Finding Text
2024-001. Allowable Costs/Cost Principles
United States Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Passed Through Vibrant Emotional Health:
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration -
988 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline ALN: 93.243
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration -
Disaster Distress Helpline ALN: 93.243
Passed Through New York State Office of Mental Health:
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration -
988 S11MY1 ALN: 93.243
Criteria: Uniform Guidance 2 CFR 200.430, covers standards for documentation of compensation-personal services. Charges to federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed and time spent. These records must be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated. Furthermore, these records should support the distribution of the employee’s salary or wages among specific activities or cost objectives if the employee works on more than one federal award; a federal award and non-federal award; an indirect cost activity and a direct cost activity; two or more indirect activities, which are allocated using different allocation bases; or an unallowable activity and a direct or indirect cost activity.
Condition: Time records prepared by employees reflect the total hours worked for the day, but do not reflect the actual time spent on programs funded by a federal award, rather they are based on budgeted hours.
Cause: The Organization allocates payroll to programs funded by awards based on the contract supported budget, which is based on an estimate of the time that work will be performed by individuals. At the time of the audit, the true-up of budgeted hours to actual hours worked had not been completed.
Effect: Without time records, which are based on time worked to support the proper allocation of payroll, errors could occur and result in the Organization reporting and receiving reimbursement for the incorrect amount of payroll expenses chargeable to an award.
Identification of a Repeat Finding: This is a repeat finding from the prior year, 2023-001.
Questioned Costs: Dollar amount undetermined, Personnel Activity Report details not available.
Recommendation: The Organization’s use of Personnel Activity Report equivalent documentation, should allow each employee to accurately reflect the time work is performed for each federal award.
Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action Plan: The Organization agrees with the finding as indicated in the Organization’s corrective action plan, and has modified procedures to reflect actual time worked by employees on PAR equivalent documentation. The Organization’s new payroll and time keeping system should capture information, which will support personnel expenses funded by each federal award.