Finding ref number: 2023-002
Finding caption:
The Council’s internal controls were inadequate for ensuring compliance with federal reporting requirements for the Economic Assistance Adjustment Program.
Name, address, and telephone of Council contact person:
Michelle M. Holt, BFCOG Executive Director...
Finding ref number: 2023-002
Finding caption:
The Council’s internal controls were inadequate for ensuring compliance with federal reporting requirements for the Economic Assistance Adjustment Program.
Name, address, and telephone of Council contact person:
Michelle M. Holt, BFCOG Executive Director
587 Stevens Drive
Richland, WA 99352
509-492-4410 BFCOG is submitting the following statement in response to the finding:
BFCOG concurs with this finding. An unfortunate comedy of errors led to the creation, submission, and acceptance of the FY2023 Mid-Year and Year-End Financial Reports for the EDA CARES Revolving Loan Fund activities. These errors included changes in BFCOG key staff at the end of 2022 and again mid-way through 2023, a lack of understanding by BFCOG staff of the EDA Portal and the report's pre-population and cumulation functions, a lack of documentation to support the submitted reports, and a lack of review for accuracy by BOTH BFCOG and EDA. The internal financial reports necessary to accurately complete the EDA Financial Reports were readily available, as was training on the EDA Portal and Report functions. BFCOG, indeed, was lacking internal controls.
It is important to note that the EDA RLF Administrator accepted both reports as submitted and without requesting correction, even though they had nearly identical data to the 2022 year-end report. Had either report been returned by EDA for correction, the problem could have been identified and corrected promptly.
Corrective action the auditee plans to take in response to the finding:
CORRECTIVE ACTION PLAN:
1. Creation of GUIDE FOR EDA CARES REVOLVING LOAN FUND SEMI-ANNUAL FINANCIALREPORTING PROCESS FOR BFCOG-47289WA FOR EDA AWARD NUMBER 07-79-07622document. This process has been reviewed with the BFCOG Primary Contact/ReportingOfficial (Z. Ratkai), Authorized Representative/Lending Director (M. Holt), and EDA’s RLFProgram Administrator (J. Goldsberry) to ensure adequate training for upcoming reportingcycles and proper review both internally and at the EDA level.
2. Guidance was received from the EDA RLF Program Administrator that there is no mechanismfor correcting the reports filed in error and to make necessary corrections when filing the2024 Mid-Year Financial Report as the data is cumulative.
3. File the 2024 Mid-Year Financial Report accurately and on time and document the reviewand submission paper trail for future reference. Anticipated date to complete the corrective action: Completed on 7/3/2024