Recommendation Dashboard

USAID/Iraq require Tetra Tech DPK to set baselines, in writing, for two performance indicators so that USAID/Iraq could have
reportable results to use when making future contract decisions.

USAID/Iraq, in coordination with Tetra Tech
DPK, implement procedures to award grants to civil society organizations with existing
activities that align with Access to Justice Program goals.

USAID/Iraq implement a written plan for mission staff to verify the accuracy of information from the contractor on a regular basis.

USAID/Iraq document reviews of Access to Justice Program performance management plan indicator targets for reasonableness, and make any adjustments resulting from the review.

USAID/Iraq implement a written plan to monitor Tetra Tech DPK's grants selection and award process on a regular basis. The plan should include comparisons of grantee evaluations to established eligibility and evaluation criteria.

USAID/Iraq conduct and document a review of Tetra Tech DPK's preaward risk assessment procedures, and direct Tetra Tech DPK to implement any recommendations from the review.

USAID/Iraq direct Tetra Tech DPK to amend its subawards to include the required trafficking in persons provision.

USAID/Indonesia, in conjunction with USAID/Division of Maternal and Child Health of the Office of Health, Infectious Diseases and Nutrition of the Global Health Bureau, work with Jhpiego to define in writing all performance indicators established for the Maternal and Child Health Integrated Program and update reported data to reflect those definitions.

USAID/Cambodia work with the project staff to implement a strategy for disease surveillance and document the results.

USAID/Cambodia, through its agreement officer, determine the allowability of and recover, as appropriate, questioned costs of $699,559 (ineligible) as identified in the finding above.

USAID/Cambodia, through its agreement officer, ratify the addition of activities to provide food, day care, and other support to families affected by HIV, or disallow the changes in the project's scope. Whether the activities are ratified or disallowed, in whole or in part, the agreement officer should determine and document the appropriate corrective actions taken.

USAID/Cambodia work with the prime implementer to clearly define each indicator in writing-including how it should be measured-so that reported results accurately reflect accomplishments.

USAID/Cambodia require the prime implementer to implement improved internal controls governing collecting, maintaining, and processing data.

After the implementer has improved internal controls in response to Recommendation 5, we recommend that USAID/Cambodia implement procedures for conducting data quality assessments that include (1) evaluating whether data for each indicator meet all five quality standards, (2) evaluating the implementing partner's data collection, maintenance, and processing procedures, and (3) testing the data's accuracy and consistency.

USAID/Cambodia work with the prime implementer to update the project's performance management plan to include all performance indicators used to measure activities implemented since the start of the project, along with justifications for those that were cancelled or added.

USAID/Cambodia work with the prime implementer to implement a formal process to document, track, and analyze complaints within the health equity financing system.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation's Vice President, Department of Compact Operations, revise the Guidance on the Implementation of Resettlement Activities to strengthen the Millennium Challenge Corporation's oversight of Millennium Challenge Accounts' livelihood restoration.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation's Vice President, Department of Compact Operations, review resettlement implementation in other compact countries to confirm that applicable Millennium Challenge Corporation policies are being complied with, and if not, take corrective action.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation's Vice President, Department of Compact Operations, update the Millennium Challenge Corporation's fiscal accountability and resettlement guidance to clarify processes for making and documenting proper resettlement transactions.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation's Vice President, Department of Compact Operations, request that the Government of Ghana document its progress in making the outstanding payments to the affected persons to confirm that they are paid.

We recommend that the Millennium Challenge Corporation's Vice President, Department of Compact Operations, develop methods for effectively sharing information on resettlement activities among headquarters and Millennium Challenge Account staff.

USAID/Guinea review award files periodically for a complete history of award transactions, document reviews, and note for corrective action.

USAID/Guinea improve the procurement plan outlining procedures for soliciting and receiving proposals, and for selecting members of the technical evaluation committee.

USAID/Guinea amend the cooperative agreement with Opportunities Industrialization Centers Guinea to
delete Sections A.3.4 and A.3.5 regarding advances and replace with a provision for a normal advance.

USAID/Guinea approve the Opportunities Industrialization Centers Guinea activity monitoring plan.

USAID/Guinea ask Opportunities Industrialization Centers Guinea to submit a request for approval of key personnel.

USAID/West Bank and Gaza prepare an implementation plan including deadlines for the subgrant types behind schedule and an explanation of how it intends to use or reprogram the $2.4 million in undisbursed window of opportunity subgrants.

