Finding Text
Federal Grantor: U.S. Department of Justice
Program Title: Rural Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault and Stalking
Assistance Program
Grant ID: 15JOVW-22-GG-01159-RURA
CFDA: 16.589
Condition:
The Organization submitted duplicated cost reimbursement requests for salary and employee benefits costs incurred under the program and received reimbursement for these duplicated cost reimbursement requests in July 2023.
Criteria:
Cost reimbursement requests submitted to the funding agency by the Organization are for incurred costs not previously submitted for reimbursement.
Cause:
During a period of significant managerial turnover within the Organization, the former Grants Administrator provided limited assistance to the successor Grants Administrator in completing reimbursement requests under the program. The former Grants Administrator discovered that reimbursable costs under the program were not requested for reimbursement in a previous month’s reimbursement request. When these eligible costs were subsequently requested for reimbursement, the eligible costs previously included in the cost reimbursement request were not removed from the supporting calculations worksheet, resulting in those costs being requested for reimbursement a second time.
Effect:
The Organization received reimbursement for duplicated costs totaling $29,449.
Recommendation:
Procedures should be implemented to ensure that eligible costs are requested for reimbursement a single time and under only one grant program.
Repeat Finding from Prior Year:
No
Questioned Costs:
$29,449
Management’s Response:
Management concurs with the finding and has agreed to implement the recommended procedures. Management has also: 1) hired a Director of Finance to oversee financial reporting; 2) implemented a monthly grant reconciliation process; 3) implemented segregation of duties so that no single individual will be responsible for preparing reimbursement requests and subsequently submitting them; 4) provided extensive training to staff involved in the grant reimbursement procedures; 5) implemented a centralized grant tracking sheet to monitor billed amounts by category and date that is verified by two staff members; 6) implemented a quarterly internal audit review by a Board of Directors member with any findings reported to the Board of Directors for oversight.