FAC Explorer

Finding 370769 (2023-001)

Significant Deficiency
Requirement
AB
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2023
Accepted
2024-02-27
Audit: 292421
Organization: Clemson University (SC)
Auditor: Clifton Larson Allen LLP (cla)

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The University made an error in payroll calculations, failing to update an employee's pay status from hourly to salary, leading to an overpayment of $47.
  • Impacted Requirements: This finding highlights a significant deficiency in internal controls over compliance with federal regulations regarding allowable costs and effective management of federal awards.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: The University should enhance its policies and procedures to ensure timely updates of pay rate changes and implement regular reviews to catch errors in payroll processing.

Finding Text

Improper Payroll Calculation Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Federal Program Name: Education Stabilization Fund Assistance Listing Number: 84.425F Federal Award Identification Number: P425F200181‐20B Award Period: July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023 Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance, Other Matters Criteria or specific requirement: Internal Control – Per 2 CFR section 200.303(a), a non‐Federal entity must: Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non‐Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the “Internal Control Integrated Framework,” issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Compliance – Per 2 CFR § 200.403, except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award to be allocable thereto under these principles. (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award regarding types or amount of cost items. (c) Be consistent with policies and procedures that apply uniformly to both federally‐financed and other activities of the non‐Federal entity. (d) Be accorded consistent treatment. A cost may not be assigned to a Federal award as a direct cost if any other cost incurred for the same purpose in like circumstances has been allocated to the Federal award as an indirect cost. (e) Be determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), except for state and local governments and Indian tribes only, as otherwise provided for in this part. (f) Not be included as a cost or used to meet cost sharing or matching requirements of any other federally‐financed program in either the current or a prior period. (g) Be adequately documented. Condition: The University incorrectly calculated payroll costs charged to the grant. The employee’s position changed from hourly to salary, and the change in pay was not reflected in the payroll calculation resulting in an error of $47. Questioned costs: None Context: This condition occurred for 1 out of 40 samples selected for testing. Cause: The interface program looked at the employee's status on the day of upload, as opposed to their status on the last day of the pay period. Therefore, the program uploaded hours to the new job instead of the former hourly job. This error was not caught by the department during or after payroll processing resulting in an overpayment. Effect: Expenditures may be incorrectly charged to the program. Repeat Finding: No Recommendation: We recommend that the University review policies and procedures to ensure that changes in pay rates are being reflected in payroll calculations and reviews are in place to detect any errors on a timely basis. Views of responsible officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.

Corrective Action Plan

The Payroll Department has taken immediate action to develop additional safeguards to ensure changes in pay records are accurately reflected on pay lines. We developed monitoring reports to review data extracted from Kronos to data loaded to pay lines. The central Payroll team will use these reports to identify potential discrepancies and correct pay lines prior to giving department liaisons access to the system to review payroll data. Additionally, Payroll will conduct its routine Kronos Security Audit with Business Officers in October. Once complete, Payroll will communicate with designated HR/Payroll Liaisons and Kronos timekeepers to remind them of their roles and responsibilities as it pertains to monitoring and reviewing payroll data during payroll processing. Lastly, Payroll has worked with Human Resources IT to develop a query that will mimic the paysheets and provide an additional review tool at the department and budget center level. Once fully tested it will be rolled out to the Business Officers to assist in the payroll review process. Anticipated Completion Date: December 31, 2023 Person Responsible for Corrective action: Amelia Hood, Director of Payroll Contact/Responsible Party: Sherri Rowland, AVP and Controller Contact Information: sherrir@clemson.edu

