Finding Text
Finding No. 2024-001 Implement System-Based Tracking of Federal Expenditures Assistance Listing Number: 93.566 Program Name: Refugee and Entrant Assistance State/Replacement Designee Administered Programs Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Passed Through Entities: 1. California Department of Social Services 2. University of California, San Diego 3. California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation 4. San Diego Refugee Communities Coalition/United Women of East Africa Support Team 5. Public Health Institute (PHI) Federal Award Numbers: ALSP22-0002-A1, ALSP23-0001, PUR00533092, ACS22-05-CAIR, 06568-AR76924 Federal Award Year: August 1, 2022 to June 30, 2026 Compliance Requirement: Activities Allowed or Unallowed Criteria: Management is responsible for designing, implementing, and maintaining an internal control system that ensures accurate financial reporting. Effective internal control over financial reporting provides reasonable assurance regarding the completeness and accuracy of accounting records, and compliance with grantor requirements. 2 CFR 200.510 Financial Statements require auditees to prepare a Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) for the period covered by the auditee's financial statements. This schedule must include the total Federal awards expended, as determined in accordance with 2 CFR 200.502. The information presented should be consistent with the accounting records (i.e., general ledger). In addition, Section 2 CFR 200.302(b)(1) provides that non-Federal entities must maintain effective control over and accountability for all funds, and must identify, in their accounts, all Federal awards received and expended. Condition: During our review of the SEFA, we noted that CAIR-CA utilizes workbooks outside of its accounting software to track federal expenditures. The workbooks do not reconcile directly with the general ledger (GL), so management performs a separate reconciliation to support the SEFA amounts. This approach was similarly observed in the prior year's audit. Cause: The prior year audit was completed in August 2025, after the close of the fiscal year 2024. As a result, management was still in the process of implementing a system-based tracking during the year 2024. CAIR-CA’s processes for tracking federal awards are continuing to develop, as this is only the second year under Single Audit. Effect: Using manual workbooks requires additional manual effort and may make reconciliation between SEFA and GL more time-consuming, and may result in inaccurate or incomplete reporting. Questioned Cost: None Recommendation: We recommend that CAIR-CA continue enhancing its accounting processes to track federal expenditures directly within its accounting software. This could include GL tracking codes or other similar identifiers for federal programs. System based tracking would simplify SEFA preparation, improve consistency with the general ledger, and strengthen monitoring of federal expenditures. Views of Responsible Officials and Corrective Action Plan: Management concurs with the finding and has already updated the accounting system to incorporate grant-specific tracking codes to further align with federal reporting standards. Because the organization’s first single audit in FY2023 was conducted concurrently with the FY2024 single audit, there was limited opportunity for these procedural improvements to be reflected in the FY2024 single audit testing cycle. As a result, the impact of these changes will be more fully reflected in the FY2025 single audit, which is scheduled to commence this year. As part of a layered approach to internal controls, excel worksheets will continue to be used as a supplementary monitoring tool, providing an additional cross-check to the system-generated reports. Responsible person: Jackie Ramirez, Operations & Finance Associate Director Implementation date: November 20, 2025