FAC Explorer

Finding 1160212 (2024-004)

Material Weakness Repeat Finding
Requirement
ABFL
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2024
Accepted
2025-10-09
Audit: 370596
Organization: Columbus Community School District (IA)
Auditor: Nolte Cornman & Johnson PC

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: One employee has too much control over critical financial areas, increasing the risk of errors or fraud.
  • Impacted Requirements: Segregation of duties is not being properly implemented, which is essential for effective internal controls.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Review and adjust responsibilities to ensure no single employee handles incompatible duties across major federal program areas.

Finding Text

One important aspect of the internal control structure is the segregation of duties among employees to prevent an individual employee from handling duties which are incompatible. We noted one individual has control over portions of one or more of the following areas for the District relating to major federal programs; cash, investments, inventories, receipts, disbursements, payroll, wire transfers, financial reporting, computer systems, school lunch program and journal entries. See finding 2024-001.

Corrective Action Plan

The district continues to find solutions to help segregate duties with our minimally staffed central office (business manager, HR director & nutrition director). This yar we modified duties of our building secretaries due to being short staffed. This eliminated an additional check & balance measure added a few years ago of the secretary entering receipts into WebLink. The building secretaries continue to write deposit slips & post payment to our student information system. The district’s business manager & HR director will work with board members on the finance & negotiations committee to develop a plan to add more checks & balances to our current operation. We will use the segregation of duties handbook to help with this process.

Categories

Internal Control / Segregation of Duties Reporting

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 1160211 2024-004
    Material Weakness Repeat

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.425 Education Stabilization Fund $628,371
10.555 National School Lunch Program $343,515
84.010 Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies $226,520
10.553 School Breakfast Program $83,811
84.027 Special Education Grants to States $36,149
84.367 Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants (formerly Improving Teacher Quality State Grants) $26,438
10.582 Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program $16,983
84.334 Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs $16,502
84.424 Student Support and Academic Enrichment Program $15,791
10.559 Summer Food Service Program for Children $15,314
84.048 Career and Technical Education -- Basic Grants to States $3,915