Categories

Matching / Level of Effort / Earmarking

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 370770 2023-002
    Significant Deficiency
  • 370771 2023-002
    Significant Deficiency
  • 370772 2023-002
    Significant Deficiency
  • 370773 2023-002
    Significant Deficiency
  • 370774 2023-002
    Significant Deficiency
  • 370775 2023-002
    Significant Deficiency
  • 370776 2023-003
    Significant Deficiency
  • 370777 2023-004
    Significant Deficiency
  • 370778 2023-005
    Significant Deficiency
  • 370779 2023-006
    Significant Deficiency
  • 370780 2023-006
    Significant Deficiency
  • 947211 2023-001
    Significant Deficiency
  • 947212 2023-002
    Significant Deficiency
  • 947213 2023-002
    Significant Deficiency
  • 947214 2023-002
    Significant Deficiency
  • 947215 2023-002
    Significant Deficiency
  • 947216 2023-002
    Significant Deficiency
  • 947217 2023-002
    Significant Deficiency
  • 947218 2023-003
    Significant Deficiency
  • 947219 2023-004
    Significant Deficiency
  • 947220 2023-005
    Significant Deficiency
  • 947221 2023-006
    Significant Deficiency
  • 947222 2023-006
    Significant Deficiency

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.268 Federal Direct Student Loans $117.78M
84.425 Education Stabilization Fund $18.09M
84.063 Federal Pell Grant Program $17.13M
12.000 Advanced Visualization, Simulation, and Human Integration Through the Digital Design and Simulation Studio (3.22.11) (vipr-Gs) $10.58M
84.038 Federal Perkins Loan Program Federal Capital Contributions $2.63M
93.354 Public Health Emergency Response: Cooperative Agreement for Emergency Response: Public Health Crisis Response $1.52M
84.423 Supporting Effective Educator Development Program $1.15M
10.937 Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities $1.00M
93.319 Outreach Programs to Reduce the Prevalence of Obesity in High Risk Rural Areas $981,712
10.202 Cooperative Forestry Research $965,557
10.511 Smith-Lever Funding (various Programs) $894,578
10.514 Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program $856,895
93.563 Child Support Enforcement $817,238
93.000 Quality Assurance Services for the Bureau of Long Term Care Services (federal) - Year 2 Fy23 $765,297
20.701 University Transportation Centers Program $765,004
84.033 Federal Work-Study Program $763,861
93.247 Advanced Nursing Education Grant Program $745,800
93.359 Nurse Education, Practice Quality and Retention Grants $717,977
84.007 Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants $700,876
98.001 Usaid Foreign Assistance for Programs Overseas $584,315
81.089 Fossil Energy Research and Development $563,486
10.519 Equipment Grants Program (egp) $420,088
12.000 Smart Configuration Optimizer Through Transformative Analytics (scotty) $390,393
84.365 English Language Acquisition State Grants $390,074
81.122 Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Research, Development and Analysis $363,763
81.086 Conservation Research and Development $330,922
10.475 Cooperative Agreements with States for Intrastate Meat and Poultry Inspection $285,188
93.853 Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders $284,756
84.116 Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education $243,461
12.000 Point-Of-Injury Application of Hydrogel Embedded Dexamethasone for Severe Traumatic Brain Injury $237,390
66.700 Consolidated Pesticide Enforcement Cooperative Agreements $234,241
10.303 Integrated Programs $234,176
10.689 Community Forest and Open Space Conservation Program (cfp) $224,016
93.839 Blood Diseases and Resources Research $216,474
12.000 Thermal In-Situ Sustainable Remediation (tisrsm) to Enhance Biotic and Abiotic Reactions and Accelerate Remediation Timeframes $214,039
43.001 Science $213,524
93.273 Alcohol Research Programs $212,147
47.076 Education and Human Resources $209,906
84.027 Special Education_grants to States $209,143
10.203 Payments to Agricultural Experiment Stations Under the Hatch Act $206,675
10.311 Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program $201,235
12.630 Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research in Science and Engineering $197,191
20.000 Additional Considerations for Making Ads Vehicles Accessible for All Road Users $196,604
