Finding 1156777 (2024-003)

Material Weakness Repeat Finding
Requirement
B
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2024
Accepted
2025-09-30
Audit: 369106
Organization: Special Children's Charities (IL)

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The Organization does not track federal award expenditures separately, leading to difficulties in reconciling federal activity.
  • Impacted Requirements: Compliance with 2 CFR §200.302 is compromised, as federal awards must be identifiable in financial records.
  • Recommended Follow-up: Implement accounting procedures to track federal expenditures by Assistance Listing number and regularly reconcile with SEFA and reimbursement requests.

Finding Text

Federal Program: Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds- Assistance Listing Number 21.027 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Treasury Pass-through Entity: Illinois Department of Human Services Condition: The Organization does not track federal award expenditures separately in its general ledger. ARPA expenditures are commingled with other organizational expenses, making it difficult to directly reconcile federal activity to the SEFA or supporting records. Criteria: 2 CFR §200.302 requires non-federal entities to identify, in their accounts, all federal awards received and expended, and the federal programs under which they were received. The financial management system must provide for accurate, current, and complete disclosure of the financial results of each federal award. Entities must be able to identify federal awards separately by Assistance Listing number. Cause: The Organization has not implemented an accounting system or chart of accounts structure that captures federal awards separately by Assistance Listing number. Effect: Without separate identification of federal award expenditures, the Organization cannot readily demonstrate allowability of costs, reconcile SEFA expenditures to its accounting system, or ensure compliance with federal cost principles. This increases the risk of misstated SEFA reporting, unsupported expenditures, or disallowed costs. Questioned Costs: None specifically identified during audit testing; however, the lack of a tracking mechanism impairs the Organization’s ability to fully support ARPA expenditures. Auditor’s Recommendation: The Organization should establish accounting procedures to ensure federal award expenditures are tracked separately in the general ledger by Assistance Listing number and by grant. The Organization should reconcile grant expenditures recorded in the general ledger to reimbursement requests and the SEFA on a regular basis.

Corrective Action Plan

The audit noted that federal awards and expenditures were not adequately tracked by grant in the general ledger. Corrective action has already been taken: the general ledger has been updated to ensure that federal awards are now tracked by the grant program. This enhancement allows for improved accountability, accurate reporting, and compliance with federal requirements.

Categories

Reporting Subrecipient Monitoring Allowable Costs / Cost Principles Cash Management Matching / Level of Effort / Earmarking

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 1156775 2024-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1156776 2024-002
    Material Weakness Repeat

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
21.027 Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds $5.45M
84.427 Congressionally Directed Spending—rehabilitation Services and Disability Research $57,615