TFSC Session 1: Charting Your Pathway to Success

Welcome to session one of the Journey in Grants  Financial Management Essentials training. This  

session is a collaborative effort developed on  behalf of the OJP Territories Financial Support  

Center (TFSC), who gave input into the session  content. We're glad you can join us today. My  

name is Natalie and I'll be supporting today's  presentation with zoom.gov technical support.  

Now it is time for me to turn the  presentation over to Christal McNeill-Wright,   who is the associate CFO for the Office of Justice  Programs Grant Financial Management Division.

Hi, everyone. Christal McNeill-Wright Wright was unable to make it. So I'm here  to represent her. My name is Frances Mendez,  

Project Director of the OJP Territories  Financial Support Center. On behalf of Christal,  

I'd like to welcome everyone to all our  guests joining us today. Presenters,  

OCFO full staff. We're very excited. About  this session that we have for you today.

And, we'll also have an   opportunity to answer any questions you have,  at the end of the training. Next slide. Here,  

I'll give you a little bit information about  OJP, TFSC. So as you can see here, OJP,  

TFSC utilizes a three level approach to support  you, with services that are free. TFSC, OJP,  

TFSC offers universal training and technical  assistance providing tools and resources,  

where you can contact our virtual support  center by email or set up a phone appointment.

We offer tailored training   and technical assistance that  includes our certification trainings,  

our essentials training that we're doing, today,  as well as other types of group activities.  

And then we also offer customized training and  technical assistance where we partner with you,  

to provide you with support. So now I'm going  to introduce you to our session presenters.

Facilitators, Jennifer and Eduardo.   They're your presenters for today's session.

Hello, everyone. So nice to   see some familiar names and to new names  to our training today. Good morning. Good  

afternoon. Ola. Half a day to Lisa. My name  is Jennifer Kelso and the assistant project  

director for OJP Territories Financial Support  Center, TFSC. I have over 20 years in finance  

and grants financial management in the areas of  finance, administration, accounting, compliance,  

monitoring, and assisting organizations  in strengthening financial capacity.

I've also taught finance, accounting and   compliance at the college level, but I especially  enjoy working with our OJP grantees and providing  

training and technical assistance and sound  financial consultation. I'm so looking forward  

to interacting with you today. And I'll turn it  over to my colleague Eduardo to introduce himself.

Thank you Jennifer. Welcome,   everyone. My name is Eduardo Ortiz. I'm the  financial specialist down here in Puerto Rico.  

I have over seven years of experience in grant  management, especially taking care of budgets,  

oversight, and compliance. I have  been with OJP for over a year now,  

providing strong support to older entities  that we have down here in Puerto Rico and   also the other territories, and providing  supporting whatever you guys need in trying  

to help you guys as an organization in the  goals that you are trying to accomplish.

So welcome and looking forward   to have a great interactive session with you all.

Awesome. So our goals today   are to provide essential tools, tips and  tricks to help demystify grants. Financial  

management provide you with easily shareable  information, establish a partnership with us,  

an OJP training and technical assistance  center and provide a safe place to ask   questions. Thanks again for taking the time  to be here with us today. We hope you learned  

a great deal by attending this first of  our four essential training webinars.

Let's get started on our   journey into essentials of  grants financial management. As we begin a reminder that  

this program is not a certificate training, but  it is a deep dive training intended to share  

best practices, practices from subject matter  experts and an opportunity for you to access  

additional tools and resources to support  your grants financial management journey.

Going to the session,   we're going to start with the pre landing  video recap. Obviously these pre learning  

videos were the ones that laid the foundation of  all of the material that we're gonna be covering  

today. During this session we're going to be  providing you essential resources. We're going  

to share with you very interesting resources that  will support your learning during this session.

You're going to have the   opportunity also to interact with subject  matter experts. So feel free to reach out  

or make a question in the chat. Come off  mute and ask any question. Also, to make  

everybody for this to make to give you guys the  opportunity to participate, we're going to have  

very engaging knowledge checks and peer sharing,  with other colleagues that are here in the call.