11.609 Measurement and Engineering Research and Standards $195,947
93.855 Allergy, Immunology and Transplantation Research $183,962
10.307 Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative $179,223
47.074 Biological Sciences $173,201
93.873 State Grants for Protection and Advocacy Services $155,382
12.910 Research and Technology Development $154,531
20.000 Vulnerable and Disabled Road Users: Considerations Inside and Outside the Vehicle $147,643
64.000 The Health and Mental Health Needs of Rural Veterans and Their Families $145,697
93.000 Managing Abstinence in Newborns (main) 2.0, Expansion $140,137
10.561 State Administrative Matching Grants for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program $137,512
93.912 Rural Health Care Services Outreach, Rural Health Network Development and Small Health Care Provider Quality Improvement $125,901
93.113 Environmental Health $124,645
10.219 Biotechnology Risk Assessment Research $119,555
84.324 Research in Special Education $113,653
97.000 Critical Infrastructure Mapping to Update the Sc Hmp $112,341
43.000 Mitigating Headward Fluid Shifts with Veno-Constrictive Thigh Cuffs During Spaceflight $110,835
10.069 Conservation Reserve Program $109,867
15.805 Assistance to State Water Resources Research Institutes $108,682
81.000 Microextraction Sample Preparation Technique for Elemental and Isotopic Analysis $107,759
45.163 Promotion of the Humanities_federal/state Partnership $103,496
64.034 2021-2022 Veteran Affairs Adaptive Sports Grant Program: Paralympic Soccer Program $103,454
84.287 Twenty-First Century Community Learning Centers $94,354
10.870 Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program $94,320
11.619 Arrangements for Interdisciplinary Research Infrastructure $90,341
10.600 Foreign Market Development Cooperator Program $90,016
11.431 Climate and Atmospheric Research $89,440
10.000 Acquisition of Goods and Services $87,290
12.000 Fabrication of Bonded Yb, Er: Glass-Sapphire Lasing Assemblies $87,256
10.319 Farm Business Management and Benchmarking Competitive Grants Program $85,645
84.021 Overseas Programs - Group Projects Abroad $85,345
47.084 Nsf Technology, Innovation and Partnerships $84,667
84.411 Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund $84,447
15.608 Fish and Wildlife Management Assistance $84,198
84.379 Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grants (teach Grants) $82,985
15.663 Nfwf-Usfws Conservation Partnership $79,605
12.000 Invasive & Exotic Plant Species Survey and Control Method Evaluations; Townsend Bombing Range; Long and McIntosh Counties, Ga $79,392
93.761 Evidence-Based Falls Prevention Programs Financed Solely by Prevention and Public Health Funds (pphf) $79,150
12.000 Military Working Dog Protective Suit $77,800
10.210 Higher Education Ð Graduate Fellowships Grant Program $75,964
10.652 Forestry Research $75,038
12.431 Basic Scientific Research $74,453
93.000 Validation of A Bedside Automated 3d Ultrasound-Based Arteriovenous Fistula Cannulation Guidance Solution to Improve Av Fistula Outcomes $74,424
66.509 Science to Achieve Results (star) Research Program $71,610
11.427 Fisheries Development and Utilization Research and Development Grants and Cooperative Agreements Program $71,482
93.242 Mental Health Research Grants $70,314
12.000 Development of Protocols to Quantify Abiotic Transformation Rates and Mechanisms for Chlorinated Ethenes in Water Supply Aquifers $70,165
12.300 Basic and Applied Scientific Research $70,009
11.472 Unallied Science Program $68,303
45.149 Promotion of the Humanities_federal/state Partnership $66,937
47.075 Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences $66,684
11.459 Weather and Air Quality Research $61,862
16.034 Coronavirus Emergency Supplemental Funding Program $59,987
12.000 Signature Management Textiles $58,221
47.049 Mathematical and Physical Sciences $58,061
66.461 Regional Wetland Program Development Grants $57,668
10.771 Rural Cooperative Development Grants $57,622
10.707 Research Joint Venture and Cost Reimbursable Agreements $57,226
43.000 Precision Heated Tooling for Ooa Curing of Thin-Ply Composites $57,125
81.184 Northwestern Connecticut Intrastate Air Quality Control Region $56,355
81.049 Office of Science Financial Assistance Program $55,995
