EIN: 371535589
UEI: G8DZHNRKWTN3
Audited by: CHERRY BEKAERT LLP
Oversight agency: 93 [Department of Health and Human Services]
View federal awards & risk assessment →
Data as of August 31, 2026
Management decision deadline — for entities that funded this organization
The FAC accepted this audit on March 31, 2026. Under 2 CFR 200.521(d), a pass-through entity that provided federal funds to this organization for this audit period must issue a management decision on these findings by October 1, 2026 (29 days from today).
What is a management decision? →FAC accepted this audit on March 28, 2025 — management decision was due September 28, 2025.
FAC accepted this audit on April 1, 2024 — management decision was due October 1, 2024.
FAC accepted this audit on March 30, 2023 — management decision was due September 30, 2023.
Finding 2022-002 Federal Agency: Various Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster CFDA: Various Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs ? Incomplete Time and Effort Certifications Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Controls over Compliance Repeat Finding: Yes CRITERIA: The Office and Management and Budget?s (OMB) Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (?Uniform Guidance?) establishes principles and standards for determining costs for federal awards carried out through grants, contracts, and other agreements. To be allowable under federal awards, expenditures must be allocable, reasonable, and supported by adequate documentation. Section 200.430 of Uniform Guidance requires that charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated. Budget estimates (i.e., estimates determined before the services are performed) alone do not qualify as support for charges to Federal awards, but may be used for interim accounting purposes, provided that: (a) the system for establishing the estimates produces reasonable approximations of the activity actually performed; (b) significant changes in the corresponding work activity (as defined by the non-Federal entity's written policies) are identified and entered into the records in a timely manner; and (c) the non-Federal entity's system of internal controls includes processes to review after-the-fact interim charges made to a Federal awards based on budget estimates. All necessary adjustment must be made such that the final amount charged to the Federal award is accurate, allowable, and properly allocated. CONDITION: To meet the requirements of the Uniform Guidance for time and effort reporting, the Foundation utilizes an after-the-fact effort reporting system to certify that salaries charged, or cost shared, to Federal awards are reasonable and consistent with the work performed. The individual?s effort is first assigned to specific awards in the payroll system based on anticipated activities. Actual effort expended is then certified by a responsible person with suitable means of verification that the work was performed, generally the Principal Investigator, at the end of each semester. The Grants Office manually creates time and effort reports each semester. These effort reports are by Federal award and note all the employees who had payroll charged or cost shared to the project, the percentage of each employee?s total payroll charged or cost shared to the project, as well as the percentage of each employee?s total payroll charged to other projects or activities so that 100 percent of each employee?s effort is reported. The Principal Investigator for each Federal award is required to sign the Time and Effort reports to certify the reasonableness of the estimated total work effort for the period covered by the report. During our testing of the Research and Development Cluster, we sampled 40 expenditures. The sample was not intended to be and was not statistically valid. These 40 expenditures represented charges made on 20 federal awards. Payroll charges for 29 employees were selected for 9 of these federal awards. Our review of the Time and Effort Certifications resulted in the following: -Certifications were not completed for four (4) employees who had charges on two (2) projects in our sample. - For all the Time and Effort Certifications reviewed, the percentages of effort being certified were calculated based on the date the payroll charges were made or adjusted. If adjustments from a prior period were posted to a subsequent period, the percentage of effort for the period being certified were distorted and did not truly reflect the percentage of effort for the current term being certified. QUESTION COSTS: $2,100 ? calculated as the total payroll of the sampled payroll expenditures for which no Time and Effort Certification was completed. CAUSE: The Foundation does not have a system of process and controls in place to ensure all payroll certifications are completed. EFFECTS: Effort reporting is a federal compliance requirement. Lack of time and effort certifications could result in expenditures of federal awards for unallowable purposes. RECOMMENDATIONS: We recommend all payroll charges and adjustments to payroll charges be assigned a pay period. Time and Effort Certifications should include data based on these pay periods, and not the general ledger posting period. We also recommend the Time and Effort Certifications be prepared for each employee who had time charged to any federal program or cost shared to any federal program, rather than prepared for each federal award. The Foundation should then implement policies and control procedures to ensure time and effort certifications are completed in a timely manner. These policies should include annual training of the Grants Office as well as Principal Investigators and Department Administrators involved in federal awards. MANAGEMENT?S RESPONSE AND CORRECTIVE ACTION PLAN: See attached management?s corrective action plan.
