Finding Text
2024-001 Evaluation of Suspension and Debarment of Vendors – Significant Deficiency Criteria: Federal grant agreements and contracts require policies and procedures are in place to ensure vendors are not suspended or debarred by the Federal government. Condition: During our testing we found that 24 of the 40 transactions had not been properly checked to ensure that the vendor was not suspended nor debarred prior to making payment. Management has since verified that these vendors are not suspended or debarred. Cause: The Organization does not have written policies to provide guidance over these matters but have procedures in place to check vendors for suspension and debarment, but controls were missed for an instance of evaluation and appears to be an oversight. Effects: The Organization could do business with a vendor which has been suspended or debarred resulting in non-compliance with federal awards and subject federal dollars to possible fraud, waste, or abuse. Recommendation: We recommend that management establishes written policy to guide the procedures over the checks and implements a comprehensive plan to ensure that all vendors are checked for suspension/debarment prior to making payment.