47.041 Engineering $55,510
10.331 Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive Grants Program $55,238
66.511 Office of Research and Development Consolidated Research/training/fellowships $54,317
81.121 Nuclear Energy Research, Development and Demonstration $53,051
81.000 Go! Program: Controlling Quantum Interactions at Interfaces Over Low Dimensional Materials for Photocatalytic Reactions $53,015
12.000 High Power Chip Scale Coherent Laser Array $51,710
59.037 Small Business Development Centers $51,314
93.395 Cancer Treatment Research $51,237
43.002 Aeronautics $48,650
47.079 Office of International Science and Engineering $46,663
15.926 American Battlefield Protection $46,317
12.000 Optimal Rewarming Solutions for Cryopreserved Tissue Systems $45,803
10.912 Environmental Quality Incentives Program $45,793
47.050 Geosciences $45,226
10.680 Forest Health Protection $45,202
10.699 Partnership Agreements $45,107
93.121 Oral Diseases and Disorders Research $43,876
93.226 Research on Healthcare Costs, Quality and Outcomes $43,843
81.000 Asynchronous Multi-Level I/o Techniques to Cache and Consolidate Checkpoints at Scale $43,505
15.812 Cooperative Research Units Program $41,705
93.243 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services_projects of Regional and National Significance $41,141
81.112 Stewardship Science Grant Program $41,038
15.654 Visitor Facility Enhancements - Refuges and Wildlife $40,646
20.205 Highway Planning and Construction $40,187
15.808 U.s. Geological Survey_ Research and Data Collection $39,770
84.016 Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Programs $38,995
81.087 Renewable Energy Research and Development $38,276
98.853 Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders $38,240
11.417 Sea Grant Support $37,696
16.745 Criminal and Juvenile Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Program $36,751
93.307 Minority Health and Health Disparities Research $36,721
43.012 Space Technology $36,149
15.664 Fish and Wildlife Coordination and Assistance Programs $35,929
15.929 Save America's Treasures $35,855
12.901 Mathematical Sciences Grants Program $33,137
15.628 Multistate Conservation Grant Program $32,947
93.286 Discovery and Applied Research for Technological Innovations to Improve Human Health $30,767
10.217 Higher Education - Institution Challenge Grants Program $30,239
84.200 Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need $30,047
93.213 Research and Training in Complementary and Integrative Health $29,986
19.900 Aeeca/esf Pd Programs $29,784
93.396 Cancer Biology Research $29,399
12.000 Femtosecond Direct Diode Laser System (fsddls) to Enable Hypersonic Drag Reduction $28,869
12.800 Air Force Defense Research Sciences Program $28,000
10.304 Homeland Security_agricultural $27,148
93.000 Protective Film-Forming Disinfectant Based on Chitosan/water/ethanol Tertiary Solutions $27,027
10.675 Urban and Community Forestry Program $25,608
93.865 Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research $25,025
93.838 Lung Diseases Research $24,144
10.525 Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network Competitive Grants Program (b) $24,100
93.350 National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences $23,402
15.657 Endangered Species Conservation Ð Recovery Implementation Funds $23,121
10.310 Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (afri) $22,580
93.325 Paralysis Resource Center $20,331
15.945 Cooperative Research and Training Programs Ð Resources of the National Park System $19,816
10.025 Plant and Animal Disease, Pest Control, and Animal Care $19,637
66.468 Capitalization Grants for Drinking Water State Revolving Funds $18,779
12.000 Incorporating Matrix Diffusion in the New Modflow Flow and Transport Model for Unstructured Grids $18,368
93.137 Community Programs to Improve Minority Health Grant Program $16,584
11.420 Coastal Zone Management Estuarine Research Reserves $15,794
10.902 Soil and Water Conservation $15,714
12.000 Fiber Laser Materials Research $15,225
10.001 Agricultural Research_basic and Applied Research $15,116
81.000 Edge-Centric Cloud-Based Distributed Surveillance for Environmental Detection Surveys $15,115
66.708 Pollution Prevention Grants Program $14,003
