Finding Text
Finding 2023-006 – Activities Allowed or Unallowed/Allowable Costs/Cost Principles – Material Weakness in Internal Controls over Compliance and Instance of Noncompliance Head Start ALN# 93.600 (Repeat 2022-008) U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Federal Grant/Contract Number: 10CH011215-03-03; 10CH011215-03-C3; 10CH011215-04; 10HE000901-01-C6 Grant period – 2022 & 2023 Criteria – Per 2 CFR 200.303, the non-federal entity must establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should follow 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 Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Per 2 CFR section 200.403 – Factors affecting allowability of costs – Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: paragraph (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles; paragraph (g) Be adequately documented. Per 2 CFR section 200.404 – Reasonable costs – A cost is reasonable if, in its nature and amount, it does not exceed that which would be incurred by a prudent person under the circumstances prevailing at the time the decision was made to incur the cost. Per 2 CFR section 200.405 – Allocable costs –focuses on how costs are allocable, ensuring they are directly tied to the federal award or its benefits. Per 2 CFR 200.430(i), charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that are supported by a system of internal control that provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated and that are incorporated into the official records of the non-Federal entity. Condition – From the population of all disbursements charged to the grant, we selected 25 program disbursements, of which 9 invoices could not be located. Cause – Turnover in staff and the passage of time since the period under audit has caused documentation to be misplaced. Effect – Inadequate or inconsistent documentation of expenses may result in erroneous or fraudulent transactions occurring, loss of funding, or disallowed costs. Questioned Costs – Known questioned costs totaling $121 were identified related to 10 invoices could not be located. In addition, likely questioned costs are estimated at $34,616, based on the projection of the error identified in the tested transactions to the applicable population. Recommendation – Documentation should be prepared, reviewed, and retained to support the expense. Management’s Response – Management has reviewed and accepted the finding. See “Corrective Action Plan”.