Finding Text
Finding 2022-003: COVID-19 Education Stabilization Fund, Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds Reporting Program: COVID-19 Education Stabilization Fund, Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds Assistance Listing Number: 84.425E & F Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Federal Award Identification Number: P425E200665 & P425F201753 Federal Award Year: June 30, 2022 Repeat Finding: 2021-003 Criteria: The U.S. Department of Education (the Department) has issued guidance for the Education Stabilization Funds (ESF) Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (HEERF) for quarterly reporting for all sections (a)(1), (a)(2), (a)(3) and (a)(4) that specifies the information to be reported and also that the deadline to submit all quarterly reports, student and institutional, is within 10 days of the end of the calendar quarter. Condition/Context: For the Institutional portion June 30, 2021 report selected for testing, the auditor noted that the report did not agree to the underlying support, specifically the categories of replacing lost revenue from auxiliary sources and other uses. Additionally, the June 30, 2021 report was posted to the College's website after the deadline of 10 days after calendar quarter end. Subsequently, the College corrected the June 30, 2021 institutional quarterly report and posted it to the College?s website and the auditor reviewed. For the student portion June 30, 2021, August 31, 2021 and March 31, 2022 quarterly reports selected for testing the College did not include two required items ? 1) the number of students eligible to receive emergency financial aid grants and 2) the total number of students who received the emergency financial aid grants. Additionally, the College posted the March 31, 2022 report two days after the reporting deadline. Subsequently, the College corrected the June 30, 2021, August 31, 2021 and March 31, 2022 student quarterly reports to add the required items and posted them to the College?s website and the auditor reviewed. Questioned Costs: Not applicable. Cause: The College?s internal controls related to the preparation and review of the quarterly reports were not effective in catching the errors in the reporting or ensuring that reporting was completed timely. Effect: The quarterly reports included incorrect and missing information and were posted to the College?s website late. Recommendation: We recommend the College review its internal controls over the preparation and review of the quarterly reports. The College should have supporting documents available for the preparer and reviewer of the quarterly and annual reports to ensure that reporting is done accurately and timely. Management?s Response: Management has reviewed internal controls related to quarterly reporting for both institutional and student funds. Requirements have been reviewed by personnel responsible for the preparation of quarterly reports as well as personnel responsible for review of the reports. Management has assigned personnel separate from those responsible for preparation of the quarterly reports to review supporting documents and verify the accuracy of the reporting. Procedures have been put into place to ensure timely reporting. In addition, all reports posted have been revised to include all requirements and report accurate information.