16.726 Juvenile Mentoring Program $13,900
93.262 Occupational Safety and Health Program $13,828
10.309 Specialty Crop Research Initiative $13,627
93.859 Biomedical Research and Research Training $12,603
93.847 Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research $12,540
16.560 National Institute of Justice Research, Evaluation, and Development Project Grants $12,277
10.200 Grants for Agricultural Research, Special Research Grants $11,448
93.361 Nursing Research $10,660
84.408 Postsecondary Education Scholarships for Veteran's Dependents $9,753
66.204 Multipurpose Grants to States and Tribes $9,658
10.664 Cooperative Forestry Assistance $9,129
47.070 Computer and Information Science and Engineering $8,984
93.788 Opioid Str $8,917
12.420 Military Medical Research and Development $7,954
16.585 Drug Court Discretionary Grant Program $7,605
43.008 Education $7,500
16.710 Public Safety Partnership and Community Policing Grants $7,441
84.048 Career and Technical Education -- Basic Grants to States $7,300
66.460 Nonpoint Source Implementation Grants $7,080
66.000 Laboratory Evaluation of Bioremediation for Groundwater at the Lane Street Superfund Site $6,662
93.879 Medical Library Assistance $6,576
66.716 Research, Development, Monitoring, Public Education, Training, Demonstrations, and Studies $6,216
93.846 Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Research $6,129
10.674 Wood Utilization Assistance $5,986
93.048 Special Programs for the Aging_title Iv_and Title Ii_discretionary Projects $5,725
89.003 National Historical Publications and Records Grants $5,273
93.397 Cancer Centers Support Grants $5,176
93.393 Cancer Cause and Prevention Research $5,062
16.838 Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Site-Based Program $4,987
64.000 Track and Field $4,500
10.170 Specialty Crop Block Grant Program - Farm Bill $4,144
10.777 Norman E. Borlaug International Agricultural Science and Technology Fellowship $4,139
10.515 Renewable Resources Extension Act and National Focus Fund Projects $4,078
66.312 State Environmental Justice Cooperative Agreement Program $3,836
10.500 Cooperative Extension Service $3,376
20.215 Highway Training and Education $3,330
93.837 Cardiovascular Diseases Research $3,134
64.000 Monthly Instruction $2,912
81.135 Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy $2,740
45.164 Promotion of the Humanities_federal/state Partnership $2,734
20.237 Commercial Vehicle Information Systems and Networks $2,547
15.634 State Wildlife Grants $2,398
10.207 Animal Health and Disease Research $2,385
81.000 Horry County Schools Career Technology Education Professional Development Consulting $2,303
10.215 Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education $2,010
43.003 Exploration $1,940
93.866 Aging Research $1,925
45.129 Promotion of the Humanities_federal/state Partnership $1,663
10.332 Agricultural Genome to Phenome Initiative $1,532
47.000 Pire: Dust Stimulated Draw-Down of Atmospheric Co2 As A Trigger for Northern Hemisphere Glaciation $1,525
10.903 Soil Survey $1,419
47.083 Integrative Activities $1,407
45.162 Promotion of the Humanities_federal/state Partnership $1,000
84.000 Lexington Technology Center 2019-2020 Faculty Professional Development $915
11.463 Habitat Conservation $800
10.028 Wildlife Services $724
10.328 National Food Safety Training, Education, Extension, Outreach, and Technical Assistance Competitive Grants Program $606
10.329 Crop Protection and Pest Management Competitive Grants Program $478
11.020 Cluster Grants $125
93.000 Quality Assurance Services for the Bureau of Long Term Care Services (federal) - Year 1 Fy22 $14
15.611 Wildlife Restoration and Basic Hunter Education $-2
77.008 U.s. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Scholarship and Fellowship Program $-13
81.000 Experimental Investigation of Additive Manufactured Materials in Various Loading Conditions $-50
10.229 Extension Collaborative on Immunization Teaching & Engagement $-606
19.345 International Programs to Support Democracy, Human Rights and Labor $-613
81.000 Global Optimization of Large-Scale Ac Power Flow Problems $-1,957
64.000 Move United Support of the 2022 Palmetto Games $-2,000
81.000 Nasow P.r. 1886058 $-12,399
93.279 Drug Abuse and Addiction Research Programs $-18,070