Finding 1218758 (2025-001)

Material Weakness Repeat Finding
Requirement
B
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2025
Accepted
2026-06-25

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: Unallowable payroll costs were charged to the grant due to a lack of controls verifying payroll accuracy.
  • Impacted Requirements: Compliance with 2 CFR section 200.303, which mandates internal controls for managing Federal awards.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Implement a policy for a secondary review of costs before they are entered into the accounting system and submitted for reimbursement.

Finding Text

Finding 2025-001: Allowable Costs/Cost Principles – Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance Program: 16.575 – U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office for Victims of Crimes: Passed-through Texas Office of the Governor, Criminal Justice Division (CJD) Crime Victim Assistance Criteria: The 2 CFR section 200.303 requires that non-Federal entities receiving Federal awards establish and maintain internal control over the Federal awards that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal awards in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. Condition: During our audit, we noted that unallowable payroll costs were charged to the grant. Cause: Controls were not in place to verify the accuracy of payroll amounts charged to the grant. Effect or Potential Effect: Payroll costs charged to the grant exceeded actual costs incurred by staff administering the grant. Questioned Costs: Amount is below the threshold of $25,000. Context: During our testing of payroll amounts charged to the grant, we selected a sample size of 8 payroll amounts and identified 2 instances where the grant was not charged in accordance with actual time spent on administering the grant per the employees’ time sheets. Recommendation: A policy should be established and enforced to require secondary review of costs to be charged to the grant prior to entry into the accounting software and inclusion in requests for reimbursement that are submitted to granting agencies. Repeat Finding: No. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the audit finding and a response is included in the corrective action plan.

Corrective Action Plan

Corrective Actions to Be Implemented: The organization is moving from MIP Fund Accounting to QuickBooks online Advanced which will remove the multi-step data entry process currently used for time capture and payroll processing. Simultaneously, we are implementing Hourtimesheet, a Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) compliant time tracking system which does not allow time entries outside of each employee assigned grant allocations. It has a native integration with Quickbooks and is the gold standard for government contract compliance. • QuickBooks Online Advanced anticipated completion: June 1, 2026 • Hourtimesheet anticipated completion: September 1, 2026 Responsible Parties: Brandi Senters, Finance Director, will be responsible for implementation, with oversight from the Executive Director, Erin Broussard.

Categories

Allowable Costs / Cost Principles

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
16.575 CRIME VICTIM ASSISTANCE $306,467
93.558 TEMPORARY ASSISTANCE FOR NEEDY FAMILIES $203,979
16.589 RURAL DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, DATING VIOLENCE, SEXUAL ASSAULT, AND STALKING ASSISTANCE PROGRAM $168,771
16.736 TRANSITIONAL HOUSING ASSISTANCE FOR VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, DATING VIOLENCE, STALKING, OR SEXUAL ASSAULT $161,311
93.136 INJURY PREVENTION AND CONTROL RESEARCH AND STATE AND COMMUNITY BASED PROGRAMS $86,372
93.671 FAMILY VIOLENCE PREVENTION AND SERVICES/DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SHELTER AND SUPPORTIVE SERVICES $69,026
93.667 SOCIAL SERVICES BLOCK GRANT $12,280