants: 10/01/24 – 09/30/25, 2502VARVMG, 10/01/23 – 09/30/24, 2402VARVMG, 93.676, Unaccompanied Alien Children Program, Passed through U. S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants: 01/01/25 – 12/31/25, 90ZU0630-02. Condition and context: During the planning phase of the audit, management disclosed that amounts reported as employee withholdings on Form 941 had been intentionally manipulated by the former payroll director resulting over reporting withholdings to the Internal Revenue Service. Management did not have a formal reconciliation process in place to compare Form 941 to the payroll register and general ledger, nor was there a periodic reconciliation of the payroll register to the general ledger. The absence of these independent reconciliation controls allowed the misstatement to occur and not be detected in a timely manner. In our testing of 110 payroll transactions, we identified the following exceptions: Refugee and Entrant Assistance State/Replacement Designee Administered Programs (ALN 93.566) – 1 out of 40 payroll transactions tested utilized the incorrect pay rate. Unaccompanied Alien Children Program (ALN 93.676) – 1 out of 40 payroll transactions tested utilized the incorrect pay rate. Refugee and Entrant Assistance State/Replacement Designee Administered Programs (ALN 93.566) – 1 out of 40 payroll transactions tested was incorrectly charged to the program. Additionally, in testing the reconciliation of payroll expense recorded in the payroll register to the amount recorded in the general ledger system, an error of $349,000 was identified. The error was related to credit card charges erroneously being recorded to payroll expense. Recommendation: Policies and procedures should be designed and implemented to prepare a formal reconciliation of Form 941 to the payroll register and the general ledger and a reconciliation between the payroll register and the general ledger. Additionally, procedures should be strengthened over the review of pay rates utilized in the payroll system and the allocation of payroll to cost centers and government programs. Planned corrective action: Management acknowledges the deficiency identified in the execution and precision of payroll reconciliation processes. During the audit planning phase, management disclosed that a former payroll director intentionally manipulated employee withholding amounts reported on Form 941 in prior periods. While reconciliation procedures between the payroll register, general ledger, and Form 941 filings were in place, they were not performed with sufficient precision and consistency to detect the misstatement in a timely manner. Additionally, audit testing identified isolated instances of incorrect payrates and program allocations, as well as a misclassification of approximately $349,000 related to credit card return charges recorded to accrued payroll; management has confirmed this item represents a classification error and not an issue impacting payroll processing or employee compensation. In response, management has refined reconciliation procedures to require more detailed comparison across systems, established clearer expectations for investigation and resolution of variances, and enhanced documentation standards to evidence the level of review performed. Management has also strengthened oversight of payroll activity, including review of payrates and allocation of payroll costs to programs, and will continue to monitor these controls to ensure they are operating with an appropriate level of precision and consistency. In May 2026, an interim leadership structure was established in response to the departure of the Chief Financial Officer. During this interim period management is assessing departmental functions and organizational structure to better align responsibilities and further strengthen internal controls in the areas noted above. Responsible officer: Lauren Rome, VP of Financial Operations/Interim CFO. Estimated completion date: June 15, 2026.