So feel free to interact and   interchange your knowledge and experiences.  And last but not least, we're going to provide  

you guys before we leave the next steps  regarding the essential series that we're   going to be covering in the upcoming months.  So yeah, we are ready, Jennifer. So let's go.

Awesome. Okay. Like Eduardo said,   this is an interactive session. So you will have  opportunities to share your experiences, successes  

and lessons learned. Let's begin with a quick pull  to get to know the audience. Make a selection.  

As a poll appears on your screen. All right, so  the majority of the participants have over three  

years of experience at 49%, followed by less than  three years at 33% and their first year at 18%.

So that's great. We have a really   good balance here. I think the information that  you'll learn today will be applicable to everyone.  

Regardless of how many years you have been  working on your grant. So thank you for your   participation. Depending on when you registered,  an email went out with the link to two short pre  

learning videos. If for some reason you did not  receive the email, there's no need to worry. We will share the links to  

these resources in the chat. Thank you Pam. So  there's the JustGrants Managing Fund Awards  

video as you'll see and the essentials series pre  learning video session one. Feel free to bookmark  

those. These pre learning videos emphasize  the importance of being good stewards of the   funding. By complying with OJP requirements  and your grant specific award conditions.

Guidance was given on how to access   your work details, view your award conditions  and locate reporting requirements in due dates.  

If you haven't already, please excluded the  JustGrants training site for other helpful   information and resources. I can't express enough  how valuable those are, and we've also prepared,  

on the next slide here, we've prepared  a resource packet filled with practical  

tools and templates for you to use and  share with others in your organization. A link to the resource  

packet was included in the confirmation email.   Some of you may have printed these pages or you  may choose to open them electronically. Please  

have the resource packet open throughout the  session so you can follow along as we cover.   Cover the learning topics. I will pause for a  few seconds so everyone can open that packet.

And once you have it open,   go ahead and locate page 14 entitled  Notes and Takeaways from session one.  

And this is your space to jot down  notes and other key takeaways,   or perhaps to record reminders that you'll want  to share with others. Your notes from today's  

session can prompt discussions when you meet  with your grants. Financial management team. So, as we know, all the  

training that you all take, it's  always important to convey that   to your team. So let's take a look at  another tool in your resource packet.

You, Jennifer, one of, one of the tools that   you have in your package will be the key terms  to know. This one is on page A, so I will give  

everybody some seconds to go and try to find this  page right now. When you get a chance, please.

This page right here is very   important because as you already know, when  you're managing, when rent management funds  

or awards, it is very important that the entire  organization is talking the same language. Right?  

So the purpose for us to providing this in  your package is to make sure that you can  

write down all the definitions that we're  going to be covering in today's session. All the key terms that  

you're going to be that we're going  to be sharing with you are based on   the latest revision to the two CFR 200  that was updated back in October 2024,  

and all those terms will be appearing in  alphabetical order. So feel free to write  

down all the definitions as we go on. Also,  you will notice like it is shown in the slide.

Every time that we covered a new term,   it will show the purple square, in the right  side of the slide. So that way you can go  

ahead and write your notes in terms of the  definition that we're going to be providing.

You know, Eduardo, so you have   a new vocabulary when you manage an OJP grant,  as evidenced by all the terms on the screen.  

So you'll notice that we have filled out award  conditions term as an example, word conditions  

was referenced in the pre learning video. It  means requirements attached to funding awards  

to ensure compliance. Remember that this includes  conditions that may lead to withholding of funds.

We will share this definition   in the chat now. And please take a moment  to record it on page eight. Let's fill in  

two other terms while we were here. Locate  the word entity. Entity, grantee, recipient,  

and nonfederal agencies are all commonly used  interchangeably. So we have to include them  

together. They refer to an organization  that receives federal grant funds. Please record this definition.

