Finding 2021-004: Material Weakness Due to Unsupported Administration and Program Operations Costs Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Treasury Program Title: Emergency Rental Assistance Program and Corona Virus Relief Fund Assistance Listing Numbers (ALN): 21.023 and 21.019 Federal Award Years: Year ended December 31, 2023 Pass-through Grantor and identifying numbers: Pierce County; SC-108112, SC-108282, SC-108719, SC- 108080 Criteria: Charges to federal awards must meet the requirements of Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards Subpart E - Cost Principles. Specifically CFR 200.400(d) indicates the Organization must support the accumulation of costs and provide for adequate documentation to support costs charged to the Federal award. Condition and Context: Administration and program operation costs charged to the award for the period ended December 31, 2021 lacked supporting documentation to verify whether there were equivalent administrative and program operation expenses incurred by the Organization. All budgets approved by the Pass-through Grantor allowed for such costs to be reimbursed by the award as long as adequate documentation of how the costs were determined was retained. Since the organization did not retain any such documentation, there is no way of knowing if a portion or all of those administration or program operation costs related to actual activities that were performed related to these programs. The Organization most certainly did incur administration and program operation costs that were legitimate to be remitted to the award. However, with no controls in place to ensure that these costs were appropriately accumulated and documented, the amounts reimbursed by the programs might not be appropriate. During our audit, we were able to fully quantify the full amount of administration and program operations costs that were inappropriately supported through discussions with management of the Organization and reviewing the reimbursement requests that were submitted to the Pass-through Grantor. The amounts included in the questioned costs below is the entire amount of such costs that were charged to the program during the year ended December 31, 2021. Cause: Helping Hand House did not have processes and controls in place to ensure that documentation to ensure that administrative and program operation costs that were charged to the program were appropriately documented. Effect: There is the potential that the Pass-through grantor may require a repayment of a portion or all of the program and administrative costs that were paid for by the program. As such, a loss contingency disclosure has been included in the notes to the financial statements to indicate that there is the potential that the Pass-through Grantor may require some of these amounts to be repaid. This also is the reason for the qualified opinion in the Report On Compliance for Each Major Federal Program. Known Questioned Costs for ALN 21.023: $329,572 Known Questioned Costs for ALN 21.019: $164,757 Repeat Finding: Not applicable. Recommendation: We recommend that Helping Hand House develop and document procedures and controls for how administrative and program operation costs will be allocated to the federal awards. This information should be retained so that it can be made available at the request of the Pass-through Grantor, the auditor or other relevant parties. Views of Responsible Official: See Corrective Action Plan.
Finding 2021-003: Material Weakness and Questioned Cost – Grant Claim Support Federal grantor: Department of Commerce Condition: The Chamber’s expenditure detail for the grant funded projects do not support the amounts billed to the Department of Commerce. The amounts billed were more than the general ledger detail supported. Criteria: A reconciliation of grant project expenses to the grant revenue billed should be performed. The supporting documentation of any reconciling items should be maintained with the grant bills. Also, 2 CFR 200.400 states that accounting practices of the entity be consistent with cost principals required under the CFR and support the accumulation of costs and provide adequate documentation to support costs charged to the Federal award. Cause: The Chamber billed costs to the grant that were not allocated in the accounting system to that grant and a reconciliation was not performed comparing the grant billings to the expense detail. Effect: The expenses billed to the grant may not be correct. Our reconciliation of these expenses disclosed an overbilling to the grant of approximately $2,500. Recommendation: The Chamber needs to ensure that expenses to be reimbursed by federal grant funds are recorded in the class code in the accounting system for that grant so that federal grant revenue in the accounting system match the expenses allocated to that grant. The Chamber needs to include in their year-end reconciliations a comparison of grant revenue and expense and ensure they match or can be reconciled. Management’s Response: Management’s response to the finding is discussed in the Corrective Action Plan.
Finding 2021-004: Significant Deficiency – Grant Claim Support Federal grantor: Department of Commerce Condition: The allocation of payroll costs to programs are done manually using spreadsheets instead of done based on entity-wide timesheets. Criteria: Under 2 CFR 200.400, direct cost allocation principles state that if a cost benefits two or more projects or activities in proportions that can be determined without undue effort or cost, the cost must be allocated to the projects based on the proportional benefit. If a cost benefits two or more projects or activities in proportions that cannot be determined because of the interrelationship of the work involved, then the costs may be allocated or transferred to benefitted projects on any reasonable documented basis. Further, a cost may not be assigned to a Federal award as a direct cost if any other cost incurred for the same purpose in like circumstances has been allocated to the Federal award as an indirect cost. Costs are required to be adequately documented. Cause: The Chamber is not able to readily determine the amount of payroll costs billable to the grants. Effect: The approach of manually allocating payroll costs to grant projects leaves room for error, and makes it difficult to determine that costs are not being reimbursed by more than one source. Recommendation: The Chamber needs to prepare time studies or require employees to prepare timesheets on an automated system to support the payroll costs allocated to programs. Management’s Response: Management’s response to the finding is discussed in the Corrective Action Plan.
