Finding 1160131 (2022-013)

Material Weakness Repeat Finding
Requirement
L
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2022
Accepted
2025-10-06
Audit: 370531
Organization: College of the Marshall Islands (MH)

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The College failed to provide necessary financial reports and documentation as required by the sub-award agreements, indicating inadequate internal controls.
  • Impacted Requirements: Missing reports include the expenditure budget breakdown, quarterly performance evaluations, and final reports, leading to noncompliance with federal reporting standards.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: College management should enhance internal controls to ensure accurate report preparation and documentation retention, addressing the repeat finding from the previous year.

Finding Text

Finding No.: 2022-013 Pass-Through Entity: Republic of the Marshall Islands Federal Agency: U.S. Department of the Interior AL Program: 15.875 Economic, Social and Political Development of the Territories Federal Award No.: Compact of Free Association Program, As Amended Area: Reporting Questioned Costs: $0 Criteria: Under the terms of the sub-awards administered by RepMar under the Compact of Free Association grant awards, the College is required to submit: 1. As supporting report for the initial payment request, a duly accomplished standard Form SG1- Subgrant Objectives and Budget Proposal, accompanied by an expenditure budget breakdown; 2. As supporting report for subsequent payment requests, a duly accomplished standard Form SG2-Performance and Financial Evaluation quarterly report; 3. Duly accomplished Form SG2-Performance and Financial Evaluation final report within 30 calendar days after the end of the MOA’s term. If the organization is receiving subsidy or subgrant in the new fiscal year or new funding period, the prior year’s or prior funding period’s SG2 final report is required to be submitted together with the SG1 report, before the initial payment can be released under the new subsidy or subgrant MOA. Further, the College shall maintain an acceptable financial management system during the term of the sub-award agreement including an accurate, current and complete disclosure of financial activity of Company funds and consistency with all financial administration, program monitoring, performance reporting and enforcement provisions of the Financial Management Act. Furthermore, 2 CFR 200.303(a) states that the subrecipient must establish, document, and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the subrecipient is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should align with the guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the “Internal Control-Integrated Framework” issued by the COSO. Conditions: 1. The expenditure budget breakdown that accompanies the Form SG1-Subgrant Objectives and Budget Proposal for the U.S. Compact Funding subaward for the Supplemental Education Grant could not be provided. 2. The College did not provide the required Form SG2- Performance and Financial Evaluation quarterly report for the quarter ended September 30, 2022 for the U.S. Compact Funding subaward for the Education Sector Grant. 3. The College did not provide the required Form SG2-Performance and Financial Evaluation final report for the U.S. Compact Funding subaward for the Education Sector, Ebeye Special Needs Adult Education, Compact Capital Fund and Supplemental Education Grant. 4. The underlying quarterly expenditures report for the following U.S. Compact Funding subaward sectors and related quarters could not be provided: Sector Quarter Supplemental Education Grant 1st Quarter ended December 31, 2021 Ebeye Special Needs Adult Education 1st Quarter ended December 31, 2021 Compact Capital Fund 2nd Quarter ended March 31, 2022 Ebeye Special Needs Adult Education 2nd Quarter ended March 31, 2022 Compact Capital Fund 3rd Quarter ended June 30, 2022 Ebeye Special Needs Adult Education 3rd Quarter ended June 30, 2022 5. Expenditures reported per the Form SG2-Performance and Financial Evaluation quarterly report did not agree to the quarterly expenditures reported in SEFA as follows: a. 1st Quarter ended December 31, 2021 Sector Amount per Form SG2- Performance and Financial Evaluation quarterly report Amount as reported in SEFA Variance Supplemental Educational Grant $339,289 $338,325 $ 964 Ebeye Special Needs – Adult Education $127,692 $125,000 $2,692 b. 2nd Quarter ended March 31, 2022 Sector Amount per Form SG2- Performance and Financial Evaluation quarterly report Amount as reported in SEFA Variance Compact Capital Fund $155,124 $60,035 $95,089 Ebeye Special Needs – Adult Education $ 37,752 $38,265 $( 513) c. 3rd Quarter ended June 30, 2022 Sector Amount per Form SG2- Performance and Financial Evaluation quarterly report Amount as reported in SEFA Variance Compact Capital Fund $448,795 $349,750 $ 95,045 Ebeye Special Needs – Adult Education $ 62,555 $ 66,536 $( 3,981) No reconciliation was provided to reconcile the quarterly expenditures reported in SEFA against the expenditures reported per the Form SG2- Performance and Financial Evaluation quarterly report. Cause: The College lacks adequate internal controls over the accurate preparation and review of required reports as stipulated in the sub-award agreements. Furthermore, the College lacks adequate internal controls regarding retaining sufficient documentation to support all reported transactions. Effect: The College appears to be in noncompliance with the applicable reporting requirements. No questioned costs are presented as the total expenditures per SEFA for the fiscal year were reconciled with the federal awards received from the RMI Government. Identified as a Repeat Finding: 2021-010 Recommendation: College management should strengthen controls so that required reports are accurately prepared and reviewed to provide evidence of compliance with the applicable reporting requirements and retain sufficient documentation to support all reported transactions. Views of Auditee and Planned Corrective Actions: The College agrees with the finding and provides details in its Corrective Action Plan.

Corrective Action Plan

Reporting College of the Marshall Islands acknowledges the finding and agrees that there were deficiencies in the submission and reconciliation of required reports—including missing Form SG1 expenditure budget breakdowns, missing and delayed Form SG2 performance and financial evaluation reports, and variances between the reported expenditures and the SEFA amounts. These issues primarily resulted from the limitations of the previous manual filing and reporting system, which hindered timely retrieval and review of supporting documents during the audit fieldwork. To address this, the College has upgraded and institutionalized a cloud-based filing and reporting system to ensure all supporting documents and reports are systematically organized, accessible, and securely retained. Internal controls have been strengthened to enforce timely preparation, review, and submission of required Form SG1 and SG2 reports, and to ensure accurate reconciliation of reported expenditures against SEFA. With the upgraded systems and the support of newly hired skilled staff, the College is now better equipped to maintain proper documentation and meet federal reporting requirements. In addition, staff have been trained and will continue to be trained twice a year on federal reporting standards and sub- award requirements to prevent similar issues from recurring in future audits.

Categories

Subrecipient Monitoring

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 1160126 2022-008
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1160127 2022-009
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1160128 2022-010
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1160129 2022-011
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1160130 2022-012
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1160132 2022-014
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1160133 2022-015
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1160134 2022-016
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1160135 2022-017
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1160136 2022-018
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1160137 2022-019
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1160138 2022-019
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1160139 2022-020
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1160140 2022-021
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1160141 2022-021
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1160142 2022-021
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1160143 2022-022
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1160144 2022-022
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1160145 2022-023
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1160146 2022-023
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1160147 2022-023
    Material Weakness Repeat

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.063 Federal Pell Grant Program $7.50M
84.425 Education Stabilization Fund $3.02M
15.875 Economic, Social, and Political Development of the Territories $1.69M
84.047 Trio Upward Bound $269,114
93.107 Area Health Education Centers $90,102
10.308 Resident Instruction, Agriculture, and Food Science Facilities and Equipment Grants $45,256
47.076 Stem Education (formerly Education and Human Resources) $16,725