Finding Text
Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Energy Federal Program: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Information Dissemination, Outreach, Training and Technical Analysis/Assistance Assistance Listing Number: 81.117 Federal Award Identification Number(s) and Federal Award Year(s): DE-EE0009951 (2022), DE-EE0011801 (2025), DE-EE0011383 (2024) Pass-Through Entity: Not applicable—direct award Compliance Requirement: L—Reporting Criteria or Specific Requirements: Under 2 CFR §200.302(b)(2)–(3), the Organization’s financial management system must provide accurate, current, and complete financial reporting and maintain records supported by source documentation. Additionally, 2 CFR §200.303(a) requires effective internal control over Federal awards. Controls over financial reporting should provide reasonable assurance that reports agree to supporting accounting records and that differences are identified and resolved. Documentation should be retained to demonstrate the reconciliation and review performed. Condition: For the six SF-425 financial reports selected for testing, the Organization did not retain sufficient documentation demonstrating reconciliation of reported amounts to the underlying accounting records or the substantive review of those reconciliations. We corroborated segregation of duties between preparation and review and obtained evidence of approval and timely submission. However, the approval evidence did not demonstrate the procedures performed to verify the completeness and accuracy of the reported amounts. Our compliance testing did not identify reportable noncompliance with the applicable reporting requirements. Cause: The Organization’s reporting procedures did not ensure that supporting reconciliations and evidence of the scope of supervisory review were consistently documented and retained. Effect: Insufficient documentation of reconciliations and supervisory review limits the Organization’s ability to demonstrate that reporting controls operated effectively and increases the risk that inaccurate or unsupported amounts could be reported without timely detection and correction. Perspective Information: We selected six quarterly SF-425 financial reports covering three awards under ALN 81.117. The documentation deficiency described above affected all six selected reports. The selections included two reports each for SolSmart 2.0, Advancing Equity, and SEAC 2.0. Questioned Costs: None. Repeat Finding: None. Recommendations: We recommend that management retain a complete supporting package for each financial report, including the accounting records used at the time of preparation, a reconciliation to the amounts reported, and explanations of reconciling items. A knowledgeable individual other than the preparer should review the report and supporting reconciliation for completeness and accuracy and document the review and resolution of any differences. Management should also evaluate subsequent accounting adjustments to determine whether previously submitted reports require correction under the applicable reporting requirements. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action: Management agrees with the finding. See attached corrective action plan.