Show full finding ▾Hide full finding ▴Finding 2022-002 Federal Agency: Various Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster CFDA: Various Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs ? Incomplete Time and Effort Certifications Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Controls over Compliance Repeat Finding: Yes CRITERIA: The Office and Management and Budget?s (OMB) Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (?Uniform Guidance?) establishes principles and standards for determining costs for federal awards carried out through grants, contracts, and other agreements. To be allowable under federal awards, expenditures must be allocable, reasonable, and supported by adequate documentation. Section 200.430 of Uniform Guidance requires that charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated. Budget estimates (i.e., estimates determined before the services are performed) alone do not qualify as support for charges to Federal awards, but may be used for interim accounting purposes, provided that: (a) the system for establishing the estimates produces reasonable approximations of the activity actually performed; (b) significant changes in the corresponding work activity (as defined by the non-Federal entity's written policies) are identified and entered into the records in a timely manner; and (c) the non-Federal entity's system of internal controls includes processes to review after-the-fact interim charges made to a Federal awards based on budget estimates. All necessary adjustment must be made such that the final amount charged to the Federal award is accurate, allowable, and properly allocated. CONDITION: To meet the requirements of the Uniform Guidance for time and effort reporting, the Foundation utilizes an after-the-fact effort reporting system to certify that salaries charged, or cost shared, to Federal awards are reasonable and consistent with the work performed. The individual?s effort is first assigned to specific awards in the payroll system based on anticipated activities. Actual effort expended is then certified by a responsible person with suitable means of verification that the work was performed, generally the Principal Investigator, at the end of each semester. The Grants Office manually creates time and effort reports each semester. These effort reports are by Federal award and note all the employees who had payroll charged or cost shared to the project, the percentage of each employee?s total payroll charged or cost shared to the project, as well as the percentage of each employee?s total payroll charged to other projects or activities so that 100 percent of each employee?s effort is reported. The Principal Investigator for each Federal award is required to sign the Time and Effort reports to certify the reasonableness of the estimated total work effort for the period covered by the report. During our testing of the Research and Development Cluster, we sampled 40 expenditures. The sample was not intended to be and was not statistically valid. These 40 expenditures represented charges made on 20 federal awards. Payroll charges for 29 employees were selected for 9 of these federal awards. Our review of the Time and Effort Certifications resulted in the following: -Certifications were not completed for four (4) employees who had charges on two (2) projects in our sample. - For all the Time and Effort Certifications reviewed, the percentages of effort being certified were calculated based on the date the payroll charges were made or adjusted. If adjustments from a prior period were posted to a subsequent period, the percentage of effort for the period being certified were distorted and did not truly reflect the percentage of effort for the current term being certified. QUESTION COSTS: $2,100 ? calculated as the total payroll of the sampled payroll expenditures for which no Time and Effort Certification was completed. CAUSE: The Foundation does not have a system of process and controls in place to ensure all payroll certifications are completed. EFFECTS: Effort reporting is a federal compliance requirement. Lack of time and effort certifications could result in expenditures of federal awards for unallowable purposes. RECOMMENDATIONS: We recommend all payroll charges and adjustments to payroll charges be assigned a pay period. Time and Effort Certifications should include data based on these pay periods, and not the general ledger posting period. We also recommend the Time and Effort Certifications be prepared for each employee who had time charged to any federal program or cost shared to any federal program, rather than prepared for each federal award. The Foundation should then implement policies and control procedures to ensure time and effort certifications are completed in a timely manner. These policies should include annual training of the Grants Office as well as Principal Investigators and Department Administrators involved in federal awards. MANAGEMENT?S RESPONSE AND CORRECTIVE ACTION PLAN: See attached management?s corrective action plan.
Audit Finding Number: 2022-002 Auditee?s Response: The Foundation concurs with Finding 2022-002 Corrective Action Plan: Sponsored Programs is in the process of implementing a new software system (Maximus) allowing for systematic Time and Effort (TE) tracking rather than manual. Time and Effort reports will be generated in the Maximus system which will allow for completion tracking and reminder alerts to all parties. Implementation related to the corrective action plan in the prior year had been delayed due to the company?s schedule but is currently on track for completion by the anticipated completion date. Concurrently, Grants Accounting will serve in a support role verifying all TE certification forms have been received based off the list generated by Sponsored Programs/Maximus. SponProg and Grants Accounting have already met to generate an ongoing schedule for future TE cycles to ensure timely processing and collection. Grants Accounting management will meet with Kennesaw State University?s payroll department and the auditors to review available reporting options for TE charges based on pay periods. One of the missing certifications were for an award noted as a prize. Three were for a program where the TE form was provided, but the responsible person did not sign. While the services recorded to the grant were appropriate, management will refund the amounts associated with missing certifications to the respective grants. Anticipated Completion Date: Maximus Go Live is scheduled for July 2023 pending any further implementation delays. KSU is currently in the data testing phase with the Maximus implementation team. Schedule for future cycles has already been developed and implemented as of March 2023. The review of payroll reports will work in conjunction with the implementation of Maximus. Responsible Person, Title: Renita Wiley, Director of Sponsored Programs / Rob Bridges, Director of Grants Accounting Approved: Rob Bridges Date: 3/31/2023
2021-002
FAC accepted this audit on March 29, 2022 — management decision was due September 29, 2022.
