December 27, 2022
Valley Community Services Board respectfully submits the following corrective action plan for the year ended June 30, 2022.
Name and address of independent public accounting firm:
Brown, Edwards & Company, L.L.P. 1909 Financial Drive
Harrisonburg, VA 22801
Audit period: June 30, 2022
The findings from the June 30, 2022, Schedule of Findings and Questioned Costs (the "Schedule") are discussed below. The findings are numbered consistently with the number assigned in the Schedule.
FINDINGS - FINANCIAL STATEMENT AUDIT
If the Federal Audit Clearinghouse has questions regarding this plan, please call Devin Foster, Director of Finance, or Dereck Criner, Director of Human Resources and Interim Chief Financial Officer during the audit period, at (540) 887-3200.
2022-007: Emergency Solutions Grant Program - AL #14.231, Controls over reimbursements and program monitoring (Material Weakness)
Condition:
The Community Based Services Supervisor is the only person involved with submitting reimbursement requests and monitoring the budget and expenditures for the program. A separate review of reimbursement requests is not performed. The accounting department is not involved with managing the program budgets.
Criteria:
More than one staff person should be involved for accountability and monitoring of the program. Expenditures used to recognize revenue in accounting should correspond to expenses reimbursed or identified for federal and state award programs.
Cause:
With turnover in accounting staff during the year, items were not reviewed or monitored for the program.
Effect:
Errors in reporting or misuse of funding could potentially go undetected due to lack of separation of functions and proper oversight.
Recommendation:
We recommend implementing internal controls over the reimbursement requests and budget monitoring process by involving another person prior to submitting the request. Additionally, spreadsheets used to track grant awards and program expenditures should be reviewed by someone with an understanding of the program such as the Behavioral Health Director or Assistant Director or accounting.
Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action:
Effective February 2022, all requests for reimbursement under this program are submitted by the fund manager to the program's Assistant Director prior to submission to Accounting. Reimbursement filings are provided to Accounting in a timely manner and a fund reconciliation spreadsheet will be created to share with the fund manager and Assistant Director on a monthly basis. Additionally, Accounting now receives a copy of the submitted reimbursement requires and will be including a review of expenses, requests for reimbursement, and reimbursements received as part of the monthly reconciliation.
2022-008: Emergency Solutions Grant Program-AL# 14.231, Controls over cash management and reimbursement requests (Material Weakness) (Continued)
Condition:
Requests for reimbursement were not submitted timely, with multiple months submitted 80 days after the expenditure had incurred. Amounts recorded for revenue did not accurately reflect final requested reimbursement.
Criteria:
Reimbursements should be submitted timely and should be provided and reconciled to financial data in general ledger by accounting team. Differences should be resolved, and reimbursement received should ultimately reflect total program revenue in general ledger.
Cause:
With turnover in staff during the year, items were not always available timely. In addition, management was not always aware of reporting requirements or aware of activity under program reimbursements.
Effect:
Errors in reporting could ultimately lead to differences in financial accounting vs program activity. Accurate and timely reporting and requests can improve cash flows and ensure program is able to meet funding needs.
Recommendation:
Additionally, spreadsheets used to track grant awards and program expenditures should be reviewed by someone with an understanding of the program such as the Behavioral Health Director or another individual in the finance department. These spreadsheets should ultimately identify amounts that were submitted for request for reimbursement and be recorded in the general ledger. Amounts recorded for revenue in the general ledger should agree between the two, with monthly or quarterly reconciliations performed to ensure financial reporting accurately reflects spending and reimbursement activity.
Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action:
VCSB will amend the reconciliations process for CHERP to include a documented review and approval of all expenses, reimbursement requests, and reimbursements received. Additionally, the Accountant and Director of Finance are working with the program fund manager to submit requests for reimbursement in a more timely manner.
Sincerely yours,
Derek Criner
Director of Human Resources