Finding 2021-004: Material Weakness Due to Unsupported Administration and Program Operations Costs Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Treasury Program Title: Emergency Rental Assistance Program and Corona Virus Relief Fund Assistance Listing Numbers (ALN): 21.023 and 21.019 Federal Award Years: Year ended December 31, 2023 Pass-through Grantor and identifying numbers: Pierce County; SC-108112, SC-108282, SC-108719, SC- 108080 Criteria: Charges to federal awards must meet the requirements of Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards Subpart E - Cost Principles. Specifically CFR 200.400(d) indicates the Organization must support the accumulation of costs and provide for adequate documentation to support costs charged to the Federal award. Condition and Context: Administration and program operation costs charged to the award for the period ended December 31, 2021 lacked supporting documentation to verify whether there were equivalent administrative and program operation expenses incurred by the Organization. All budgets approved by the Pass-through Grantor allowed for such costs to be reimbursed by the award as long as adequate documentation of how the costs were determined was retained. Since the organization did not retain any such documentation, there is no way of knowing if a portion or all of those administration or program operation costs related to actual activities that were performed related to these programs. The Organization most certainly did incur administration and program operation costs that were legitimate to be remitted to the award. However, with no controls in place to ensure that these costs were appropriately accumulated and documented, the amounts reimbursed by the programs might not be appropriate. During our audit, we were able to fully quantify the full amount of administration and program operations costs that were inappropriately supported through discussions with management of the Organization and reviewing the reimbursement requests that were submitted to the Pass-through Grantor. The amounts included in the questioned costs below is the entire amount of such costs that were charged to the program during the year ended December 31, 2021. Cause: Helping Hand House did not have processes and controls in place to ensure that documentation to ensure that administrative and program operation costs that were charged to the program were appropriately documented. Effect: There is the potential that the Pass-through grantor may require a repayment of a portion or all of the program and administrative costs that were paid for by the program. As such, a loss contingency disclosure has been included in the notes to the financial statements to indicate that there is the potential that the Pass-through Grantor may require some of these amounts to be repaid. This also is the reason for the qualified opinion in the Report On Compliance for Each Major Federal Program. Known Questioned Costs for ALN 21.023: $329,572 Known Questioned Costs for ALN 21.019: $164,757 Repeat Finding: Not applicable. Recommendation: We recommend that Helping Hand House develop and document procedures and controls for how administrative and program operation costs will be allocated to the federal awards. This information should be retained so that it can be made available at the request of the Pass-through Grantor, the auditor or other relevant parties. Views of Responsible Official: See Corrective Action Plan.
Finding 2021-004: Material Weakness Due to Unsupported Administration and Program Operations Costs Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Treasury Program Title: Emergency Rental Assistance Program and Corona Virus Relief Fund Assistance Listing Numbers (ALN): 21.023 and 21.019 Federal Award Years: Year ended December 31, 2023 Pass-through Grantor and identifying numbers: Pierce County; SC-108112, SC-108282, SC-108719, SC- 108080 Criteria: Charges to federal awards must meet the requirements of Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards Subpart E - Cost Principles. Specifically CFR 200.400(d) indicates the Organization must support the accumulation of costs and provide for adequate documentation to support costs charged to the Federal award. Condition and Context: Administration and program operation costs charged to the award for the period ended December 31, 2021 lacked supporting documentation to verify whether there were equivalent administrative and program operation expenses incurred by the Organization. All budgets approved by the Pass-through Grantor allowed for such costs to be reimbursed by the award as long as adequate documentation of how the costs were determined was retained. Since the organization did not retain any such documentation, there is no way of knowing if a portion or all of those administration or program operation costs related to actual activities that were performed related to these programs. The Organization most certainly did incur administration and program operation costs that were legitimate to be remitted to the award. However, with no controls in place to ensure that these costs were appropriately accumulated and documented, the amounts reimbursed by the programs might not be appropriate. During our audit, we were able to fully quantify the full amount of administration and program operations costs that were inappropriately supported through discussions with management of the Organization and reviewing the reimbursement requests that were submitted to the Pass-through Grantor. The amounts included in the questioned costs below is the entire amount of such costs that were charged to the program during the year ended December 31, 2021. Cause: Helping Hand House did not have processes and controls in place to ensure that documentation to ensure that administrative and program operation costs that were charged to the program were appropriately documented. Effect: There is the potential that the Pass-through grantor may require a repayment of a portion or all of the program and administrative costs that were paid for by the program. As such, a loss contingency disclosure has been included in the notes to the financial statements to indicate that there is the potential that the Pass-through Grantor may require some of these amounts to be repaid. This also is the reason for the qualified opinion in the Report On Compliance for Each Major Federal Program. Known Questioned Costs for ALN 21.023: $329,572 Known Questioned Costs for ALN 21.019: $164,757 Repeat Finding: Not applicable. Recommendation: We recommend that Helping Hand House develop and document procedures and controls for how administrative and program operation costs will be allocated to the federal awards. This information should be retained so that it can be made available at the request of the Pass-through Grantor, the auditor or other relevant parties. Views of Responsible Official: See Corrective Action Plan.
