Finding Text
Statement of Condition:
Employee time charged to programs funded by the grant was not tracked for two employees out of a sample of twenty-five.
Questioned Costs:
Known questioned costs $1,113. Likely questioned costs approximately $26,700.
Criteria:
Federal requirements require charges for salaries and wages to be based upon records that accurately reflect the actual work performed and be supported by a system of internal controls that reasonably assure that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated. The records should support the distribution of the employee’s salary or wages among the specific activities (grants) charged.
Cause:
The Organization did not track the actual time of two employees who charged to a percentage of their time to programs funded by the grant. Instead, a budgeted rate was applied to the employees throughout the fiscal year.
Effect:
Salaries and wages charged to specific grants might not accurately reflect the actual time and effort applied to those grants.
Recommendation:
We recommend that a time and effort policy be implemented in order to comply with applicable cost principles. Charges for salaries and wages must be supported by records indicating the total number of hours worked each day, with a breakdown by specific program. These should be signed by the employee and other responsible individual with knowledge of the employee’s activity. These should then be reviewed and reconciled with the budget by grant.