Finding Text
Finding 2022-006: Federal Financial Reporting Requirements (Significant Deficiency) Information on the Federal Program: U.S. Department of State ALN 19.040 Criteria or Specific Requirement: Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Section 200.303(b) requires non-federal entities to establish and maintain effective internal control over federal awards that provide reasonable assurance that the non-federal entity is managing federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and terms and conditions of the federal award. CFR Section 200.502(a) states that the determination of when a federal award is expended should be based on when the activity related to the federal award occurs. CFR Section 200.510 states that the auditee must prepare a schedule of expenditures of federal awards for the period covered by the auditee's financial statements which must include the total federal awards expended as determined in accordance with CFR Section 200.502. Condition: The schedule of expenditures of federal awards for the year ended December 31, 2022, did not originally include indirect costs totaling $43,632. Questioned Costs: None Cause: FCE's management prepared the schedule of expenditures of federal awards using only direct costs. However, FCE had applied the 10-percent de minimis indirect cost rate when submitting its financial reports. Effect or Potential Effect: The exclusion of indirect costs caused inaccurate amounts to be reported in the SEFA at the start of the audit. This could have caused an inaccurate major program determination. Recommendation: FCE should implement a process for preparing the SEFA that includes comparing amounts reported in the SEFA to amounts included in financial reports of expenditures that are submitted to federal agencies.