Finding 1224377 (2024-004)

Criteria: All costs must be adequately documented and approved prior to payment. Condition: Certain payroll costs were not supported by adequate documentation and there was a lack of supervisor approval on employee time reports. Context: Per our tests of a random sample of 29 payroll transactions, there was a lack of approval on 15 employee time records and lack of wage rate documentation for a majority of the items. Cause: Management did not have appropriate financial policies and procedures. Effect: Lack of appropriate internal controls could jeopardize the Organization’s ability to secure federal funds in the future. Recommendation: We recommend the Organization improve internal controls over payroll and other costs to ensure there is adequate documentation and approval prior to payment. Views of responsible officials: Under VAMHAR’s current management and financial oversight, we now have clear documentation on all payroll transactions and employee timesheets. Supervisor approval is now recorded on each timesheet prior to the payroll processing. Repeat finding: Repeat of finding 2023-003. Questioned costs: None.