Finding 526510 (2024-003)

Allowable Costs/Cost Principles U.S. Department of Agriculture/Passed Through State of Nevada Department of Agriculture ALN 10.553, 10.555 – Child Nutrition Cluster Award Date – 7/1/2023 Criteria – Management is responsible for implementing internal controls over Allowable Costs/Cost Principles, as required by the Uniform Guidance. Condition – Evidence of review and approval prior to the payment could not be provided for four of the payroll expenditures tested, which were incurred during July and August of 2023. Questioned Costs – None Context/Sampling – A non-statistical sample of 40 payroll expenditures out of 846 payroll expenditures was selected for testing. Cause – The School lacked sufficient internal controls to ensure that the review and approval of payroll costs were documented prior to expenditure. Effect or Potential Effect – There is a risk that unallowable costs may be charged to the program without being detected by the School. Recommendation – We recommend that the School document the review and approval of all payroll expenditures to ensure compliance with the Uniform Guidance. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions – A process was put in place in January 2024 to ensure that all principal approvals are documented in writing or electronic approval in the system which can be date stamped by the system. Payroll will not be run, nor grants submitted, until proper approval is received.