Finding Text
2023-001 Allocation and Approval of Time Charged to Grants
Condition: The allocation of payroll-related expenditures charged to grants did not directly tie
to timesheets and could not easily be reconciled. Furthermore, there was no supporting
evidence that timecards were reviewed and approved by management.
Criteria: Policies and procedures should be in place to identify and review payroll-related
expenditures charged to grants to ensure accurate grant reporting. This should include
documentation of proper supervision and review.
Cause: Employees code time to various projects and functions, including grants, however,
there was no evidence or supporting documentation of management’s review and approval of
the timecards used to allocate personnel expenses between programs. While payroll-related
expenditures are charged to grants, the amount charged does not tie to timecards/paystubs.
Instead, payroll expenses are reviewed monthly to ensure expenditures are in line with
budgeted amounts.
Effect: Payroll-related expenditures are not easily tied back to underlying timecards and
paystubs. These expenses did not have evidence of approval which creates the potential for
payroll-related amounts on specific grants to be inaccurate.
Recommendation: A policy should be implemented for management to review and document
approval of timecards to determine whether time coded to grants is appropriate. Additionally,
management should implement a system where hours are tracked and coded to grants during
each pay period and payroll-related expenditures charged to the grant are reconciled to the
time coded.
Management’s Response: The WV Community Development Hub management is actively
addressing the deficiencies related to allocation and approval of time charge to federal grants.
We have implemented improved internal processes over the past year to better track and
allocate staff time across all grants, including federal grants, and maintain detailed time
tracking for all staff that determine payroll allocations. We recognize there is further need to
directly link time tracking to payroll allocation, and that we need more standardized bi-monthly
supervisory approval processes for staff time tracking, and management approval of payroll
allocations on a consistent basis. We are implementing a new, significantly more robust
financial accounting system that will standardize time tracking, payroll allocation and approval
processes all within one system. This system was determined as a need at the beginning of
2024, and we have conducted a multi-month review and analysis process to identify the best
system for our organizational needs. The system will be in place and fully operational within
six (6) months and we expect it will directly address and remediate current challenges in all of
the areas identified by the auditors.