Finding Text
Statement of condition: Time certifications that support salaries and wages charged to Title I, Part A were not maintained for all employees. Of the time certifications that were maintained, not all showed evidence of review and approval performed.
Criteria: Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 200.430(g)(1)(i) requires that salaries and wages charged to federal awards must be supported by a system of internal controls that provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated.
Cause of condition: Policies and procedures are in place which require time certifications to be maintained for all employees paid from federal funds. However, due to turnover of key personnel, these policies and procedures were not followed in the current year.
Effect of condition: Without proper documentation, it cannot be verified that salaries and wages charged to Title I, Part A were based on actual time spent on allowable program-related activities.
Context: A sample of 40 employees paid with Title I, Part A funds were selected for testing. The audit testing found that time certifications were not maintained for 22 of the 40 employees. This resulted in questioned costs of $40,403. Additionally, the audit testing found that one employee’s time certification had no evidence of review and approval from appropriate School personnel.
Recommendation: To ensure that salaries and wages charged to federal award programs are accurate, time certifications should be maintained for all employees paid from federal funds. All time certifications should be signed by the employee and reviewed and approved by the appropriate School personnel, as evidenced by the School personnel’s signature. We also recommend that the Federal Program Director position is filled by an individual that has training and knowledge of the federal program they are administrating.
Views of responsible officials and planned corrective actions: Management agrees with this finding and will put procedures in place for the maintenance, review, and approval of time certifications. See 2024-005 for management's detailed action plan surrounding the time certification findings.