Southwest Magic Food Program has updated its current management plan to reflect new strategies that demonstrate Program Accountability.
Financial management system has been modified to provide a step-by-step procedure for ensuring integrity and accountability of all funds. Our new approach will ensu...
Southwest Magic Food Program has updated its current management plan to reflect new strategies that demonstrate Program Accountability.
Financial management system has been modified to provide a step-by-step procedure for ensuring integrity and accountability of all funds. Our new approach will ensure that only expenses that are approved, allowable, reasonable, and necessary will be reported as CACFP
costs.
Step 1:
The first step in this process is creating a budget that will support our efforts to deliver meals to hungry children. We gather financial intel data on all proposed sites that tells us what will need to be purchased, when it needs to be purchased and what source documentation must be maintained.
This data collection also includes predictions on the cost of labor. Next we have to assess our own organization’s needs and create a budget that will be submitted to TDA for approval. Every item in the budget must stand the test of allowability vis a vi FNS Instruction 796-2, Revision 4. During our data gathering process we will identify cost items that require Special Prior Written Approval prior to entering the cost in our CACFP budget.
These items are submitted to the SPWA process for approval. Examples of SPWA cost reviews can be viewed in the Square Meals web site. This budgeting process requires us to examine every anticipated expense and verify the allowability of the expense. Our policy is that if the expense item is not included in the budget, it will not be allowed or reported to TDA.
The Director will be responsible for each task, as of January 21, 2024. We now consider budgeting as an ongoing process that occurs daily, weekly and monthly as does the analysis of planned vs. actual expenses. Step 2:
Every procurement must be validated with a receipt which identifies the vendor, date of purchase, items purchases, and how the purchases were paid for. Labor costs must be supported by time distribution reports, attendance records, payroll documentation and proof that the item was actually paid for.
Step 3:
Ensure all source documentation is provided to the accountant maintaining our general ledger.
Step 4:
Ensure that expenses recorded in the annual financial sampling tool are supported by the source documents listed above. If documents cannot be provided then in costs cannot be recorded regardless of any test of allowability, reasonableness or necessary.
Our current management plan has been updated to include the comments shown in yellow.
We believe that it should also be recognized that KidKare aka Minute Menu is a viable tool that assists in maintaining up to date and available on demand enrollment and MBIE documents. In addition, it is a powerful tool that greatly enhances accuracy in attendance and meal count records. The KidKare system was purchased because it is designed to collect enrollment, income, attendance, and menu data. When used properly it will address every concerned identified with regard to Enrollment, MBIE, Attendance and Meal Counts, and Meal Production
Records.