To meet the requirements of the Uniform Guidance for time and effort reporting, the Foundation utilizes an after-the-fact effort reporting system to certify that salaries charged, or cost shared, to Federal awards are reasonable and consistent with the work performed. The individual?s effort is first assigned to specific awards in the payroll system based on anticipated activities. Actual effort expended is then certified by a responsible person with suitable means of verification that the work was performed, generally the Principal Investigator, at the end of each semester. The Grants Office manually creates time and effort reports each semester. These effort reports are by Federal award and note all the employees who had payroll charged or cost shared to the project, the percentage of each employee?s total payroll charged or cost shared to the project, as well as the percentage of each employee?s total payroll charged to other projects or activities so that 100% of each employee?s effort is reported. The Principal Investigator for each Federal award is required to sign the Time and Effort reports to certify the reasonableness of the estimated total work effort for the period covered by the report. During our testing of the Research and Development Cluster, we sampled 40 expenditures. The sample was not intended to be and was not statistically valid. These 40 expenditures represented charges made on 28 Federal awards. Payroll charges for 37 employees were made on 19 of these federal awards. Our review of the Time and Effort Certifications resulted in the following: Certifications were not completed for eight employees who had charges on four projects in our sample. For all the Time and Effort Certifications reviewed, the percentages of effort being certified were calculated based on the date the payroll charges were made or adjusted. If adjustments from a prior period were posted to a subsequent period, the percentage of effort for the period being certified were distorted and did not truly reflect the percentage of effort for the current term being certified. Cause: The Foundation does not have a system of process and controls in place to ensure all payroll certifications are completed. Effects: Effort reporting is a federal compliance requirement. Lack of time and effort certifications could result in expenditures of federal awards for unallowable purposes. Question Costs: $17,111 ? calculated as the total payroll of the sampled payroll expenditures for which no Time and Effort Certification was completed. Prevalence and Consequence of the Audit Finding: Systemic problem Recommendations: We recommend all payroll charges and adjustments to payroll charges be assigned a pay period. Time and Effort Certifications should include data based on these pay periods, and not the general ledger posting period. We also recommend the Time and Effort Certifications be prepared for each employee who had time charged to any federal program or cost shared to any federal program, rather than prepared for each federal award. The Foundation should then implement policies and control procedures to ensure time and effort certifications are completed in a timely manner. These policies should include annual training of the Grants Office as well as Principal Investigators and Department Administrators involved in federal awards. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The Foundation agrees with the finding and the recommended procedures will be implemented. Grants Accounting will work with the Grant Managers in Post Award/Sponsored Programs to audit and reconcile accounts. Grant Managers have begun to reconcile award expenses monthly allowing for review and correction throughout the period. Grants Accounting provides a final report for review before issuing Time and Effort certifications allowing for an additional and final review and correction. The Foundation is in the process of implementing software that will allow Grant Managers to manage all expense and Time and Effort review, replacing the current manual review and tracking systems.
