Finding Text
Rural Health Care Services Outreach, Rural Health Network Development and Small Health Care Provider Quality Improvement Program ? Assistance Listing No. 93.912U.S. Department of Health and Human Services6 GA1RH33488, September 1, 2019 ? August 31, 20226 D60RH36761, August 1, 2020 ? July 31, 20216 D60RH36761, August 1, 2021 ? July 31, 20226 UK9RH43497, September 1, 2021 ? August 31, 2022Criteria or specific requirement ? Activities Allowed or Unallowed and Allowable Costs/Cost Principles (45 CFR 75.430(i))Condition ? Charges to federal awards for salaries and wages were not based on records that accurately reflect the work performed for certain individuals.Questioned costs ? $39,196. Questioned costs were determined by identifying all employees in the grant expenditures listing whose salary or wages were partially charged to the grant for which the Organization could not support with time and attendance records. Questioned costs also include allocated fringe benefits at a 7 percent rate. Questioned costs by federal award identification number are:? 6 GA1RH33488 ? $6,193? 6 D60RH36761 ? $9,227? 6 UK9RH43497 ? $23,776Context ? The Organization charged salaries and wages to federal awards based on budget estimates. The standards for documentation of personnel expenses require records to support the distribution of each employee?s salary or wages among specific activities if, among others, the employee works on more than one federal award, a federal award and a non-federal award, or an unallowable activity and a direct cost activity. Budget estimates may be used for interim accounting purposes as long as:(1) the Organization has a system for establishing the estimates that produces reasonable approximations of the activity actually performed, (2) significant changes in the corresponding work activity are identified and entered into the records in a timely manner, and (3) the Organization?s system of internal controls includes processes to adjust the final amount charged to federal awards to reflect the work performed.Effect ? Charges to federal awards for salaries and wages for certain individuals do not comply with standards for documentation of personnel expenses as they were not supported by records reflecting the work performed.Cause ? The Organization does not have a system in place to accurately capture work performed when an employee works on more than one federal award, a federal award and a non-federal award, or an unallowable activity and a direct cost activity.Identification as a repeat finding, if applicable ? Not a repeat finding.Recommendation ? The Organization should maintain supporting documentation for its estimates of work to be performed by each position for each federal award. The Organization should develop a system to capture work activity by federal award and non-federal award and allowable activities and unallowable activities. The Organization should implement a policy to revisit budget estimates based on actual work activity to ensure the final amount charged to federal awards is accurate, allowable and properly allocated.Views of responsible officials and planned corrective actions ?We are working on getting a process set up to monitor actual time spent on grants in comparison to budgeted time. The salaries charged to the grants were based on budget time, and while significant time was incurred that would be allowable as a direct cost to the grant, the documentation to support that actual time spent was not there.