Finding Text
2025-001. Payroll (Allowable Costs/Cost Principles) United States Department of Education, Passed-through New York State Department of Education: Special Education Cluster: Special Education Grants to States: IDEA Part B ALN: 84.027 Criteria: Salaries and wages charged to Federal awards must be supported by documentation prescribed by the Uniform Guidance at Subpart I, 2 CFR §200.430, which requires that records accurately reflect the work performed and support the distribution of compensation among activities. Condition: Subpart I, 2 CFR §200.430 of the Uniform Guidance requires that charges to “Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed.” The documentation should support the distribution of the employee’s compensation among specific activities if employees work on more than one Federal award, or a Federal award and non-Federal award. The preparation of payroll verification forms, or periodic certifications or the equivalent is the most effective way to comply with this requirement. During the current year, it was noted that in some instances, the District’s payroll verification forms did not accurately reflect the actual allocation that was charged to the grant in order to comply with Subpart I, 2 CFR §200.430. Cause: Employee payroll verification forms should accurately reflect time and effort, as described in Subpart I, 2 CFR §200.430, to support salaries, and other forms of compensation charged to a federal program. During our audit testing, we noted that some of the District’s payroll verification forms did not indicate the correct amount or percentage allocation for the employee that was charged to the grant. Effect: Inadequate documentation could result in incorrect amounts for salaries and wages being charged to Federal awards. Questioned Costs: The dollar amount was undetermined as some payroll verification forms were not aligned to the grant budget amount. Context: For the Special Education Cluster, based on a sample of twenty-four (24) payroll transactions, we noted that nine (9) payroll transactions were not supported with payroll verification forms that reflected the amount charged to the grant. Identification of a Repeat Finding: This is a repeat finding from the previous audit referenced 2024-001, related to the Special Education Cluster. Recommendation: The District should prepare and maintain the appropriate documentation to support salaries and wages charged to Federal awards in accordance with the requirements of the Uniform Guidance at Subpart I, 2 CFR §200.430. Views of Responsible Officials of Auditee: The District acknowledges the finding and will thoroughly review and maintain all payroll verification forms to ensure the amount charged to the grant corresponds to the federal program to which the employees’ earnings were allocated, based on time and effort, in compliance with Subpart I, 2 CFR §200.430.