Finding 6384 (2023-001)

U.S. Department of Commerce Congressionally Identified Projects – 11.617 Award Number - 60NANB22D201 Criteria or Specific Requirement – Cash Management 2 CFR 200.305(b) of the compliance supplement requires organizations receiving federal funds to establish controls and procedures that would minimize the amount of time between drawdowns and disbursement of the funds. As required per the Department of Commerce Financial Assistance Standard Terms and Conditions, Section B, "Financial Requirements", paragraph .02.b1, advanced payments must be limited to immediate cash needs and must time advance payment requests so that Federal funds are on hand for a maximum of 30 calendar days before being disbursed by the non-Federal entity for allowable award costs. Condition – RI requested an advance payment in October 2022 for anticipated expenditures and did not expend all funding within the 30 day period. Questioned Costs – None noted. Context – We selected one drawdown for $1,000,000 out of three drawdowns totaling $3,000,000 during fiscal year 2023 for testing. During our testwork, we noted that a portion of the drawdown was not expended within the 30 day period following the receipt of the drawdown. The sample was not intended to be, and was not a statistically valid sample. Effect – RI did not comply with the 30 day period required for advanced payments. Cause – RI had issued purchase orders to vendors prior to advance payment request, but did not receive invoices from vendors for payment within the 30 day period and, as such, did not disburse funding. Identification as a Repeat Finding – Not applicable. Recommendation – We recommend RI only request advance payments up to the amount they are able to disburse within the required time in order to minimize the time elapsing between the receipt and disbursement of federal funds. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions – Management agrees with the stated finding and has implemented a corrective action plan.