Finding Text
Criteria: Under the Uniform Guidance, payroll costs charged to a federal award must be supported by accurate time-and-effort documentation that reflects the actual hours worked on the program. Statement of Condition: During our testing over compliance of allowable costs, for 1 out of 5 invoices tested, the payroll charges funded by the federal award were higher than were supported by the corresponding timesheet for the same period. Cause of Condition: The discrepancy resulted from an administrative error during the billing process, where hours were incorrectly charged to the grant without adequate reconciliation to approved timesheets. Effect of Condition: Because adequate reconciliation to approved timesheets was not performed, payroll charges costs charged to the grant were overstated for the pay period reviewed, resulting in a questioned cost for the excess hours billed. Questioned Costs: Questioned costs total $2,800, representing the excess hours billed for the 1 out of 5 invoices tested. Recommendation: We recommend that management strengthen billing review and reconciliation procedures to ensure that hours billed to grants are fully supported by approved timesheets prior to submission and reimbursement. Identification of Repeat Finding: This is a new finding. Views of Responsible Officials: Management understands and accepts the recommendation as outlined in the Corrective Action Plan.