Finding 59918 (2022-002)

Significant Deficiency Repeat Finding
Requirement
AB
Questioned Costs
$1
Year
2022
Accepted
2023-04-13

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: There is a significant deficiency in internal controls, with five out of forty sampled expenditures lacking proper documentation of approval.
  • Impacted Requirements: Compliance with 2 CFR 200.403(g) is at risk, as charges to federal awards must be adequately documented and supported by internal controls.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Implement stronger control activities to ensure all expenditures are properly approved and tracked, enhancing compliance with federal guidelines.

Finding Text

Federal agency: Department of Education Federal program title: 21st Century Community Learning Centers CFDA Number 84.287 Award Period: 7/1/2021-6/30/2022 Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance Criteria: 2 CFR 200 Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements (the Uniform Guidance), section 200.403(g), requires that charges to Federal awards must be adequately documented. These records must be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated. Condition: From a sample of forty general expenditures allocated to the program during the year, five selections lacked documentation of approval. Context: A sample of forty charges allocated to the program, totaling $7,078, were selected for audit from a population of general expenditures allocated to the program totaling $303,054. There were 5 charges that lacked sufficient documentation of review and approval per the Center?s policies. Questioned Costs: Known questioned costs total $951. Cause: Riverside Educational Center requires that supporting documentation be retained for expenditures allocated to federal funding sources, including approval of receipts and invoices. However, five of the incurred expenses on credit cards issued by the Center for procuring program supplies did not have proper approval for the charges on receipts. Effect: When adequate documentation is not retained and used to support the amount charged to the federal program, there is a risk that unsupported or inaccurate costs are being charged to the federal program. Recommendation: Proper control activities should be implemented to allow for a consistent, accurate, and allowable method to support distribution of general expenditures to federal programs. The Center should develop a means to adequately track approvals for expenditures. View of responsible officials: Management is in agreement

Corrective Action Plan

Riverside Educational Center respectively submits the following corrective action plan for the year ended June 30, 2022. Name and address of independent public accounting firm: Chadwick, Steinkirchner, Davis & Co., P.C. 2499 Hwy 6&50 Grand Junction, CO 81505 Audit Period: Year ended June 30, 2022 The findings from the Schedule of Findings and Questioned Costs for the year ended June 30, 2022, are discussed below. The findings are numbered consistently with the number assigned in the Schedule. Findings ? Financial Statement Audit Significant Deficiency in Financial Reporting 2022-001 Criteria: The Center is responsible for establishing and maintaining a system of internal control that will prevent, detect and correct errors in the financial statements in a timely manner to safeguard assets and allow for timely and accurate financial reporting. Recommendations: We recommend that the Center creates a process where reconciliations of the financial records are performed regularly and reviewed by someone other than the person who performed the reconciliation. We also recommend that the staff acquire the training necessary to be able to complete a set of GAAP-compliant financial statements. We agree with the recommendation that reconciliations of financial records be completed regularly and be subsequently reviewed by someone other the person who performed the reconciliation. As of February 2021, our process for all bank and credit card activities changed from being completed by the Financial Manager and not reviewed to being completed by the Operations Director and being reviewed by the Executive Director, with documentation of this approval being retained in a shared drive on a monthly basis. A process has also been enacted, as of 3/15/2021, that ensures all supporting documentation for credit card activities are reviewed by program administrators prior to reconciliation. These approvals are retained in REC's receipt tracking software (Hubdoc). An update to this policy and process was enacted on 1/1/23 that provides further assurance that all required documentations and approvals have been received and retained; with backup documentation being held in Hubdoc and approvals being documented through manager signature and retained in REC?s google drive. 2022-002 Federal agency: Department of Education Federal program title: 21st Century Community Learning Centers CFDA Number 84.287 Award Period: 7/1/2021-6/30/2022 Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance Criteria: 2 CFR 200 Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements (the Uniform Guidance), section 200.403(g), requires that charges to Federal awards must be adequately documented. These records must be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated. Context: A sample of forty charges allocated to the program, totaling $7,078, were selected for audit from a population of general expenditures allocated to the program totaling $303,054. There were 5 charges that lacked sufficient documentation of review and approval per the Center?s policies. Questioned Costs: Known questioned costs total $951. Recommendation: Proper control activities should be implemented to allow for a consistent, accurate, and allowable method to support distribution of general expenditures to federal programs. The Center should develop a means to adequately track approvals for expenditures. We agree with the recommendation that approval for all expenditures should be tracked with documentation of the approval being maintained. As of 1/1/2023, REC has implemented a policy and procedure for approval of all expenditures on credit cards (which are the expenditures that have led to this finding) that requires all cardholders and their direct supervisors to sign their monthly credit card statement for approval of all expenditures. This procedure also requires the Financial Manager?s signature to verify that either, all backup documentation has been submitted and retained, or that any charges without the correct backup documentation is not charged to any of REC?s grants or restricted funds. This policy caps the total amount of missing documentation to a total of $9,000 per year and ensures that all expenditures without documentation are not charged to grants or otherwise restricted funds. If any agency, stakeholder or other party has any questions regarding this plan, please call Landen Fledderjohn at 970-279-1595. Sincerely, Landen Fledderjohn, Financial Manager Riverside Educational Center

Categories

Questioned Costs Allowable Costs / Cost Principles Significant Deficiency Internal Control / Segregation of Duties

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 636360 2022-002
    Significant Deficiency Repeat

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.287 Twenty-First Century Community Learning Centers $1.87M
93.558 Temporary Assistance for Needy Families $273,802
10.558 Child and Adult Care Food Program $220,705
93.243 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services_projects of Regional and National Significance $113,069
14.218 Community Development Block Grants/entitlement Grants $7,967
93.569 Community Services Block Grant $4,476