Finding Text
Requirement: Billing invoices for costs reimbursed should match actual costs spent. Condition/Context: For one of the billing invoices tested, the amount requested for reimbursement did not agree to the actual costs spent. Cause: This was an oversight made with the submission of the request for reimbursement. Effect: The amount charged to contract and reimbursed exceeded costs incurred by an immaterial amount. Questioned Costs: None noted. Recommendation: We recommend contract billing invoices be reviewed and ensure the accounting records match the actual invoice prior to invoicing the government agency. Management Response: National Crime Victim Law Institute (NCVLI) recognizes and agrees with the recommendation to reconcile contract billings to the accounting records and a closer in time review of the reconciliation before invoicing the government agency. While NCVLI has historically done this type of reconciliation, during this particular year where a confluence of events made the year-end more challenging (e.g., quarterly contract billings that straddle two fiscal years, loss of staffing and accounting contractor due to budget cuts, delayed reconciliation with Lewis & Clark College due to Lewis & Clark’s processes which serves as a bank account for NCVLI), we agree the process becomes even more critical. NCVLI agrees that costs charged to federal awards should be supported by the accounting records and has historically ensured this happened. We will, however, further improve internal processes to enhance accuracy of tracking, comparing and reviewing billings and expenses to mitigate the chance of this happening in the future. Notably, this error was fixed immediately by adjusting the next monthly billing for June 2025.