☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
KENTUCKY STATE UNIVERSITY
Schedule of Findings and Questioned Costs, continued
Finding 2013-008, continued:
Year ended June 30, 2013
wages by the institution will be supported by activity reports as prescribed below. Reports will reasonably reflect the activities for which employees are compensated by the institution. To confirm that the distribution of activity represents a reasonable estimate of the work performed by the employee during the period, the reports will be signed by the employee, principal investigator, or responsible official(s) using suitable means of verification that the work was performed.
Cause:
The incomplete time and effort reports is due to a lack of management oversight and lack of internal controls in place to ensure that all the time and effort reports are completed correctly and signed and dated by the appropriate personnel and submitted to the sponsoring agent in a timely manner.
Effect:
The University does not have appropriate time and effort records for the time charged to the grant to ensure the distribution of activity represents the reasonable estimate of work performed during the period. The University expended funds related to payroll without time and effort reports being completed correctly in a timely manner and without the appropriate timely levels of review.
Recommendation:
We recommend the University review their policies and procedures to ensure that all time and effort reports are completed correctly and signed and dated by the appropriate personnel and submitted to the sponsoring agent in a timely manner.
Management Response:
We agree with your recommendation that the University review policies and procedures to ensure that all time and effort reports are completed correctly and submitted to the Office of Research, Grants and Sponsored Programs (OSP) in a timely manner. Although OSP has implemented a process for informing the university community of federal requirements and conducting periodic checks, not all problems have been resolved relative to T&E reporting. Therefore, OSP will meet with key administrators to design compliance implementation strategies that should lead to accuracy and timeliness in T&E reporting.
74