Finding Text
2023-001. Allowable Costs/Cost Principles
United States Department of Health and Human Services,
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration:
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Projects of
Regional and National Significance
Passed Through Vibrant Emotional Health:
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline:
988 National Chat and Text Backup 93.243 S23-SM84816-048
988 National Backup Chat and Text Subnetwork 93.243 S24-SM84816-048-CTP
988 National Phone Backup 93.243 S23-SM84816-048
988 National Backup Phone Subnetwork 93.243 S24-SM84816-048-PB
Disaster Distress Helpline:
Disaster Distress Helpline Online Peer Support Center 93.243 S23-SM84816-048
Disaster Distress Helpline Online Peer Support Center 93.243 S23-SM84816-049
Disaster Distress Helpline Online Peer Support Center 93.243 S24-SM84816-048-DDH OPS
Criteria: Uniform Guidance 2 CFR 200.430, covers standards for documentation of compensation-personal services. Charges to federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed and time spent. These records must be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated. Furthermore, these records should support the distribution of the employee’s salary or wages among specific activities or cost objectives if the employee works on more than one federal award; a federal award and non-federal award; an indirect cost activity and a direct cost activity; two or more indirect activities, which are allocated using different allocation bases; or an unallowable activity and a direct or indirect cost activity.
Condition: Time records prepared by employees reflect the total hours worked for the day, but do not reflect the actual time spent on programs funded by a federal award, rather they are based on budgeted hours, and scheduled for true-up at a later date.
Cause: The Organization allocates payroll to programs funded by awards based on the contract supported budget, which is based on an estimate of the time that work will be performed by individuals. At the time of the audit, the true-up of budgeted hours to actual hours worked had not been completed.
Effect: Without time records, which are based on time worked to support the proper allocation of payroll, errors could occur and result in the Organization reporting and receiving reimbursement for the incorrect amount of payroll expenses.
Identification of a Repeat Finding: This is not a repeat finding from a prior year audit.
Questioned Costs: None reported.
Recommendation: The Organization’s use of Personnel Activity Report (PAR) equivalent documentation, should allow each employee to accurately reflect the time work is performed, and serve as support for personnel expenses, funded by a federal award.
Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action Plan: The Organization agrees with the finding as indicated in the Organization’s corrective action plan, and has modified procedures to reflect actual time worked by employees on PAR equivalent documentation. This will serve as support for personnel expenses funded by a federal award.