Finding Text
CRITERIA/SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT:
The Regional Office of Education No. 39 procedure requires the Regional Superintendent or the Program Director to review and approve invoices and requisitions before forwarding to the business office for processing.
The Code of Federal Regulations (Code) (2 CFR §200.403(g)) states that costs must be adequately documented in order to be allowable under Federal Awards.
In addition, the Code (2 CFR §200.303 (a)) requires the Regional Office of Education No. 39 to establish and maintain effective internal control over the federal award to provide reasonable assurance the Regional Office of Education No. 39 is managing the federal award in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal award. Effective internal controls should include procedures to ensure expenditures under Federal awards are supported, reviewed and approved.
CONDITION:
The Regional Office of Education No. 39 did not ensure costs or expenditures were adequately documented, reviewed, and approved to ensure allowability under the federal award.
CONTEXT:
During testing of 60 expenditures totaling $854,868, we noted the following:
Ten (17%) expenditures had invoices or receipts that were not initialed by the Program Director or Regional Superintendent to indicate review and approval of the expenditures;
and,
Two (3%) expenditures were not supported with a requisition form.
EFFECT:
Inadequate controls of expenditures may result in unallowable costs charged to the Federal award.
CAUSE:
Management indicated that expenditures were not signed by the Regional Superintendent or Program Director due to oversight and the supporting requisition forms were misplaced by previous responsible personnel.
RECOMMENDATION:
We recommend the Regional Office of Education No. 39 ensures all expenditures are properly supported, reviewed, and approved prior to payment.
MANAGEMENT’S RESPONSE:
The Regional Office of Education No. 39 agrees with the audit findings and is implementing a
new process to ensure all expenditures have documented approval and review.