EIN: 815434098
UEI: NXD2MBN47DE5
Data as of August 23, 2026
Management decision deadline — for entities that funded this organization
The FAC accepted this audit on February 7, 2021. 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 August 7, 2021 (1843 days ago).
What is a management decision? →CFDA Number, Federal Agency, and Program Name -93.226, 93.307, 93.837, 93.855 and 93.865, Department of Health and Human Services, Research and Development Cluster Federal Award Identification Number and Year - R18HS027088 (9/30/19-9/9/20), R01MD014068 (9/1/19-3/31/21), 1362167817A1 (9/20/19 -8/31/20), AI138907 (7/24/19-6/30/20), and R01HD097171 (3/21/19-2/28/20) Pass through Entity - Northwestern University, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, and University of Chicago Finding Type - Material weakness and material noncompliance with laws and regulations Repeat Finding - No Criteria - All nonfederal entities must follow generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) when recording federal revenue and expenses (2 CFR 200.403 (e)). Condition - Certain granting agencies request to be invoiced monthly based on budgeted expenses rather than actual expenditures incurred during the period. For these grants, management recorded revenue based on the amount billed, resulting in variances between federal revenue recognized and federal expenses incurred. No reconciliation was performed at year end to reconcile this variance and recognize unearned federal revenue. Questioned Costs - $57,413 Research and Development Cluster: 93.226 (R18HS027088) - $16,933 (passed through Northwestern University) 93.307 (R01MD014068) - $3,261 (passed through Northwestern University) 93.837 (1362167817A1) - $25,517 (passed through Northwestern University) 93.855 (AI138907) - $6,579 (passed through Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago) 93.865 (R01HD097171) - $5,123 (passed through University of Chicago) Identification of How Questioned Costs Were Computed - The questioned costs represent total federal revenue recognized for which no federal expenses were incurred during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2020. Context - During fiscal year 2020, management recognized revenue and received payment on the federal programs listed above based on budgeted monthly expenses per grant agreement rather than actual expenses incurred. The schedule of expenditures of federal awards for June 30, 2020 reflected only expenditures incurred during fiscal year 2020. These variances were caused by differences in AllianceChicago's fiscal year and the grant periods and will be reconciled in future periods. Cause and Effect - Management recognized $57,413 more in federal revenue than federal expenditures incurred during fiscal year 2020. Recommendation - We recommend that the Alliance perform an annual true up of federal expenditures incurred and federal revenue recognized. Views of Responsible Officials and Corrective Action Plan - There is a great degree of variation among the project periods for federally funded grants and contracts and the Alliance?s fiscal reporting period. During fiscal year 2020, the Alliance had 17 total active federally funded grants and contracts subject to SEFA reporting requirements. The Alliance prepares supporting workpapers for all balance sheet accounts on a monthly basis, which reflect balances as of a point in time. Additionally, workpapers to support revenue and expense variances between budget and actual are also prepared to support profit and loss variances for the current month and year to date periods to support communications to leadership and governance committees surrounding financial results. Both sets of workpapers are reviewed by the senior accounting manager and CFO as part of the month end close process. As a result of the single audit finding, the Alliance finance team has amended the composition of monthly profit and loss variance workpapers for federally funded grant and contract revenue to include related grant and contract expenses recognized in the current and cumulative grant periods, which differ from fiscal reporting periods, to ensure cumulative grant revenue recognized does not exceed cumulative grant period expenses on time and materials contracts going forward. Any excess invoicing over expenditures incurred as of a point in time will be reclassed to deferred revenue at the end of each balance sheet period.