Budget clearance is next. This term refers  

to the process of obtaining approval for the  financial plan associated with a federal award.

As we proceed throughout this session, we   will circle back to this document so you can fill  in the information related to additional terms.

All right. Let's begin with the   financial lifecycle of a grant. As you can see on  the screen, there are five phases to the lifecycle  

of a grant. It will be the real one. And they are  divided into two sections right. The pre award and  

the post award. We're going to start with the pre  award starting with the application budget review.

00:11:30:20 - 00:12:05:23 And in the post award we will   have the award grant ministration and closeout  application is defined as the specific set of  

forms, documents and attachments that  comprise an applicant's submission to   our federal grant opportunity. This is  typically includes a proposal abstract,  

a narrative letter of support or memorandum of  understanding. MOU disclosures, and insurance  

and other components. List is listed in the  Notice of Funding, Opportunity and Offer.

Remember, please to keep all your application   documents. That's very important. Every time that  you're managing a grant. Write for budget. Budget  

is defined as a financial plan for the project or  program that the federal awarding agency approves  

during the federal award process. Ensure your  budget is a regional estimate based on historical  

expenses and future forecasts. Cost must be  necessary, reasonable, allowable, and you can be,  

and you need to be able to allocate the write  your budget narrative to match your budget items.

So keep this in mind every   time that you're managing your grant. And  as part of the prior work of your great.

So yeah, you've done your pre   award work every application and budget in and now  comes the post award phase. The award is when you  

accept the award, you ensure you have JustGrants  access set up and your account is current. You're  

enrolled in a system what we call ASAP, which  is automatic standard application for payments.

And you've assigned the   appropriate roles in these systems. There's a  lot of systems we'll cover in a few minutes to,  

the grant administration phase. This includes  managing the federal funds, drawing down grant  

money, requesting award modifications,  meeting your reporting requirements,  

and submitting a single audit report if it's  required, and being prepared for external  

monitoring, monitoring and managing  your subversive unit if you have any. Then we move into the closeout phase. The  

closeout phase includes a final federal financial  report, final performance measures report,  

and a final drawdown or refund of any excess  cash. So those are the phases. Next slide.

If any. And in order to   accomplish those phases in our chart minor, you  need to establish your grant financial management  

system. Right. In order to be in check and have  everything in place during the entire lifecycle.  

Our system works together as a person, part of  a mechanism or network. It can also refer to a  

set of principles or procedures to approach  managing the financial aspect of your award.

In this training, your grant   financial management system refers to the  overall process of policies and procedures  

that guide your project planning our  roles and responsibilities and sources   for reporting data and documentation.  How to how you establish your financial  

management system determines how you  your entity operates. We centrally,  

centrally in our knowledge that many of you may  have already policies and procedures in place.

So this is a huge opportunity   for everyone in here to take another look  at them and make any updates if necessary.

Great. So we'll share   recommendations and best practices for  creating a customized system that works  

for your unique entity. Grants. Financial  management is not one size fits all,  

and this training is designed with that in mind.  Having a system in place to establish how your  

internal structures will function allows your  entity to comply with all requirements with ease.

We will highlight how to establish clear   roles and expectations internally and externally.  How to find and organize your documentation,  

how to plan for staff turnover and how to apply  this information to your organization. And in  

your space. Next slide. All right. Let's dive  into our first topic roles and responsibilities.  

Why is it important to have clearly defined  roles and responsibilities within your entity?

And you know, just thinking about that,   establishing internal controls is a requirement  for managing your award and needs to be reflected  

in your entity's policies and procedures. So that  means having all those, roles documented in your  

manuals. Having clear roles helps when unexpected  situations such as staff turnover or family  

emergencies occur. You know, defining who's the  backup if something happens in your organization.

Establish responsibilities   such as who authorize and review  payments. Keep in mind that even  

small entities must ensure a separation  of duties that different people handle,  

have to perform different roles. So we have a case  study to look at. Let's go ahead and take a look.

