Finding 387204 (2023-001)

Material Weakness
Requirement
C
Questioned Costs
$1
Year
2023
Accepted
2024-03-28

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The organization overdrawn $179,155 in federal funds due to inadequate cash management controls.
  • Impacted Requirements: Noncompliance with federal cash management regulations regarding timely disbursement and return of excess funds.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Implement a documented independent review process for cash draw requests and regularly review cash balances to prevent future issues.

Finding Text

Finding 2023-001: Inadequate Controls over Cash Management Compliance Requirement: Cash Management Type: Material Noncompliance and Material Weakness over Internal Control Federal Agency: Department of Health and Human Services AL Numbers and Titles: 93.860 – Emerging Infections Sentinel Networks Federal Award Number: NU50CK000478 Questioned Costs: $179,155 Repeat Finding: No Criteria: The Society requests funds from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under the reimbursement payment method. Draw down requests should be timed to ensure that Federal cash on hand is the minimum needed for disbursements/reimbursements to be made immediately or within 10 days. If not spent or disbursed within 10 days, funds must be returned to the awarding agency. Condition: Management disclosed to us that they overdrew $179,155 in federal funding during the year. The excess cash on hand was not returned to the funding source in a timely manner. Cause: There was only one person preparing and submitting the cash draw requests. There was no secondary review process in place. Effect: The Society was not in compliance with federal regulations concerning disbursement of federal funds and excess cash. In addition, a lack of independent review of cash draw requests could result in a reasonable possibility that the Organization would not detect errors in the normal course of performing duties and correct them in a timely manner. Recommendation: We recommend that management ensure a documented independent review and approval is completed prior to submission of the cash draw request. We also recommend that potential excess cash balances are reviewed frequently. Views of Responsible Officials Corrective Actions: Management agrees with this finding. Please refer to the Corrective Action Plan.

Corrective Action Plan

Finding 2023-001: Inadequate Controls over Cash Management Condition During the audit, management disclosed that $179,155 in federal funding had been overdrawn. The excess cash on hand was not returned to the funding source in a timely manner. Correction action At the time the condition occurred in August 2022, one person was preparing and submitting the cash draw requests and they were done manually. In September 2022, management changed the process to require the cash draw requests be calculated electronically and all draws must be reviewed by a second party prior to submission. Drawdowns are done in arrears and tied to invoices already paid to avoid the risk of overdrawing funds. Monthly reconciliations are completed to verify no funds were overdrawn. If any funds were found to be overdrawn, they would be addressed timely with the granting agency or subtracted from the subsequent drawdown. At the time the overdraw was discovered was a time of transition in the executive director role and the steps to return the funds promptly were not completed. We are in the process of working with the agency to remedy this and return the overdrawn funds. Responsible Person Michael Jones, Secretary/Treasurer, Whitney Alexander, Interim Executive Director, Jaclyn Simon, Financial Controller Anticipated completion date The corrective action plan was put in place immediately in September 2022

Categories

Questioned Costs Cash Management

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 963646 2023-001
    Material Weakness

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
93.860 Emerging Infections Sentinel Networks $830,619