Finding Text
2023 – 005: Cash Management
Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Federal Program Name: Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER)
Assistance Listing Number: 97.083
Federal Award Identification Number and Year: EMW-2020-FF-01374 - 2020
Award Period: February 27, 2022 to February 26, 2025
Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance
Criteria or Specific Requirement: As a best practice, a supervisory-level person, other than the
preparer of a reimbursement request, should review the request to ensure accuracy and completeness
of data and information in the request.
Condition: Reimbursement requests were not reviewed by anyone other than the preparer of the
requests.
Questioned Costs: None
Context: 4 of 4 reimbursement requests tested were submitted without someone other than the
preparer reviewing them.
Cause: Controls for review by someone other than the preparer had not yet been implemented.
Effect: Errors in reimbursement requests could go undetected.
Repeat Finding: No
Recommendation: We recommend that reimbursement requests be reviewed by a supervisory-level
person who is not the preparer of the requests.
Views of Responsible Officials: We acknowledge the audit finding regarding the absence of
supervisory-level review for reimbursement requests to grantors. We have established a mandatory
review process where all reimbursement requests must be thoroughly reviewed by a designated
Finance staff member who did not prepare the request. A final approver (i.e. supervisor or director) will
authorize the reimbursement request before submission to the grantor. We have communicated the
importance of this review process to our team to ensure compliance, completeness and accuracy. We
will monitor the process to prevent recurrence.