USAID/West Bank and Gaza review and revise the Civic Participation Program targets and determine, in writing, if program resources should be directed to other activities under the cooperative agreement.

USAID/West Bank and Gaza provide guidance to its staff on the Brownback Amendment and how it may affect mission programs.

The Chief Financial Officer verify that all differences between USAID and the Department of the Treasury are researched and resolved in a timely manner in accordance with Treasury financial manual reconciliation procedures.

The Chief Financial Officer augment its general ledger reconciliation processes to ensure that the postings in the general ledger are reconciled periodically with the postings in the subsidiary ledgers, general ledger differences are researched and resolved in a timely manner, errors are corrected in a timely manner to maintain accurate account balances in the general ledger, and detailed documentation of analysis and reconciliations supporting adjustments are maintained and easily retrievable for examination.

The Chief Financial Officer coordinate with the Office of Acquisition and Assistance and relevant Bureau Assistant Administrators to initiate targeted reviews of awards that are more than 3 years old with unliquidated obligation balances and verify that obligation managers conduct the periodic reviews required to initiate deobligation action on unliquidated obligations.

The Chief Financial Officer continue to upgrade controls at missions, update Automated Directives System 636 to include the desktop procedures that were implemented by the Cash Management and Payment Division, clarify when an outstanding advance should be reported to the contracting or agreement officer for debt determination, research and resolve all outstanding amounts that remain in the Department of Health and Human Services synchronization report from prior years, and implement a review and approval process to reclassify expenses as advances for amounts that were reported by the Department of Health and Human Services Payment Management System.

The Chief Financial Officer coordinate with the Office of Acquisition and Assistance to augment procedures to verify that contracting officer representatives review, validate, and modify as necessary the quarterly accounts payable and accrued expenses generated by the Accrual Reporting System before that information is recorded in the general ledger.

The Chief Financial Officer in coordination with the Office of Human Resources ensure: that personnel files are updated to reflect all personnel actions and that a reconciliation with National Finance Center records is performed to ensure that bi-weekly and annual salary pay caps are not exceeded.

Perform a comprehensive review and determine whether the service provider's financial management system is substantially in compliance with the federal financial management system's requirements and meeting MCC financial management and reporting needs. As part of this review, management should determine if a separate grants management system that focuses on program administrations that interfaces with the core financial system is needed.

Investigate and correct the causes for the underlying system errors and limitations that prevent or delay the recording, processing, and summarizing of accounting transactions.

Review USSGL transaction posting models so that all routine accounting transactions are included in the normal accounting processes. Manual adjusting journal entries should be used for limited transactions like unusual one-time entries. All valid recurring entries that are currently entered manually should have standard transaction codes set-up to prevent posting errors.

Hard code key cells in the excel spreadsheets used in preparing and generating the financial statements to prevent unintentional or inadvertent changes.

Limit access and ability to make changes to the workbook to a few personnel. Assign a staff and a designate as primarily responsible and accountable for the workbook.

Create a log to document changes to the workbook, the date of change, the person making the change, and the changes made.

Investigate the use of alternative approaches such as the use of a financial statement generation software tool or other financial management system that can interface with the trial balance or the core financial system and automatically generate the financial statements.

Develop a comprehensive financial statements review process that details specific steps performed, results of such reviews, steps taken to resolve discrepancies noted, and related management resolution.

Implement an effective management review using the comprehensive review process developed in recommendation 8 to ensure that all transactions for the accounting period are accurately and completely reflected in the financial statements, current year beginning balances agreed to prior year audited balances, and reconciling items are recorded timely. Such management reviews should be performed quarterly and at year-end timely with evidence of management sign-off signifying levels of reviews performed.

Cross-train MCC financial staff on the financial statements preparation process to ensure that there is more than one person knowledgeable and can prepare the financial statements.

Perform a grant accrual look back analysis on a quarterly basis. The look back analysis and the results should provide MCC sufficient information to explain unusual variances between actual and estimates, or support updating the current grant accrual methodology. Such periodic assessment of the adequacy of the grant accrual methodology should be documented and supported by data analysis. The accrued liability amount is subject to the risks that actual subsequent disbursement amount may be significantly different from management's estimate. When this occurs, management should further analyze the drivers/factors to ensure the validity and reasonableness of the estimation methodology.

Update the Expense Accruals Policy and Procedures to reflect the change in the methodology.

Develop audit procedures for the MCA audit to compare spending authority request amount against actual expenses, and investigate and document significant variances. The results should be provided to MCC, which can use this information collected from the MCA audits as data store to validate or enhance the current methodology.

