South Florida Hispanic Chamber of CommerceMlAMIBEACH
BUDGET AND PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT
Internal Audit Division INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT
TO:
VIA:
FROM:
DATE:
AUDIT:
PERIOD:
Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Manager
Kathie G. Brooks, Budget and P_e~')/~2_9e Improvement Director
James J. Sutter, Internal Audita~,~
October 15, 2008
South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Audit
October 1, 2006 through March 31, 2008
This is a regularly scheduled audit of a non-profit agency receiving monies annually from the City's
General Fund Citywide accounts.
INTRODUCTION
The South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce or SFHCC was founded on July 21, 1994 with
the mission of promoting the continued growth and development of the business community and the
tourism industry of Miami-Dade County. This non-profit 501 c(6) organization helps its over 650
members expand their business opportunities, encourage mutual beneficial ties with the public and
private sectors and serve as an active, strong and visible advocate of the Hispanic business
community.
The SFHCC is governed by an active and diverse Board of Directors with its corporate offices
presently located at 301 Arthur Godfrey Road, suite #500. Membership is open primarily to all
persons of Hispanic descent who are 18 years of age and older and reside, own property, own a
business or work in South Florida. There shall be an annual meeting of members to elect directors
and conduct any other business as might come before the meeting. Board meetings shall be held at
least four times each year.
Beginning in FY 04/05, the City provided SFHCC with $20,000 annually through the City Budget's
General Fund Citywide Accounts under the City Service expenditure category (Special Projects).
There is no written funding agreement with the City specifying how the supplied funds should be
spent and what corresponding reports are to be filed. To receive the funds, they must first submit an
invoice to the Finance Department requesting payment. The check is subsequently issued and the
monies are deposited into SFHCC's separate bank account to pay such operating expenditures as
payroll, postage, printing, courier service, etc. The agency does not have an annual audit performed
by independent accountants.
The monies received from the City plus other revenues obtained from donations, memberships,
fundraisers, etc. have been used in a variety of beneficial ways which includes but is not limited to
the following:
• The Minority Business & Education Program which provides business information, training
and technical assistance for small businesses.
• Annual scholarships and paid internships provided to both high school and college students.
• Loan Link Program which helps both businesses and individuals find financial assistance.
• Lunch and Learns to help educate members on topics of interest.
• Education Enrichment Program whereby essay contest student winners are given the
v\le ore commilled /o providing excel/on/ public smvim ond MJie/)1 lo o/1 who live, worl:, one/ piD)' in our vibronl, lropicol, historic cornmrmily-.
Internal Audit Report
South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Audit
October 15, 2008
opportunity to enhance their education outside the state of Florida.
• Fifty scholarships have been granted in the past thirteen years to Hispanic student enrolled
in the Academy of Hospitality and Tourism of Miami-Dade County Public Schools.
• An annual toy drive sponsored during the Holiday season that benefits the MRM's Center for
Women and Children.
OVERALL OPINION
The South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce stages a number of meaningful community
projects to benefit its members. The City disbursed grant funds were properly deposited into and
paid from a separate bank account. Reviewed expenditures for such approved operating
expenditures as payroll, postage, printing, courier service, etc. were sufficiently documented and
timely paid. However, the following items were noted during testing and are in need of.
improvement:
• The supporting documentation for expenditures paid with City provided grantfunds could be
better centralized and organized as to expedite independent verification and reconciliation.
• The City does not presently require non-profit organizations receiving Citywide funds to sign
grant agreements to specify how the monies are to be spent, what records should be
submitted, etc.
PURPOSE
To determine whether the grantee's revenues and expenses related to the City grant were properly
accounted for, recorded and reported.
OBJECTIVES
1. Confirm that grant revenues received from the City were deposited intact, properly
documented and correctly recorded.
2. Confirm that tested monies were expended for the grantee's specified programs.
3. Confirm that annual certified financial statements (if required) were timely submitted, and the
amounts reported therein agree with corresponding amounts previously rep01ied to reports
submitted to the City.
FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND MANAGEMENT RESPONSES
1. Finding: Accounting Records Maintenance
The South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce or SFHCC properly maintained a
separate HSBC checking account to receive and expend City provided grant funds.
Similarly, all reviewed expenditures were for such approved operating expenses as salaries,
courier service, telephone, postage, printing, etc. and were timely paid.
Internal Audit's observation is that all the non-profit organization's invoices were grouped
together regardless of the funding source and they were not labeled accordingly. In addition,
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Internal Audit Report
South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Audit
October 15, 2008
the supporting payroll documentation was kept by the corresponding employees and found
to be in differing organizational states. As a result, the needed supporting documentation
was more time consuming to locate and was not readily available for previous employees.
Recommendation(s ):
All expenditures paid with City disbursed grant funds supporting documentation should be
stored together by fiscal year to facilitate review.
Management Response:
SFHCC maintains binders with tabs for every month of the year to keep their paid invoices
readily available. Since we know which invoice was paid with a particular account, we do not
specify from what source of funding it comes from. However, we find that your
recommendation of specifying when invoices are paid from City funds makes sense as it
facilitates everything.
Staff has been keeping their time sheets in an Excel spreadsheet for the last two months.
Previously, they kept all their payroll information in an organized fashion but in different
formats. We concur that it facilitates the process when everything is uniform.
2. Finding: Absence of a Grant Agreement
The City provides grant monies to SFHCC annually but does not require a signed agreement
detailing how the funds are to be spent, what reports are to be filed, is an audit orreview
required and by when, etc. Therefore, the City has little voice once the funds are disbursed
other than to withhold future contributions and is unsure if the monies were spent properly.
Other organizations like Miami-Dade County and the Miami Beach Visitor and Convention
Authority require that the non-profit organizations sign a grant agreement before issuing any
grant monies.
Recommendation(s ):
The City should research the possibility of securing a signed grant agreement detailing the
desired terms prior to disbursing the designated monies.
Management Response:
The City is researching the options available to formalize the grant process for non-profit
agencies receiving funds through the citywide accounts.
EXIT CONFERENCE
Findings were presented to the Agency's administration to solicit management responses. Their
responses are included in the report.
JS:MC:mc
(Audit performed by Mark Coolidge, Senior Auditor)
F:\obpi\$AUD\INTERNAL AUDIT FILES\DOC07-08\REPORTS-FINAL\SFHCC RPT.doc
cc: Liliam Lopez, President, South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Jose Cruz, Budget Officer
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