Richland Parish School BoardLocal Government

Reference # and title: 2021-004 Internal Controls Over Allowable Costs and Cost Principles CFDA#, Federal Award Title, Federal Agency, Federal Award # and Year, and the Name of the Pass- Through Entity: This finding relates to COVID 19 Education Stabilization, CFDA #84.425D, for Federal Award Year 2020, received from Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education, passed through the Louisiana Department of Education. Criteria or specific requirement: Payments to vendors should be supported by proper documentation including evidence that goods are received before payment is made. Condition found: A sample of 24 vendor checks was selected for testing the Education Stabilization grant. Five of these checks, which were for the purchase of technology equipment such as computers, did not have documentation with the invoice that the items were received. These checks totaled over $200,000. The Federal Programs Director provided various sources of information to verify that the items were received. Also, a check for $25,074.80 was written in July 2020 for the purchase of Chromebooks that were on back order. These Chromebooks were never received. The vendor refunded the money in March 2021. Context: A total of 41 haphazardly selected payroll and vendor disbursements were tested. Vendor disbursements made up 24 checks in the sample. Possible asserted effect (cause and effect): Cause: Documentation for receipt of goods is not always attached to the invoice and purchase order. The central receiving position is responsible for matching the purchase order with the items received. The process was to forward these receiving reports to accounts payable before the vendor was paid. The receiving documentation was not attached to the vendor disbursements noted above. Effect: Evidence of receipt of goods was obtained from other sources. One vendor was paid for items that were never received. Recommendation to prevent future occurrences: The School Board should establish quality control procedures to ensure proper documentation is obtained to support each disbursement. This should include evidence that goods were received. Payment should not be made until all documentation is obtained. Origination date and prior year reference (if applicable): This finding is first reported in the current fiscal year end. View of Responsible Official: The Richland Parish School Board has performed staff in-services to address this matter. Staff members were reminded of their responsibilities and how their jobs affect others. We have also hired a new purchasing secretary who is utilizing the receiving features in our software package.

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