Finding 525269 (2023-004)

Finding 2023-004 - Accounting for Grants, Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards, and Fiscal Manage-ment (Material Weakness) CFDA Title and Number 84.425 Education Stabilization Fund Name of Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Criteria: CFR Part 200.508, CFR Part 200.510, Auditee Responsibilities state that the auditee must prepare the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards, which must list individual Federal awards by Federal Agency, in-cluding the total Federal awards expended, name of the pass-through entity, CFDA number, and total amount pro-vided to subrecipients. The information contained in the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards should be derived from and relate directly to the underlying accounting and other records used to prepare the financial state-ments. Condition: The Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) was presented for audit with values that were not reconciled with the general ledger. Cause: The District relied on individuals with insufficient training or support to prepare the SEFA and ensure that it was reconciled with general ledger amounts. District management did not have sufficient training or monitoring policies to recognize and correct the deficiency. Effect or Potential Effect: Errors in recording and reporting of revenues and expenditures of federal awards may not be detected and/or corrected. Because the Auditee’s SEFA that was presented for audit was completed incor-rectly, and not reconciled to the general ledger, the SEFA was materially misstated, prior to auditors’ correction recommendations. Questioned Cost: No Context: Lack of adequate controls over the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards and related accounting resulted in the following: • SEFA was originally presented for auditors with incorrect information. • Inadequate reconciliation between federal expenditures reported on the GL and the SEFA was presented. Repeat of a Prior-Year Finding: No Recommendation: We recommend that the District establish policies and procedures to ensure that all Federal awards are identified and reported accurately on future SEFAs. Internal controls should be designed to prevent, detect, or correct errors in a timely manner by performing periodic reconciliations of the SEFA information to the general ledger throughout the fiscal year. The District should provide appropriate training to staff who are assigned to prepare and review the SEFA. District’s Response: The District acknowledges the deficiencies. Corrective Action Plan: The District will establish policies and procedures to ensure that all Federal awards are identified and reported accurately on future SEFAs. Planned Implementation Date: November 1, 2024 Responsible Person: District Business Manager