Finding 1095588 (2024-002)

Finding #2024-002 Wage Allocations (Program Affected - Career and Technical Education – Basic Grants to States (Assistance Listing No. 84.048) and Youth Apprenticeship (State Program ID No. 445.107) Condition: Wages and benefits charged to the Career and Technical Education – Basic Grants to States and Youth Apprenticeship were based on projected staff time and not the actual activity of each employee from the Agency’s time management system. Criteria: When wages and benefits are allocated to multiple programs, the costs claimed for reimbursement should be based on the actual time spent. Supporting documentation must be maintained to support how each employee is allocated. When making grant claims, payroll costs coded to the grant project in the general ledger should be compared to the time management system. Cause: The Agency projected staff time at the beginning of the year. Actual hours worked by employees in the time management system did not match the projected staff time recorded to the grants in the general ledger. These grants were not adjusted to match actual staff time. Effect: The costs charged to the grant may not reflect the actual time and effort spent by the employees. Recommendation: We recommend the projected staff time charged to projects be adjusted to actual costs at least annually when there are significant differences between projected and actual time. Response: The Agency reviews time sheets in Harvest whenever grant claims are made to ensure proper work has been completed and proper work time is claimed under grants. The reports are submitted by each employee and reviewed by management.