Little Scholars of Arkansas Foundation

Statement of Condition: During testing it was noted a non-payroll transaction over federal expenditures for Title I, Part A - Grants to Local Education Agencies was paid twice. Criteria: Invoices over federal expenditures should be properly matched to the purchase order by the appropriate personnel before payment and only paid to a vendor once. Cause of Condition: Procedures are not in place to prevent duplicate payments on invoices. Effect of Condition: During testing, an invoice was paid twice and recorded twice to Title I, Part A - Grants to Local Education Agencies, resulting in an incorrect amount being recorded to the program for cost reimbursement. Context: A sample of 37 transactions consisting of payroll and non-payroll items were selected to test controls related to allowable costs. The audit testing found one discrepancy in the non-payroll transactions related to the matching and approval of invoices to purchase orders. Recommendation: We recommend the School put controls in place so that once an invoice has been matched to a purchase order and has been paid, then that invoice cannot be paid again. Views of responsible officials and planned corrective actions: We are in agreement with the finding and will follow the recommendation. Accounting software (eFinance) has a duplicate invoice checking feature and we are currently using it. Our staff will be training to use this feature to prevent paying an invoice more than once. Furthermore, LISA Academy will increase the district personnel dedicated to accounts payable duties. Finance administrators will monitor transactions frequently to prevent duplicate payment of invoices.

As discussed in Finding 2019-001, during testing a non-payroll transaction over federal expenditures for Title I, Part A - Grants to Local Education Agencies was paid twice. The School should put controls in place so that once an invoice has been matched to a purchase order and has been paid, then that invoice cannot be paid again.