Finding Text
Finding 2023-003 – Allowable Costs/Cost Principles – Time and Effort Certifications
Education Stabilization Fund - AL #84.425, Year Ended June 30, 2023
U.S. Department of Education
Pass-Through Entity - Pennsylvania Department of Education
Criteria: Uniform Guidance requires an employee whose salary and wages are supported, in whole or in part, with Federal funds to document his/her time spent working on Federal programs in order to ensure that charges to each Federal program reflect an accurate account of the employee’s time and effort devoted to that program. If an employee works solely on a single Federal award or cost objective, charges for the employee’s salary and wages must be supported by periodic certifications that the employee worked solely on that program or cost objective for the period covered by the certification.
Those certifications must:
- Be prepared at least semiannually.
- Signed by the employee or supervisory official having firsthand knowledge of the work performed by the employee.
Condition: Time and effort documentation was not prepared for certain employees. There were five employees included in the sample with no time and effort certifications maintained to support the portion of time and effort dedicated to the ARP ESSER program.
Cause and Effect: The District did not realize that all employees charged to the Federal award needed to have a time certification prepared. The District receives federal funding based on allowable costs charged to the program. If documentation is not maintained to support the allowability of costs charged to the program, the District may be utilizing the funds for expenses which are unallowable. This may result in the return of federal funds to the funding agency for the unallowable costs, if deemed appropriate.
Identification of Repeat Finding: No.
Questioned Costs: Salary and related benefits of employees charged to the program including related social security and retirement and insurance = $178,878.
Recommendation: We recommend that controls be reviewed and revised to ensure that time and effort distribution records are prepared for staff who are charged to federal programs. These records should also be reviewed, approved, and maintained by administrative personnel.
Management Response: See Corrective Action Plan on pages 93-95.