Finding 1177761 (2023-004)

Material Weakness Repeat Finding
Requirement
AB
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2023
Accepted
2026-03-10

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The ROE failed to use proper documentation to allocate salary and benefit costs, leading to uncertainty in expense distribution across funding sources.
  • Impacted Requirements: Payroll disbursements did not align with employee withholding forms, affecting compliance with federal and state regulations.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Implement a reconciliation process between timesheets and general ledger entries, and ensure payroll calculations match the W-4 forms on file.

Finding Text

During the course of audit fieldwork, auditors noted the following: - The ROE did not use time and effort documentation to distribute salary and benefit costs for employees paid from multiple funding sources. The ROE budgeted amounts at the beginning of the year to allocate payroll expense to each fund; however, the ROE never reconciled the amounts expensed in the general ledger to the employees’ submitted timesheets. Therefore, the ROE was unable to determine the reasonableness of the allocation of salaries and benefits amongst federal and State programs. - For four out of the twenty-four (17%) payroll disbursements tested, the withholding information used to calculate the employees’ pay did not agree to the Federal or Illinois Forms W-4 on file. For the federal program, auditors noted for 3 out of the 4 (75%) payroll disbursements tested, the withholding information used to calculate the employees’ pay did not agree to the Federal or Illinois Forms W-4 on file. - One out of the twenty-four (4%) payroll disbursements tested inaccurately omitted the employees wages from being subject to Medicare tax.

Corrective Action Plan

ROE 40 will use time and effort documentation to distribute salary and benefit costs for employees paid from multiple funding sources. Procedures will be put into place to ensure that employee withholdings are correct and to ensure that Medicare tax is properly calculated.

Categories

Allowable Costs / Cost Principles

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 1177757 2023-003
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1177758 2023-004
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1177759 2023-005
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1177760 2023-003
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1177762 2023-005
    Material Weakness Repeat

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.425 EDUCATION STABILIZATION FUND $14,900