Below we break down the Action Plan to address finding 2022-001. We must begin our comments by informing that, on December 28, 2022, the PRDOJ formalized a professional services contract number 2023-000067 with the company Aquino, De Cordova, Alfaro & Co., LLP (Independent Auditors) to carry out th...
Below we break down the Action Plan to address finding 2022-001. We must begin our comments by informing that, on December 28, 2022, the PRDOJ formalized a professional services contract number 2023-000067 with the company Aquino, De Cordova, Alfaro & Co., LLP (Independent Auditors) to carry out the Agency financial audit process for fiscal year 2021-2022. The clause number six of the contract required that the Independent Auditors submitted on or before March 31, 2023, the final Single Audit Report required as part of the audit process. However, the PRDOJ was obliged to extend the term of the contract because the Independent Auditors could not complete the contracted services and render the Single Audit Report within the stipulated term. The Independent Auditors indicated that the delay in the delivery of the Single Audit Report was since the audit process could not be started until the contract was signed and that the information was not received in a timely manner. Despite the reasons stated by the Independent Auditors, the reality is that the Independent Auditors undertook the contractual clauses agreed in the contract and between them, the agreement to submit the final Single Audit on or before March 31, 2023. Pursuant to the provisions of contract number 2023-000067, the administration of the PRDOJ was under the understanding that the Independent Auditors would comply with the delivery term of the SingleAudit Report within the agreed term. In this way, we ensured that we hired a firm that complied with the term to submit the Single Audit Report to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse provided in federal statute 45 CFR sec. 75.512. However, it is not until the end of the month of March that we become aware that the Independent Auditors could not meet the deadline of submitting the Single Audit Report. As a result of this, the PRDOJ had to extend the contract so that the Independent Auditors could complete the Single Audit Report, take internal measures to alleviate and address the delay, and submit the PRDOJ's Single Audit Report for fiscal year 2021 to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse. Under the contextual framework outlined above, we inform our corrective action plan to finding number 2022-01 presented in the Single Audit Report. First, the PRDOJ requested in June several proposals from Independent Auditors to carry out the Agency?s financial audit process for the 2022-2023 fiscal year. Consequently, a firm of Independent Auditors was selected, and we requested all the information and documentation required at the federal and state level to contract with the government. The contract was drafted in July and will soon be signed. In addition, the new contract provides that the Independent Auditor must submit the Single Audit Report to the PRDOJ on or before March 1, 2024. In this way, the PRDOJ will have the Single Audit Report in advance and, in this way, ensure that the document is submitted before March 31, 2024, to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse.This initiative goes hand in hand with the elaboration of a rigorous and meticulous work plan between the PRDOJ and the Independent Auditors with the delivery dates and exchange of information for the preparation of the Single Audit Report. The work plan provides that the audit process will begin as soon as the contract is signed in early August. For its part, the PRDOJ must submit all the required information to the Independent Auditors before the end of December. ? Regarding the internal administrative aspects of the PRDOJ to comply with this corrective action plan, we inform that we have designated an employee of the Agency to ensure that all our dependencies and their directors submit all the information required to the Independent Auditors on time on the stipulated dates. This includes, but is not limited to, all information in the preliminary PBC and any additional information that is required by the Independent Auditors. ? Likewise, this PRDOJ employee will serve as a link between the firm of Independent Auditors and the agencies of the agency that request information and documentation. Lastly, the PRDOJ official will ensure that the Independent Auditors firm submits the Single Audit Report to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse before March 31, 2024.This is a comprehensive corrective action plan that we have prepared in coordination with all the dependencies of the PRDOJ to guarantee faithful compliance with federal statutes.