MATERIAL WEAKNESS Finding 2025-003 – Allocation and Documentation of Payroll Costs Recommendation: Management should develop a process whereby payroll costs allocated to federal grants; are supported by a system of internal controls which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, ...
MATERIAL WEAKNESS Finding 2025-003 – Allocation and Documentation of Payroll Costs Recommendation: Management should develop a process whereby payroll costs allocated to federal grants; are supported by a system of internal controls which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable and properly allocated, reasonably reflect the total activity for which the employee is compensated and support the distribution of the employee’s wages among specific activities or cost objectives if the employee woks on more than one federally funded program. Explanation of disagreement with audit finding: There is no disagreement with the audit finding. Action taken in response to finding: As corrective action, management implemented a new system to track time and effort effective July 1, 2025, using the Forms Assembly platform for federally funded DHS programs. For other grants, the Agency has continued to maintain supporting time and effort documentation through Excel-based records. Management recognizes that the implementation of the Forms Assembly system has presented operational challenges, particularly due to the need to reconcile information separately with the payroll system. As a result, since October 2025, management has been evaluating and vetting alternative systems that can fully integrate time and effort reporting with payroll processing. Beginning in fiscal year 2027, the Agency plans to implement a new integrated software solution that will record employee time, grant allocations, and payroll information within a single system integrated directly with payroll processing. Management believes this integrated approach will strengthen internal controls, improve the accuracy and timeliness of reporting, reduce manual reconciliation processes, and enhance compliance with federal time and effort requirements. Name of contact person responsible for corrective action: Margarita Rosas, Chief Financial Officer Planned completion date for corrective action plan: June 30, 2026