Finding 2021-004: Material Weakness Due to Unsupported Administration and Program Operations Costs Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Treasury Program Title: Emergency Rental Assistance Program and Corona Virus Relief Fund Assistance Listing Numbers (ALN): 21.023 and 21.019 Federal Award Years: Year ended December 31, 2023 Pass-through Grantor and identifying numbers: Pierce County; SC-108112, SC-108282, SC-108719, SC- 108080 Criteria: Charges to federal awards must meet the requirements of Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards Subpart E - Cost Principles. Specifically CFR 200.400(d) indicates the Organization must support the accumulation of costs and provide for adequate documentation to support costs charged to the Federal award. Condition and Context: Administration and program operation costs charged to the award for the period ended December 31, 2021 lacked supporting documentation to verify whether there were equivalent administrative and program operation expenses incurred by the Organization. All budgets approved by the Pass-through Grantor allowed for such costs to be reimbursed by the award as long as adequate documentation of how the costs were determined was retained. Since the organization did not retain any such documentation, there is no way of knowing if a portion or all of those administration or program operation costs related to actual activities that were performed related to these programs. The Organization most certainly did incur administration and program operation costs that were legitimate to be remitted to the award. However, with no controls in place to ensure that these costs were appropriately accumulated and documented, the amounts reimbursed by the programs might not be appropriate. During our audit, we were able to fully quantify the full amount of administration and program operations costs that were inappropriately supported through discussions with management of the Organization and reviewing the reimbursement requests that were submitted to the Pass-through Grantor. The amounts included in the questioned costs below is the entire amount of such costs that were charged to the program during the year ended December 31, 2021. Cause: Helping Hand House did not have processes and controls in place to ensure that documentation to ensure that administrative and program operation costs that were charged to the program were appropriately documented. Effect: There is the potential that the Pass-through grantor may require a repayment of a portion or all of the program and administrative costs that were paid for by the program. As such, a loss contingency disclosure has been included in the notes to the financial statements to indicate that there is the potential that the Pass-through Grantor may require some of these amounts to be repaid. This also is the reason for the qualified opinion in the Report On Compliance for Each Major Federal Program. Known Questioned Costs for ALN 21.023: $329,572 Known Questioned Costs for ALN 21.019: $164,757 Repeat Finding: Not applicable. Recommendation: We recommend that Helping Hand House develop and document procedures and controls for how administrative and program operation costs will be allocated to the federal awards. This information should be retained so that it can be made available at the request of the Pass-through Grantor, the auditor or other relevant parties. Views of Responsible Official: See Corrective Action Plan.
Finding 2021-004: Material Weakness Due to Unsupported Administration and Program Operations Costs Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Treasury Program Title: Emergency Rental Assistance Program and Corona Virus Relief Fund Assistance Listing Numbers (ALN): 21.023 and 21.019 Federal Award Years: Year ended December 31, 2023 Pass-through Grantor and identifying numbers: Pierce County; SC-108112, SC-108282, SC-108719, SC- 108080 Criteria: Charges to federal awards must meet the requirements of Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards Subpart E - Cost Principles. Specifically CFR 200.400(d) indicates the Organization must support the accumulation of costs and provide for adequate documentation to support costs charged to the Federal award. Condition and Context: Administration and program operation costs charged to the award for the period ended December 31, 2021 lacked supporting documentation to verify whether there were equivalent administrative and program operation expenses incurred by the Organization. All budgets approved by the Pass-through Grantor allowed for such costs to be reimbursed by the award as long as adequate documentation of how the costs were determined was retained. Since the organization did not retain any such documentation, there is no way of knowing if a portion or all of those administration or program operation costs related to actual activities that were performed related to these programs. The Organization most certainly did incur administration and program operation costs that were legitimate to be remitted to the award. However, with no controls in place to ensure that these costs were appropriately accumulated and documented, the amounts reimbursed by the programs might not be appropriate. During our audit, we were able to fully quantify the full amount of administration and program operations costs that were inappropriately supported through discussions with management of the Organization and reviewing the reimbursement requests that were submitted to the Pass-through Grantor. The amounts included in the questioned costs below is the entire amount of such costs that were charged to the program during the year ended December 31, 2021. Cause: Helping Hand House did not have processes and controls in place to ensure that documentation to ensure that administrative and program operation costs that were charged to the program were appropriately documented. Effect: There is the potential that the Pass-through grantor may require a repayment of a portion or all of the program and administrative costs that were paid for by the program. As such, a loss contingency disclosure has been included in the notes to the financial statements to indicate that there is the potential that the Pass-through Grantor may require some of these amounts to be repaid. This also is the reason for the qualified opinion in the Report On Compliance for Each Major Federal Program. Known Questioned Costs for ALN 21.023: $329,572 Known Questioned Costs for ALN 21.019: $164,757 Repeat Finding: Not applicable. Recommendation: We recommend that Helping Hand House develop and document procedures and controls for how administrative and program operation costs will be allocated to the federal awards. This information should be retained so that it can be made available at the request of the Pass-through Grantor, the auditor or other relevant parties. Views of Responsible Official: See Corrective Action Plan.