Finding 1216945 (2023-001)

Material Weakness Repeat Finding
Requirement
P
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2023
Accepted
2026-06-08

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: Audit delays led to a late filing of the Uniform Guidance audit for the USDA's Foreign Market Development Program.
  • Impacted Requirements: The audit report should be submitted within nine months post-audit period, as per 2 CFR §200.512.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Ensure timely year-end closure and proper document management to meet filing deadlines in the future.

Finding Text

Finding 2023-001: Audit Delays Federal Agency: United States Department of Agriculture Federal Program: Foreign Market Development Cooperator Program (FMD) Assistance Listing Number: 10.600 Pass-through Entity, if Applicable: None Award Identification Number and Year: F23GXCHSHO, F23GXCHDES, F23GXWWDES, F23GXSTNDS, F22GXEVALU Criteria or Specific Requirement: As noted in 2 CFR §200.512 the audit report should be submitted nine months after the end of the audit period. Condition: There were delays in receiving certain audit requests. The delays resulted in a late filing of the Uniform Guidance audit. Cause: The late submission resulted from delays in the audit process. Effect: Timely year-end closure is important to avoid increased potential for fraud, misstatements, and failures to adhere to donor and other regulations. Effective filing of documents decreases the potential for non-compliance with donor requirements, questioned costs or findings. Questioned Costs: None identified. Context: The filing is due nine months after fiscal year-end. Identification as a Repeat Finding, if Applicable: This is not a repeat finding. Recommendation: We recommend that LHCA ensure that the Uniform Guidance report is filed on time. A timely year-end closure, and appropriate maintenance and filing of financial and compliance documents, will help ensure that the report can be filed on time.

Corrective Action Plan

Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: LHCA acknowledges that the 2023 Uniform Guidance audit was submitted after the nine-month deadline required under 2 CFR §200.512. We take our compliance obligations seriously and are committed to timely submission going forward. LHCA acknowledges that, regardless of contributing factors, the responsibility for timely submission rests with the organization under 2 CFR 200.512. To ensure timely completion in future years, LHCA has implemented the following corrective actions: A dedicated audit liaison has been designated to coordinate all auditor requests and ensure document delivery within 72 hours of any request.Moving forward, LHCA will formally engage its audit firm no later than February 1st of each subsequent audit year, allowing sufficient time for fieldwork to be completed well in advance of the September 30th submission deadline. At engagement initiation, LHCA and its audit firm will establish a shared audit timeline with agreed milestone dates for fieldwork completion, draft report delivery, management response, and final FAC submission, with September 15th as the internal target submission date to provide a two-week buffer before the regulatory deadline. Financial records and grant documentation are now organized in a standardized Google Drive structure that allows immediate retrieval of any document requested during the audit process, reducing response time, and eliminating documentation delays as a source of audit timeline risk. LHCA is confident these measures will prevent recurrence and ensure timely submission of all future Uniform Guidance audits.

Categories

Subrecipient Monitoring

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 1216946 2023-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1216947 2023-003
    Material Weakness Repeat

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
10.601 MARKET ACCESS PROGRAM $1.28M
10.600 FOREIGN MARKET DEVELOPMENT COOPERATOR PROGRAM $858,681
10.603 EMERGING MARKETS PROGRAM $30,341