Finding 25946 (2022-003)

Material Weakness
Requirement
AB
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2022
Accepted
2023-04-12
Audit: 23393
Organization: The Light House, Inc. (MD)

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: Time and effort reports were missing during the audit, which are necessary for justifying salary costs charged to the federal grant.
  • Impacted Requirements: Compliance with federal guidelines (OMB Circular A-87) mandates accurate tracking of employee time and attendance for federally funded programs.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Implement time and effort reports as a routine practice, ensuring they are completed monthly and verified by both employees and management.

Finding Text

Finding 2022-003: Time and Effort Reports Agency and Award: State Administrative Matching Grants for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Assistance Listing Number: 10.561. Condition: The time and effort reports were not available when performing a test of salaries and related expenditures charged to the federal award program during the audit. Criteria: Time and effort reporting is required under the Federal Office of Management and Budget?s Circular A-87, Cost Principles for State, Local, and Indian Tribal Governments Attachment B, Selected Items of Cost, Item 9, Compensation for Personnel Services. In other words, federally sponsored programs require that employees track and independently confirm their time and attendance as a means of supporting the costs that were applied to the federal grant program. Cause: As a result of change of staff and no clear instruction from the State of Maryland, The Light House did not track the time allocation and instead used the fixed percentage as per the grant. Context and Effect: By not completing the time and effort reports, The Light House did not have the required documentation to further support the amount of its employees? time spent on the federal grant award that was otherwise recorded on the approved timesheets and tracked in the accounting system. Questioned Costs: None Repeat Finding: No Recommendations: We recommend that The Light House incorporate the completion of the time and effort report as part of its standard operating procedures. The time and effort reports should be completed at least monthly, and certified by employees and management attesting to their accuracy. In addition, the time and effort reports should be reconciled between timesheets, payroll reports, and the federal grant budgets.

Corrective Action Plan

Finding 2022-003: Time and Effort Reports The Light House finance office is working with Paylocity account representatives to identify how to track the Time and Effort results in our payroll system. Until that is accomplished, The Light House Finance team is tracking the time and effort through a Microsoft Access database and creating Time and Effort reports on a Quarterly basis. All Time and Effort reports will be signed by the employee, the Director of Finance and the Executive Director. Responsible Party: Terry W. Brukiewa, Expected completion date: 6/30/2023

Categories

Allowable Costs / Cost Principles Reporting Matching / Level of Effort / Earmarking

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 25945 2022-002
    Material Weakness
  • 25947 2022-004
    Significant Deficiency
  • 602387 2022-002
    Material Weakness
  • 602388 2022-003
    Material Weakness
  • 602389 2022-004
    Significant Deficiency

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
10.561 State Administrative Matching Grants for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program $910,741
21.023 Emergency Rental Assistance Program $551,628
93.788 Opioid Str $118,907
14.231 Emergency Solutions Grant Program $73,511
97.024 Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program $35,000
14.218 Community Development Block Grants/entitlement Grants $6,000