Continue to enhance the accrual methodology.

MCC management should have control over how these audits should be conducted to meet its financial and programmatic accountability, needs and requirements. MCC management should collaborate with USAID OIG to clarify and document management roles, responsibilities, and performance standards and the USAID OIG oversight role with regards to MCA audits.

MCC needs to evaluate its resources, capability, and ability to monitor and review the quality and performance of the audits and the audit firms to track and conduct follow-up of corrective action plans with the MCAs in a timely manner.

Utilize the QFRs and the monthly reconciliations as monitoring tools over the MCA's financial reporting process and the MCC's validation of its financial records. To be effective as monitoring tools, the re-designing of the QFR form and the development and documentation of the monthly reconciliation process should ensure that relevant data and information are reported by the MCAs and reported timely.

Ensure that MCA reconciliations are provided to MCC and reviewed to investigate material variances and make corrections, if any.

Require the MCA audit firms to test the design and effectiveness of the MCA's internal control over the QFRs and the monthly reconciliation, and to test for the accuracy of the balances and reconciliation.

Develop and implement reconciliation procedures to document the complete reconciliation between the MCA's final QFR and MCC's records.

Timely assess the MCA's need for the remaining compact funds so that the funds could be de-obligated within the timeline in the policy and procedures after the compact expires.

Develop and implement a financial management policy that separates the programmatic close-out process from the financial close-out process. This policy should clearly layout the expected timing for de-obligation.

USAID/Tanzania require Mennonite Economic Development Associates to update the annual work plan for the Achievement and Maintenance of Comprehensive Coverage of Long-Lasting Insecticide-Treated Nets in Tanzania to include milestones for completing key activities (such as resolving issues with voucher inventories) and report on progress against those milestones in quarterly performance reports.

USAID/Tanzania require Mennonite Economic Development Associates to establish performance targets in accordance with Automated Directives System 203, "Assessing and Learning."

USAID/Tanzania issue Mennonite Economic Development Associates written requirements for reporting its performance on Achievement and Maintenance of Comprehensive Coverage of Long-Lasting Insecticide-Treated Nets in Tanzania.

USAID/Tanzania require Mennonite Economic Development Associates to compute the costs related to the personal use of organization-furnished automobiles charged to USAID under the Extension of Tanzania National Voucher Scheme and Achievement and Maintenance of Comprehensive
Coverage of Long-Lasting Insecticide-Treated Nets in Tanzania awards, determine the allowability of these ineligible questioned costs, and recover from Mennonite Economic Development Associates any amounts determined to be unallowable.

USAID/Tanzania determine the allowability of $31,899 in ineligible questioned costs (spent on employee lunches) and recover from Mennonite Economic Development Associates any amounts determined to be unallowable.

USAID/Tanzania determine the allowability of $3,492 in ineligible questioned costs (spent on personal commuting costs) and recover from Mennonite Economic Development Associates any amounts determined to be unallowable.

USAID/Tanzania require Mennonite Economic Development Associates to compute the costs related to ineligible lunch stipends and unsupported laptop reimbursements charged to USAID under the Extension of Tanzania National Voucher Scheme and Achievement and Maintenance of
Comprehensive Coverage of Long-Lasting Insecticide-Treated Nets in Tanzania awards, determine the allowability of these ineligible and unsupported questioned costs, and recover from Mennonite Economic Development Associates any amounts determined to be unallowable.

USAID/Tanzania review Mennonite Economic Development Associates' compensation and benefits policy, inform Mennonite Economic Development Associates, in writing, of any benefits that are
unallowable under the Achievement and Maintenance of Comprehensive Coverage of Long-Lasting Insecticide-Treated Nets in Tanzania award, and implement procedures to confirm that such benefits are not charged to the award.

USAID/Tanzania require Mennonite Economic Development Associates to submit an updated branding and marking plan for the Achievement and Maintenance of Comprehensive Coverage of Long-Lasting Insecticide-Treated Nets in Tanzania Program.

USAID/Serbia and the regional contracting officer responsible for the agreement follow the guidance provided by the USAID Office of the General Counsel regarding how USAID should enforce the terms of repayment.

USAID/Serbia report in writing on the progress against each of the milestones outlined in the disposition timeline contained in Modification 5 to the regional contracting office, and provide an explanation and any associated mitigating circumstances for milestones that are not met.

USAID's Office of Microenterprise and Private Enterprise Promotion work with other offices in USAID to develop microfinance institution disposition guidance for existing agreements as well as future agreements and document the results.