Show full finding ▾Hide full finding ▴Finding 2021-002 Federal Agency: Various Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster ALN: Various Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs ? Incomplete Time and Effort Certifications Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Controls over Compliance Repeat Finding: No Criteria: The Office and Management and Budget's (OMB) Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards ("Uniform Guidance") establishes principles and standards for determining costs for federal awards carried out through grants, contracts, and other agreements. To be allowable under federal awards, expenditures must be allocable, reasonable, and supported by adequate documentation. Section 200.430 of Uniform Guidance requires that charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated. Budget estimates (i.e., estimates determined before the services are performed) alone do not qualify as support for charges to Federal awards, but may be used for interim accounting purposes, provided that: (A) The system for establishing the estimates produces reasonable approximations of the activity actually performed; (B) Significant changes in the corresponding work activity (as defined by the non-Federal entity's written policies) are identified and entered into the records in a timely manner; and (C) The non-Federal entity's system of internal controls includes processes to review after-the-fact interim charges made to a Federal awards based on budget estimates. All necessary adjustment must be made such that the final amount charged to the Federal award is accurate, allowable, and properly allocated. Condition: To meet the requirements of the Uniform Guidance for time and effort reporting, the Foundation utilizes an after-the-fact effort reporting system to certify that salaries charged, or cost shared, to Federal awards are reasonable and consistent with the work performed. The individual?s effort is first assigned to specific awards in the payroll system based on anticipated activities. Actual effort expended is then certified by a responsible person with suitable means of verification that the work was performed, generally the Principal Investigator, at the end of each semester. The Grants Office manually creates time and effort reports each semester. These effort reports are by Federal award and note all the employees who had payroll charged or cost shared to the project, the percentage of each employee?s total payroll charged or cost shared to the project, as well as the percentage of each employee?s total payroll charged to other projects or activities so that 100% of each employee?s effort is reported. The Principal Investigator for each Federal award is required to sign the Time and Effort reports to certify the reasonableness of the estimated total work effort for the period covered by the report. During our testing of the Research and Development Cluster, we sampled 40 expenditures. The sample was not intended to be and was not statistically valid. These 40 expenditures represented charges made on 28 Federal awards. Payroll charges for 37 employees were made on 19 of these federal awards. Our review of the Time and Effort Certifications resulted in the following: Certifications were not completed for eight employees who had charges on four projects in our sample. For all the Time and Effort Certifications reviewed, the percentages of effort being certified were calculated based on the date the payroll charges were made or adjusted. If adjustments from a prior period were posted to a subsequent period, the percentage of effort for the period being certified were distorted and did not truly reflect the percentage of effort for the current term being certified. Cause: The Foundation does not have a system of process and controls in place to ensure all payroll certifications are completed. Effects: Effort reporting is a federal compliance requirement. Lack of time and effort certifications could result in expenditures of federal awards for unallowable purposes. Question Costs: $17,111 ? calculated as the total payroll of the sampled payroll expenditures for which no Time and Effort Certification was completed. Prevalence and Consequence of the Audit Finding: Systemic problem Recommendations: We recommend all payroll charges and adjustments to payroll charges be assigned a pay period. Time and Effort Certifications should include data based on these pay periods, and not the general ledger posting period. We also recommend the Time and Effort Certifications be prepared for each employee who had time charged to any federal program or cost shared to any federal program, rather than prepared for each federal award. The Foundation should then implement policies and control procedures to ensure time and effort certifications are completed in a timely manner. These policies should include annual training of the Grants Office as well as Principal Investigators and Department Administrators involved in federal awards. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The Foundation agrees with the finding and the recommended procedures will be implemented. Grants Accounting will work with the Grant Managers in Post Award/Sponsored Programs to audit and reconcile accounts. Grant Managers have begun to reconcile award expenses monthly allowing for review and correction throughout the period. Grants Accounting provides a final report for review before issuing Time and Effort certifications allowing for an additional and final review and correction. The Foundation is in the process of implementing software that will allow Grant Managers to manage all expense and Time and Effort review, replacing the current manual review and tracking systems.
Audit Finding Number: Finding 2021-002 ? Time and Effort Certifications Auditee's Response: The Foundation concurs with Finding 2021-002. Correction Action Plan: Grants Accounting will work with Grant Managers in Post Award/Sponsored Programs to audit and reconcile accounts. Grant Managers have begun to reconcile award expenses monthly allowing for review and correction throughout the period. Grants Accounting provides a final report for review before issuing Time and Effort certifications allowing for an additional and final review and correction. KSURSF is additionally looking into implementing ain the process of implementing software that willo allow Grant Managers to manage all expense and T/E review, removing replacing the current manual review and tracking systems. Anticipated Completion Date: 08/2021 for manual reconciliation and Fall 2022 for system change Responsible Person, Title: Renita Wiley/Rob Bridges - Director of Sponsored Programs/Director of Grants Accounting.