Show full finding ▾Hide full finding ▴CFDA Number, Federal Agency, and Program Name -93.226, 93.307, 93.837, 93.855 and 93.865, Department of Health and Human Services, Research and Development Cluster Federal Award Identification Number and Year - R18HS027088 (9/30/19-9/9/20), R01MD014068 (9/1/19-3/31/21), 1362167817A1 (9/20/19 -8/31/20), AI138907 (7/24/19-6/30/20), and R01HD097171 (3/21/19-2/28/20) Pass through Entity - Northwestern University, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, and University of Chicago Finding Type - Material weakness and material noncompliance with laws and regulations Repeat Finding - No Criteria - All nonfederal entities must follow generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) when recording federal revenue and expenses (2 CFR 200.403 (e)). Condition - Certain granting agencies request to be invoiced monthly based on budgeted expenses rather than actual expenditures incurred during the period. For these grants, management recorded revenue based on the amount billed, resulting in variances between federal revenue recognized and federal expenses incurred. No reconciliation was performed at year end to reconcile this variance and recognize unearned federal revenue. Questioned Costs - $57,413 Research and Development Cluster: 93.226 (R18HS027088) - $16,933 (passed through Northwestern University) 93.307 (R01MD014068) - $3,261 (passed through Northwestern University) 93.837 (1362167817A1) - $25,517 (passed through Northwestern University) 93.855 (AI138907) - $6,579 (passed through Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago) 93.865 (R01HD097171) - $5,123 (passed through University of Chicago) Identification of How Questioned Costs Were Computed - The questioned costs represent total federal revenue recognized for which no federal expenses were incurred during the fiscal year ended June 30, 2020. Context - During fiscal year 2020, management recognized revenue and received payment on the federal programs listed above based on budgeted monthly expenses per grant agreement rather than actual expenses incurred. The schedule of expenditures of federal awards for June 30, 2020 reflected only expenditures incurred during fiscal year 2020. These variances were caused by differences in AllianceChicago's fiscal year and the grant periods and will be reconciled in future periods. Cause and Effect - Management recognized $57,413 more in federal revenue than federal expenditures incurred during fiscal year 2020. Recommendation - We recommend that the Alliance perform an annual true up of federal expenditures incurred and federal revenue recognized. Views of Responsible Officials and Corrective Action Plan - There is a great degree of variation among the project periods for federally funded grants and contracts and the Alliance?s fiscal reporting period. During fiscal year 2020, the Alliance had 17 total active federally funded grants and contracts subject to SEFA reporting requirements. The Alliance prepares supporting workpapers for all balance sheet accounts on a monthly basis, which reflect balances as of a point in time. Additionally, workpapers to support revenue and expense variances between budget and actual are also prepared to support profit and loss variances for the current month and year to date periods to support communications to leadership and governance committees surrounding financial results. Both sets of workpapers are reviewed by the senior accounting manager and CFO as part of the month end close process. As a result of the single audit finding, the Alliance finance team has amended the composition of monthly profit and loss variance workpapers for federally funded grant and contract revenue to include related grant and contract expenses recognized in the current and cumulative grant periods, which differ from fiscal reporting periods, to ensure cumulative grant revenue recognized does not exceed cumulative grant period expenses on time and materials contracts going forward. Any excess invoicing over expenditures incurred as of a point in time will be reclassed to deferred revenue at the end of each balance sheet period.
Finding Number: 2020-001 Condition: Certain granting agencies request to be invoiced monthly based on budgeted expenses rather than actual expenditures incurred during the period. For these grants, management recorded revenue based on the amount billed, resulting in variances between federal revenue recognized and federal expenses incurred. No reconciliation was performed at year-end to reconcile this variance and recognize unearned federal revenues. Planned Corrective Action: There is a great degree of variation among the project periods for federally funded grants and contracts and the Alliance?s fiscal reporting period. During fiscal year 2020, the Alliance had 17 total active federally funded grants and contracts subject to SEFA reporting requirements. The Alliance prepares supporting workpapers for all balance sheet accounts on a monthly basis, which reflect balances as of a point in time. Additionally, workpapers to support revenue and expense variances between budget and actual are also prepared to support profit and loss variances for the current month and year-to-date periods to support communications to leadership and governance committees surrounding financial results. Both sets of workpapers are reviewed by the Senior Accounting Manager and CFO as part of the month-end close process. As a result of the Single Audit findings, The Alliance Finance Team has amended the composition of monthly P&L variance workpapers for federally funded grant and contract revenues to include related grant and contract expenses recognized in the current and cumulative grant periods, which differ from fiscal reporting periods, to ensure cumulative grant revenues recognized do not exceed cumulative grant period expenses on time and material contracts going forward. Any excess invoicing over expenditures incurred as of a point in time will be reclassed to deferred revenues at the end of each balance sheet period. Contact person responsible for corrective action: Margaret S. Castrovillari Anticipated Completion Date: 1/15/2021
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.
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