Finding Text
Finding 2024-005 - Reporting Federal Award Information: Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Pass-Through Entity: Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs Assistance Listing Number (ALN): 93.568 Federal Program Name: Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Type of Finding: Material Weakness in Internal Control Over Compliance Reporting Compliance Requirement No Questioned Costs Criteria: Under 2 CFR 200.303, the Organization is required to establish and maintain effective internal control over Federal awards that provides reasonable assurance of compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. Additionally, 2 CFR 200.302(a) requires that the financial management system provide accurate, current, and complete disclosure of the financial results of each Federal award. Further, 2 CFR 200.334 requires financial records, supporting documents, statistical records, and all other records pertinent to a Federal award be retained to support amounts reported. The OMB Compliance Supplement identifies Reporting as a compliance requirement for this program and requires that financial reports be supported by underlying accounting records and subject to appropriate review prior to submission. Condition: During our audit, we noted that financial reports submitted to the Federal awarding agency were not consistently supported by retained documentation demonstrating how reported amounts were calculated. In addition, there was no documented evidence of supervisory review or approval of the reports prior to submission. During interim testing of reports, we noted that certain periodic financial reports submitted to the pass-through entity did not reconcile to the Organization’s general ledger at the time of submission. The variances were attributable to journal entries, voided checks, and other posting adjustments recorded after report submission. While cumulative and final reports ultimately agreed to the Organization’s accounting records and no amended reports were required, documentation reconciling the differences at the time of submission was not retained. documentation was retained for amounts reported to the Federal awarding agency or to require documented supervisory review of reports prior to submission. Effect or Potential Effect: The absence of supporting documentation and independent review increases the risk that inaccurate, incomplete, or unsupported information could be reported to the Federal awarding agency and not be detected in a timely manner. Although no questioned costs were identified as a result of our audit procedures, this deficiency creates a reasonable possibility that material noncompliance with reporting requirements could occur and not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. Questioned Costs: None. Repeat Finding: This is not a repeat finding. Recommendation: We recommend that management implement procedures to: Retain supporting documentation for all amounts reported to Federal awarding agencies, including reconciliations to the general ledger; Require documented supervisory review and approval of reports prior to submission; and Ensure that adjustments occurring after report submission are documented and, when necessary, corrected through revised reporting. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action: Management acknowledged that supporting documentation was not consistently retained and that supervisory review was not formally documented. Management has indicated that procedures will be implemented to ensure reports are reconciled to accounting records, properly supported, and reviewed prior to submission.