Finding Text
FA 2022-004 Strengthen Controls over Financial Reporting
Compliance Requirement: Reporting
Internal Control Impact: Material Weakness
Compliance Impact: Material Noncompliance
Federal Awarding Agency: U.S. Department of Education
Pass-Through Entity: Georgia Department of Education
AL Number and Title: 84.010 – Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies
Federal Award Numbers: S010A200010 (Year: 2021), S010A210010-21A (Year: 2022)
Questioned Costs: $37,644
Repeat of Prior Year Findings: FA 2021-002, FA 2019-002
Description:
The School District did not file accurate completion reports for the Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies program.
Background Information:
The Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) requires the School District to submit a completion report by October 30 after the 15-month period of performance associated with the Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies (Title I) program ends. These completion reports are filed through the Grants Application section of the MyGaDOE web portal and reflect budgeted and actual expenditure information for the Title I program for the reporting period. If the total expenditures reflected on the completion report are more than the Title I program funds received by the School District for the grant period, a DE-0147 – Request for Reimbursement of Monthly Cash Disbursements will be automatically generated and the additional funds due to the School District will be disbursed appropriately. Conversely, if the total funds received for the grant period exceed the total expenditures reflected on the completion report, the Grants Application will prompt the School District to enter a check number for the required refund of excess funds drawn down. Therefore, it is imperative that completion reports are filed by the School District in an accurate and timely manner.
III FEDERAL AWARD FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS
Criteria:
As a recipient of federal awards, the Institution is required to establish and maintain effective internal control over federal awards that provides reasonable assurance of managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards pursuant to Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance), Section 200.303 – Internal Controls.
Provisions included in the Uniform Guidance Section 200.302(a) state in part that “the non-Federal entity’s financial management systems must…be sufficient to permit the preparation of reports required by general and program-specific terms and conditions.” In addition, Provisions included in the Uniform Guidance Section 200.302(b)(2) state in part that the non-Federal entity’s financial management systems must provide for “accurate, current, and complete disclosure of the financial results of each Federal award or program in accordance with the reporting requirements.”
Further, as noted in the Uniform Guidance Section 200.511, management is responsible for implementing reported corrective action to findings from previous audits.
Condition:
A review of the School District’s accounting records and the completion report related to the
Title I-A, Improving Academic Achievement of the Disadvantaged program for the period ending
September 30, 2022, revealed that the expenditures were over reported by $37,644.
Questioned Cost:
Questioned cost of $37,644 were identified for cash drawdowns in excess of reimbursable expenditures.
Cause:
In discussing this deficiency with the School District, they stated these issues were a result of turnover within the Central Office.
Effect:
The School District was not in compliance with the Uniform Guidance and GaDOE guidance.
Failure to accurately report federal award expenditures through the completion report process could lead to the filing of DE-0147 reimbursement requests with GaDOE that do not support actual expenditures. Therefore, the School District obtained more federal funding than they were eligible to receive. Additionally, this funding must be returned to GaDOE.
Recommendation:
The School District should establish internal control procedures to ensure that completion reports submitted to GaDOE are supported by the accounting records and DE-0147 reimbursement requests are prepared based upon actual expenditures incurred. In addition, management should develop and implement a monitoring process to ensure that control procedures are being followed.
Views of Responsible Officials:
We concur with this finding.