Finding 964160 (2023-001)

Finding No. 2023‐001: Allowable costs and activities – significant deficiency in internal controls over compliance and compliance finding Criteria: In accordance with Section 200.430 of the Uniform Guidance, charges for personnel expenses using federal awards must be supported by a system of internal control that provides reasonable assurance that charges are accurate, allowable and properly allocated. Budget estimates alone do not qualify as support for charges to federal awards. Condition: During review of the allowable cost activities sample, certain employee benefits were charged to the grant based upon budgeted totals and were not subsequently adjusted to reflect actual time and effort. Cause: Lack of knowledge of compliance requirement by staff and employee turnover. Effect: Employee benefit expenses charged to the grant were not based on actual time and effort. Questioned costs: None Recommendation: In order to comply with the Uniform Guidance federal regulations, we recommend that the time sheets are properly completed noting the amount of time spent by each employee on each federal program and that these timesheets are reviewed, approved, and used to allocate employee benefit expenses to the federal program. If budget estimates are used throughout the year, a true up will need to be completed to ensure that all total employee benefit costs were charged are based on actual time and effort. Management’s response: See corrective action plan