Finding 503686 (2022-005)

Activities Allowed or Unallowed; Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Award Identification Assistance Listing Program Title: Formula Grants for Rural Areas Assistance Listing Program Number: 20.509 Federal Award ID Number and Year: Various Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Transportation Pass-Through Entity: Nebraska Department of Transportation Criteria Standards for documentation of personnel expenses at 2 CFR 200.430(i)(1) require that charges to federal awards for salaries and wages be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must: - Be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly documented. - Reasonably reflect the total activity for which the employee is compensated. - Support the distribution of the employee's salary or wages among specific activities or cost objectives if the employee works on more than one Federal award; a Federal award and non-Federal award; an indirect cost activity and a direct cost activity; two or more indirect activities which are allocated using different allocation bases; or an unallowable activity and a direct or indirect cost activity. Standards for documentation of personnel expenses at 2 CFR 200.430(i)(3) require that in accordance with Department of Labor regulations implementing the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (29 CFR 516), charges for the salaries and wages of nonexempt employees must be supported by records indicating the total number of hours worked each day. The Organization must establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that they are managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal Award (2 CFR 200.303). Condition The Organization lacked adequate documentation to support: - Hours worked by employees - Supervisory approval of time sheets - Approved rates of pay Repeat Finding No. Cause Procedures within the Organization were inadequate to ensure that personnel expenses were adequately documented. Effect or Potential Effect Increased potential for errors or misuse of funds. Questioned Costs Known $2,082 Statistical Sample No. Context Auditor haphazardly selected 60 payroll transactions covering the entire fiscal year for testing, however, auditor did not complete the testing of all 60 transactions due to the frequency of errors encountered. Of the nine transactions that were tested, there were errors regarding: - Lack of (approved) timesheets. - Personnel files lacking (approved) rates of pay. - A timesheet that did not accurately foot, resulting in questioned costs of $94. - Rates of pay documented in personnel files that did not match the actual rates of pay, resulting in questioned costs of $1,988. Recommendation We recommend the Organization establish a system of internal control consisting of policies and procedures whereby payroll transactions and related documentation contain appropriate review and approval. Views of Responsible Officials See Corrective Action Plan, below.