Finding Text
Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance and Compliance
Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Defense
Federal Program Name: Natural Resource Survey and Habitat Enhancement
Assistance Listing Number: 12.005
Federal Award Identification Number and Year: H79TI083313 - 2020
Pass-Through Agency: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District
Pass-Through Number(s): W912DW-20-2-0003
Award Period: September 28, 2020, through September 27, 2025
Criteria or specific requirement: 2 CFR 200.302(a) on Financial management states that "... the other non-Federal entity's financial management systems, including records documenting compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award, must be sufficient to permit the preparation of reports required by general and program-specific terms and conditions; and the tracing of funds to a level of expenditures adequate to establish that such funds have been used according to the Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award". The current form of documentation did not clearly agree between the invoiced amount and what was presented in the general ledger for the period requested for reimbursement. In addition, 2 CFR 200.305(b) states that "For non-Federal entities other than states, payments methods must minimize the time elapsing between the transfer of funds from the United States Treasury or the pass-through entity and the disbursement by the non-Federal entity whether the payment is made by electronic funds transfer, or issuance or redemption of checks, warrants, or payment by other means".
Condition: During our testing, it was noted that each of the 4 samples selected did not include sufficient documentation to agree all amounts requested for reimbursement for the month in question to the expenditures listed in the general detail by program.
Questioned costs: Unknown.
Context: A sample of 4 monthly reimbursement requests were taken from a population of 12. Of the 4 sampled, each were insufficiently supported to agree the amounts requested for reimbursement for the month in question to the expenditures listed in the general detail by program.
Cause: The Organization is using a cumulative profit and loss to file monthly reimbursement requests (beginning of the year through the reimbursement month). In addition, reimbursement requests are not always prepared and filed each month. In these instances, The Organization will often catch up on expenditures that had been made in previous months and request them in the current period.
Effect: The Organization is currently in noncompliance with federal regulations with regard to adequate documentation and the reduction of time between expenditures being made and requesting for federal reimbursement. Without adequate documentation in place to ensure costs are evidenced and reconcile to the expenditures documented in the underlying accounting information that is used to prepare the SEFA, the Organization could incorrectly charge expenditures to the federal program, or not request appropriate reimbursement that the Organization is entitled to under the terms of the grant. Delayed reimbursement requests puts the Organization at continued noncompliance with federal regulations and can result in delayed payment, putting further financial strain on the Organization.
Repeat Finding: No.
Recommendation: CLA recommends that the Organization move away from using a cumulative profit and loss report and instead run monthly general ledger details by program as support for their monthly reimbursement requests. This will enhance clarity of costs attributable to each monthly period and reduces the chance that costs will be missed when requesting for reimbursement. Any reconciling transactions can be clearly tracked in an Excel file of the general ledger detail by program. In addition, CLA recommends that the Organization emphasize to program management staff the importance of filing reimbursement requests each month and in a timely manner to reduce administrative and financial burden.
Views of responsible officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.