Finding 2022-02 ? Fiscal Management System, Ensure Compliance with Federal Regulations Over Accounting Systems (Material Weakness) Criteria: Management is responsible for establishing and maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting. Internal controls should allow management or...
Finding 2022-02 ? Fiscal Management System, Ensure Compliance with Federal Regulations Over Accounting Systems (Material Weakness) Criteria: Management is responsible for establishing and maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting. Internal controls should allow management or employees in the normal course of performing their assigned functions to prevent or detect material misstatements in the financial reporting of all district funds. The Internal Control ? Integrated Framework, published by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) and the U.S. Government Accountability Office Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government specify that a satisfactory control environment is only effective when there are adequate control activities in place. Effective control activities dictate that a review is performed to verify the accuracy and completeness of financial information reported. The Federal Grant Activity Schedule captures amounts that must be accurate and complete in order to ensure the accuracy of the financial and federal information reported on such schedule to verify the accuracy and completeness of financial information reported. CFR Part 200.302.b Auditee Responsibilities includes the requirement that the financial management system of each non-Federal entity provide the following. Identification, in its accounts, of all Federal awards received and expended and the Federal programs under which they were received. Accurate, current, and complete disclosure of the financial results of each Federal award or program. Condition: During the audit of Umpqua Public Transportation District for Fiscal Year 2021-2022, the district provided auditor with Separate and Identifiable General Ledger reports using QuickBooks Jobs feature, that showed identification between individual grant expenditures and revenues. Entries were prepared or recorded using the jobs feature, but not on a timely basis throughout the year, as portions were completed retroactively, and general ledger restated for the entire fiscal year. This deficiency was instrumental in causing the general ledger to be inadequate for financial and Federal Award Reporting for a large portion of the year. Cause: The District had relied on inadequately trained individuals to record activities and setup of their general ledger. The accounting records were retroactively constructed to meet Federal award reporting purposes, but late in the fiscal year. District management did not have sufficient training or monitoring policies to recognize and correct the deficiency. Effect or Potential Effect: Failure to record transactions timely into the general ledger for Umpqua Public Transportation District, and lack of proper accounting structure separating revenues and expenditures into each Federal and State or Local grant may result in transactions not being properly included in the district?s financial statements. The potential for incorrect financial reporting, and untimely results, with the inability to rely on the general ledger for correct and timely information, may also cause misstatement of financial statements, and inappropriate reporting of federal awards. Questioned Cost: No Context: Restatement of the general ledger was necessary for proper reporting of grants for the Schedule of Federal Awards. Tracking of matching local and state grants remains ineffective. Repeat of a Prior-Year Finding: Yes, Financial Statement Findings 2021-4 Recommendation: We recommend that Umpqua Public Transportation District improve their general ledger structure to meet the requirement for separate accounts for Federal awards for program revenues and program expenditures. In addition, we recommend that the district establish policies and procedures to ensure that all required matching of grant expenditures be recorded in sufficient detail tracking to ensure that all matching program revenues and expenditures are reported correctly in the fiscal year. We also recommend that the district continue training program, policies and procedures for staff and management for administering and recording Federal Grant revenues and expenditures. District's Response: The District concurs with the recommendation. General ledger accounts separating Federal, State, and Local revenues and related expenditures will be adhered to and further training implemented. Corrective Action Plan: The District hired a Finance Manager to oversee the day-to-day financial operations of the district. The Finance Manager retroactively created accounting records to separate grant revenues and related expenditures, for both Federal grant records as well as State grant records. The Finance Manager will improve the general ledger to allow the recording of the matching identification for each federal grant. This will allow the activities of the district to be recorded in a manner that allows for reporting in compliance with federal requirements. Planned Implementation Date: July 1, 2022 Responsible Person: General Manager, Umpqua Public Transit District