Finding Text
Finding Type: Noncompliance and material weakness in internal control over compliance (activities allowed or unallowed and allowable costs / cost principles). Program: Continuum of Care: Assistance Listing Number 14.267 Criteria: The Uniform Guidance (Title 2 CFR 200.430) requires that allocations for salaries must be based on records that reflect the work performed. Payroll records (timesheets) must be supported by internal controls that create the environment to ensure that payroll items are charged to activities that are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated. Any necessary adjustments to these items should be made so that the final amount charged to the activities is accurate, allowable, and properly allocated. Condition/Finding: Salaries and wages were allocated using percentages to distribute payroll costs allocated to grants. Costs were not consistently allocated to reflect the activity actually performed in five out of the six payroll cycles that we tested. Cause: The Organization did have a system of controls in place for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2022 requiring employees report time spent in specific areas on their timesheets. However, the control was overridden by management and was not applied on a consistent basis. There were payrolls tested where timesheet was not compared to payroll journals provided by the payroll service, the accounting records, or the reimbursement requests for grants. Effect: Payroll costs reflected in the books and records of the Organization did not agree to the payroll journals, timesheets, and reimbursement requests. This required the Organization to use spreadsheets and calculation to support grant funding requests. Some timesheets were found to be inaccurate, resulting in employee personnel costs being reimbursed without proper documentation. Questioned Costs: The total amount of payroll reimbursed without timecards documenting actual labor charges was $21,326 during the year ended September 30, 2022. Recommendation: We recommend that the Organization improve its financial management policies and procedures to ensure that multiple staff members are involved in the process of reviewing and allocating personnel expenses to grants. Policies and procedures over payroll should include employees entering time accurately across areas where they spent time, supervisory review, recalculation and approval of timesheets, review of timesheets and compiled time reporting before it is sent to the payroll provider and review of the reporting provided after the payroll run. Payroll postings input into the accounting system should accurately reflect time spent in each grant area (class) and grant reporting and reimbursement requests should be prepared using those numbers. View of Responsible Officials (Corrective Action): See corrective action plan.