Finding 61633 (2022-002)

Significant Deficiency Repeat Finding
Requirement
L
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2022
Accepted
2023-03-26
Audit: 57182
Organization: Mid-South Food Bank (TN)

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The Organization failed to submit monthly USDA reports on time, impacting compliance with state requirements.
  • Impacted Requirements: Monthly reports must be submitted to the Tennessee Department of Agriculture within 10 business days after the reporting month.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Ensure timely submission of reports to avoid repeat findings and maintain compliance.

Finding Text

2022-002: Significant Deficiency ? Reporting ? Relating to the Emergency Food Assistance Program ? Commodities (10.569) ? this is a repeat finding of prior year finding 2021-002. Criteria: The Organization is required to submit monthly reports to the Tennessee Department of Agriculture 10 business days following the month being reported, showing receipts and disbursements of USDA food. Condition: Management did not submit the monthly USDA reports timely. Context: Management did not submit the USDA reports to the Tennessee Department of Agriculture for 7 of the 12 months tested for the year ended June 30, 2022, within the proper time period. Cause: This condition appears to be due to the lack of oversight for supplying proper support to regulatory authorities. Effect: The Organization is not in compliance with this requirement. Questioned Costs: Unknown Recommendation: We recommend the Organization submit these reports timely to the Tennessee Department of Agriculture.

Corrective Action Plan

2022-002: Significant Deficiency ? Reporting ? Relating to the Emergency Food Assistance Program ? Commodities (10.569) ? this is a repeat finding of prior year finding 2021-002 This deficiency is primarily due to vacancies of certain key positions within Operations, compounded by a general lack of necessary cross-training hampered by those vacancies. Because of this in-part, full workloads of our existing Operations staff are common, and in order for our Operations staff to have and be assured the necessary time to successfully perform and complete their day-to-day operational responsibilities, these particular monthly reporting deadlines have unfortunately been missed on occasion. Additionally, because of our desire to submit accurate reports, several times the reconciliation of inventory took greater than 10 days. We continually attempt to submit all of our monthly reporting to the Tennessee Department of Agriculture prior to the 10-business day deadline and consider any missed deadlines as undesirable. It is the responsibility of the COO to fill key open positions, train and cross-train Operations staff to ensure that this particular reporting, and Operations reporting in general, is performed timely and accurately.Anticipated completion date: The corrective controls and procedures were collectively completed, which includes having one staff member responsible for filing the report monthly, checked for accuracy by the COO, and have two additional staff members trained as backups, and put in place February 1, 2023 and are ready for the next fiscal year close. Responsible Official: Scott Fortin, COO (901-373-0437)

Categories

Reporting Significant Deficiency Internal Control / Segregation of Duties

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 638075 2022-002
    Significant Deficiency Repeat

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
10.569 Emergency Food Assistance Program (food Commodities) $4.89M
97.036 Disaster Grants - Public Assistance (presidentially Declared Disasters) $859,160
10.568 Emergency Food Assistance Program (administrative Costs) $389,170
21.019 Coronavirus Relief Fund $68,674
10.561 State Administrative Matching Grants for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program $10,739
10.551 Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program $10,564