Finding Text
Criteria: Internal controls should be in place that provide reasonable assurance that cost allocations of staff time accurately represent the correct allocation of employee-related costs based on the time spent by applicable employees. Condition: Cost allocations for salaries, including federal award programs, are not consistently supported by employee timesheets or other similar documentation. Effect : Because a reconciliation process is not in place to agree to personnel activity reports to cost allocations, it is possible that an employee's time may be inappropriately allocated amongst program and non program activities, including federal award programs. Cause : There are no procedures in place for tracking of employee time spent on federal programs on a cost reimbursement basis. Context : During our testing of current year expenditures, we sampled 31 payroll expenditures totaling $67,195 and identified 7 transactions totalling $13,975 in which the allocated amount was not supported by timecards maintained. Recommendation : We recommend that individuals who are written into a grant agreement as a cost reimbursement and who work in different program initiatives, track their time and submit timecards or time allocation summaries documenting their time spent on the various programs. We recommend then that the accounting department reconcile those reports and ensure that the pay period allocation is in agreement with the submitted reports. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions : The Agency recognizes this finding and notes that this occurrence resulted from additional emergency additional funding provided by funders in a different payment structure than other grants received. Going forward with any new grants that are cost reimbursement based and where individuals are only partially allocated to the program, a staff allocation tracking will be implemented for said employees.