Finding 38749 (2022-001)

2022-001 Assistance Listing Number and Title: 93.103 Food and Drug Administration_Research Research and Development Cluster Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Federal Award Numbers: 5U18FD005320 Grant period: September 1, 2021 - August 31, 2022 Criteria: Cash management - Costs must be paid or incurred prior to request for reimbursement under federal awards. Condition: Request for reimbursement under Federal Awards was made prior to cost being paid or incurred. Cause: The Organization did not have controls in place to ensure costs were paid or incurred prior to draw down under Federal Awards. As a result, a federal draw down was submitted twice in error. Effect: The Organization received federal funds before costs were paid or incurred. Context: Requests for reimbursement under Federal Awards are submitted through the Federal Payment Management System one to two times per month after costs have been paid or incurred. One reimbursement request was submitted twice in error. The error was detected and corrected within the grant year. Questioned costs: None Repeat Finding: This is a repeat finding. See finding 2021-01. Recommendation: We recommend the Organization improve its policies and procedures for reviewing reimbursement requests. Views of responsible officials of the auditee: Management concurs with the finding. The error occurred in second month of fiscal year before enhanced internal controls were implemented following the finding from the prior year?s audit. Controls implemented include a reconciliation process to ensure accuracy of reimbursement requests, improved record retention procedures, and documented standard operating procedures. Management considers this recommendation closed.