SPLOST Audit Update 3.1.24

AID 1619617 · View on Simbli

Agenda Item

1. Audits Currently In Progress

Summary: Presented by: Dr. Joel Thibodeaux, Director of Audit & Compliance, Office of Audit & Compliance
                                                                          DeKalb County School District
                                                                              SPLOST IV and SPLOST V Audit Update – March 1, 2024
    Themes and Observations:
    1)   SPLOST IV and V testing is currently behind schedule; Plante Moran is currently aiming for a completion date of 05/31/2024 versus 04/30/2024 as was communicated on March 12th. DCSD staff must conclude existence of pre-
         Munis purchase orders prior to 3/8/2024 to maintain current timelines. Delays in obtaining audit documentation or response to questions may result in further delays.
    2)   Missing or incomplete accounting information
                          a)    Lack of general ledger detail and incomplete accounting documentation for all SPLOST IV and V expenditures
                          b)    Lack of documentation for SPLOST expenses prior to Munis implementation (all of SPLOST IV and a portion of SPLOST V)
    3)   Lack of defined policies regarding SPLOST expenditures
    4)   Consistent pattern of decentralized documentation practices
    5)   Prolonged response times from DCSD team members inhibiting progress. Improvement in response times has been seen in February.
    6)   Three-way match (agreement between purchase order, receiver, and invoice) process was not in place until 2022
    7)   In instances where a purchase order was not recorded in Munis, DCSD policy requires an “after-the-fact” purchase order be provided. In many cases, the “after-the-fact” purchase order has been unable to be located.
    8)   Of the 84 projects reviewed, Plante Moran noted 47 did not have at least 5 evaluators. It was also noted a consistent rotation between AECOM and DCSD having a majority on the selection teams.
    9)   Due to the remaining portion of support being paper based, remaining testing of SPLOST IV and V will require increased effort from DCSD personnel and Plante Moran

Workstream #        Key Milestones                  Planned           Revised         Status          Tasks performed to date                                           Next steps                                               R/Y/G
                                                    Completion        Completion
                                                    Date              Date
1                   SPLOST Expense List             5/31/2023         3/31/2024       In process      Constructed SPLOST IV and SPLOST V general ledger                Remaining ~58 transactions pending
                    Preparation (SPLOST IV                                                            detail. Identified 18,521 transactions for testing               identification of vendor by DCSD staff
                    and SPLOST V)
2                   Forensic Analysis (SPLOST       2/28/2024         4/30/2024       In process      400 vendors identified as receiving SPLOST funding. PM            PM team to perform intensive research on 34
                    IV and SPLOST V)                                                                  identified 160 based on risk factors and conducted further        vendors including address matching, as well as
                                                                                                      research. Of the 160, 34 have been identified for further         review of invoices, contracts, and email
                                                                                                      intensive research.                                               correspondences.
3                   SPLOST V Detail Testing         12/31/2023        3/31/2024       In process     ~$210m of SPLOST V expenses have been reviewed.                    Average response time from DCSD staff of under 2
                                                                                                     Of the 144 open items communicated on 1/26, 46% remain             business days to PM inquiries required to meet
                                                                                                     unresolved.                                                        revised target completion date.
                                                                                                                                                                        DSCD staff to locate SPLOST V documentation
                                                                                                                                                                        from expenses recorded in Crosspoint.
4                   SPLOST IV Detail Testing        2/29/2024         TBD             Not            N/A – SPLOST IV documentation was requested                        DCSD staff to locate SPLOST IV documentation.
                                                                                      Started        beginning in May 2023. DCSD staff have been unable to              Upon providing to PM, a revised overall project
                                                                                                     locate SPLOST IV documentation.                                    completion date will be determined.
5                   Control Evaluation              10/31/2023        Complete        Complete        Completed process walkthroughs for 18 key controls                Workstream complete
                                                                                                      identified
6                   Change Order Evaluation         12/31/2023        3/31/2024       In process  Of the 169 SPLOST V change orders identified, 30 have       PM to perform further investigation for selected
                                                                                                  been selected for testing. PM has identified 17 change      change orders.
                                                                                                  orders for further investigation.
7                   Bid Tally Sheet Evaluation    12/31/2023       3/31/2024        In process    Bid tally sheets have been obtained for 100% of             Plante Moran to perform analysis over SPLOST
                                                                                                  projects across SPLOST IV and SPLOST V. PM has              IV selection team composition.
                                                                                                  reviewed adherence to selection team composition for
                                                                                                  SPLOST V.
                                               Green – On schedule, no issues; Yellow – Running late, revised completion date; Red – Needs management attention; Blue – Complete