The Foundation has no policies and procedures or internal controls to ensure the Foundation adhered to key personnel commitments specified in applications/proposals or awards (which may be an incorporation by reference of the approved application/proposal) and obtained any required federal awarding agency approval for changes. Cause: The Foundation does not have a system of process and controls in place to ensure all key personnel are involved in the project as required or complied with requirements for approval of changes in key personnel or changes in time committed to the project. Effects: Changes in key personnel or changes in key personnel?s commitment to a federal project without prior approval from the Sponsor, if required, could result in the Sponsor suspending or terminating the grant. Question Costs: N/A Prevalence and Consequence of the Audit Finding: Systemic problem Recommendations: We recommend the Foundation implement policies and control procedures to ensure key personnel adhere to the level of involvement to which they committed or obtain the proper approvals for changes if required. We also recommend these policies include annual training of the Grants Office as well as Principal Investigators and Department Administrators involved in federal awards. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The Foundation agrees with the finding and the recommended procedures will be implemented. Sponsored Programs is in the process of implementing a new software system, allowing for systematic tracking rather than manual. Effort Certification will be implemented into the process. In the meantime, Effort Certification will be added to each applicable Time Certification. Grant Managers will work with individual Principal Investigators to ensure proper review and adjustment during the final time certification provided by Grants Accounting.
Show full finding ▾Hide full finding ▴Finding 2021-003 Federal Agency: Various Federal Program: Research and Development Cluster CFDA: Various Compliance Requirement: Special Tests and Provisions - Key Personnel Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Controls over Compliance Repeat Finding: No Criteria: Per the OMB Compliance Supplement, applications/proposals or awards may include staffing proposals that specify individuals who will work on the project and the extent of the planned involvement of personnel. The non-federal entity may change the staffing mix and level of involvement within limits specified by agency policy or in the award but may be required to obtain federal awarding agency approval of changes in key personnel (as identified in the award) and changes in the principal investigator?s/project director?s time commitment/level of participation in the project. This may include not only a change in the principal investigator or project director but also the disengagement from the project for more than three months, or a 25% reduction in time devoted to the project, by the approved project director or principal investigator. Condition: The Foundation has no policies and procedures or internal controls to ensure the Foundation adhered to key personnel commitments specified in applications/proposals or awards (which may be an incorporation by reference of the approved application/proposal) and obtained any required federal awarding agency approval for changes. Cause: The Foundation does not have a system of process and controls in place to ensure all key personnel are involved in the project as required or complied with requirements for approval of changes in key personnel or changes in time committed to the project. Effects: Changes in key personnel or changes in key personnel?s commitment to a federal project without prior approval from the Sponsor, if required, could result in the Sponsor suspending or terminating the grant. Question Costs: N/A Prevalence and Consequence of the Audit Finding: Systemic problem Recommendations: We recommend the Foundation implement policies and control procedures to ensure key personnel adhere to the level of involvement to which they committed or obtain the proper approvals for changes if required. We also recommend these policies include annual training of the Grants Office as well as Principal Investigators and Department Administrators involved in federal awards. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The Foundation agrees with the finding and the recommended procedures will be implemented. Sponsored Programs is in the process of implementing a new software system, allowing for systematic tracking rather than manual. Effort Certification will be implemented into the process. In the meantime, Effort Certification will be added to each applicable Time Certification. Grant Managers will work with individual Principal Investigators to ensure proper review and adjustment during the final time certification provided by Grants Accounting.
Audit Finding Number: Finding 2021-003 ? Key Personnel Time Commitments Auditee's Response: The Foundation concurs with Finding 2021-003. Correction Action Plan:. Sponsored Programs is in the process of implementing a new software system's allowing for systematic tracking rather than manual. Effort Certification will be implemented into the process. In the meantime, Effort Certification will be added to each applicable Time Certification. Grant Managers will work with individual PIs to ensure proper review and adjustment during the final time certification (mentioned above) provided by Grants Accounting. Anticipated Completion Date: 05/2022 for manual changes 08/2022 for system change Responsible Person, Title: Renita Wiley/Rob Bridges - Director of Sponsored Programs/Director of Grants Accounting.
FAC accepted this audit on March 30, 2021 — management decision was due September 30, 2021.
FAC accepted this audit on March 30, 2020 — management decision was due September 30, 2020.
FAC accepted this audit on March 7, 2019 — management decision was due September 7, 2019.
FAC accepted this audit on March 25, 2018 — management decision was due September 25, 2018.
FAC accepted this audit on March 28, 2017 — management decision was due September 28, 2017.
GSA_MIGRATION
Show full finding ▾Hide full finding ▴GSA_MIGRATION
GSA_MIGRATION
GSA_MIGRATION
Show full finding ▾Hide full finding ▴GSA_MIGRATION
GSA_MIGRATION
Data source: This information comes from the Federal Audit Clearinghouse, the official repository of Single Audit data. All data is public domain. Verify this organization's audit history at fac.gov.
Browse other Single Audit organizations in Georgia →
Track your findings and corrective action plans across audit cycles.
Start tracking findings →Monitor subrecipient audit findings and filing records.
Start monitoring →© 2026 Single Audit Intelligence. All data is public domain.
