Finding Text
2025-003 – Material Weakness in Internal Controls over Compliance – Activities Allowed or Unallowed and Allowable Costs/Cost Principles US Department of Agriculture / Oregon Department of Human Services Federal Assistance Listing Number: 10.565, 10.568, 10.569, 10.182 Federal Program Name: Food Distribution Cluster, Local Food Purchase Agreements Criteria – 2 CFR §200.430(g) – Standards for Documentation of Personnel Expenses require that charges to federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed and are supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated. Estimates determined before services are performed do not qualify as support. Condition/context –The Organization allocates personnel expenses to federal awards using estimates, not records that accurately reflect the work performed. The Organization estimates how much time each employee spends on activities allowable for each grant, but these estimates are not supported by records that reflect the work performed. The Organization has an electronic timekeeping system, but the system does not track the activities an employee performs. Employees are not required to complete certifications or Personnel Activity Reports (PARs) to support the hours worked on allowable activities. Total payroll costs charged to grants were $1,722,096. Management was able to substantiate $1,111,400 of payroll costs charged to these grants as 100% of personnel in this group worked 100% on food movement related work, which was backed up by job descriptions, employee attestations signed at year-end, and timesheets that show total hours worked. Remaining questioned costs of $610,696 relate to employees with time allocated across programs that were not substantiated with timecards that track which activities were performed. Questioned costs – ALN 10.568 - $533,410, ALN 10.182 - $77,286 Total questioned costs for all programs – $610,696, which is the payroll expenditures for employees who had allocated estimates charged to the food distribution cluster grants. Cause/effect – The Organization has not developed a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated. Personnel expenses charged to federal awards are not supported by records that reflect the work performed. Repeat finding – Yes, prior year finding 2024-003. Recommendation – We recommend the Organization establish a system of time and effort reporting that meets the standards for documentation of personnel expenses, and a system of internal control that provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated. Views of responsible officials and planned corrective actions – Oregon Food Bank acknowledges this repeat finding and agrees with the auditors' assessment. Ben Ardell, Director of Finance, is the party responsible. Since the prior audit period, management has taken steps to develop and implement a time and effort reporting system that meets federal documentation standards, such as activating the electronic timekeeping system to track actual work performed and testing adoption of reporting procedures across departments and teams. Finance will continue implementing the corrective actions necessary to establish an effective and compliant time and effort reporting system, including providing training for employees and regularly monitoring for effective system utilization. These actions will strengthen internal controls and ensure personnel costs are accurately recorded and appropriately allocated. The anticipated completion date remains June 30, 2027.