Yeah. The way that we're going   to be sharing this important information with  all of you guys will be that on each section  

of the training, we're going to start with a  case study. So that way we can go to all the  

best practices and everything that we want to  share with you guys. This is this case study.

We'll have you guys recognize how   to put best practices into practice. So let's  begin with our friends roles. First of all,  

let's congratulate her because she's  managing her and her organization are  

managing her their first grant. Their  first federal grant. So this is an   exciting opportunity for them to expand on  their important work that they are doing.

Right. So one of the first   things for being a good steward of funds, it  is something that their organization already  

does very, very well. So let's see how  it's going. Roles were all getting for.

Things that were to. And I   know that you and I have been in Rose's  position and some others on the call,  

so this is a good one. Rose works in a  small nonprofit with three employees.   They just received their first federal  grant from the Office of Victims of Crime.  

OVC financial grant management processes  must be assigned. Rose is a little nervous.

She knows there are several   federal systems that require role  assignment, financial responsibilities  

within the organization that need to be divided  up, and data that must be tracked and reported.  

She keeps hearing terms like internal controls  and separation of duties, but she's not sure  

what those terms mean or how to implement  them in her organization. Where can Rose go?

For more information on internal   controls and separation of duties? Eduardo.

Let's see how she solved this challenge.

All right, let's see. So being   a small entity doesn't have to be a barrier.  Setting systems up for success is a good first  

step. And specific requirements can be found in  the DOJ Grants Financial guide, section 2.3 on  

the financial management systems. We'll post a  link in the chat for your reference. Thank you.

As Rose and her colleagues make   decisions about who does what. She kept  in mind this that separation of duties,  

right? Simply means no one person should  do an entire process alone. For example,  

there's a role for authorizing purchases, a  separate one for a completing the purchase  

and one for reconciling the payments. This  practice is captured in the entity policies,  

entities, policy and procedures to ensure  compliance with federal rules and regulations.

This is actually internal   controls in action. To learn more about  internal controls. See that Green Book by  

U.S. Government Accountability Office. We will  post a link in the chat for your reference.

Great, thanks. I think you   will see that in the chat. And also keep in  mind the OJP Territories Financial Support  

Center is happy to review your entities, roles  and responsibilities with you and to answer any  

questions to ensure appropriate assignments.  We understand that organizations look a little   differently, and so might those policies  and procedures and those role assignments.

So digging a little bit.   Yep. Thank you Jennifer. Yeah a little  bit more internal controls in managing  

a grant. These are the three main roles  that you need to put in place within your  

organization. You will have the program  role. These are going to be responsible   for implementing the described goals  that the grant are expecting to be met.

Right. They're going to be   reporting on the milestone as required. They're  going to be the source documentation and making  

sure that the documentation is maintained and  will be programing. Reporting requirements  

are as are when they're completed. Right. The  second one will be the role of the financial.  

These are going to be this actual.  These role will be in charge of making   sure that the revenues and expenditures  throughout the grant period are track.

They're going to be providing   the financial reporting requirements  are complete and also contract and  

procurement requirements are followed.  They're going to be the ones looking at   that. And the last one will be but not  least right the administrative role.  

They're going to be developing and enhancing  required policies for the entity. And they're   going to be tracking the grant throughout the  entire lifecycle of a period of performance.

Great. I really love those three buckets.   Program financial. Administrative. So let's take  a moment to locate the internal roles in managing  

grant planning document page ten of your resource  packet. This resource can be used to help your  

entity define its roles and responsibilities. As  you see on the slide, the financial, programmatic,   and administrative personnel work together  closely as they are all interconnected and  

coordinated to ensure compliance with grant  guidelines and to achieve the project's goals.

Establishing a communication schedule   such as biweekly, monthly or quarterly  to discuss milestone is recommended,  

and I can't emphasize that enough for the internal  team to being consistent communication with the  

rules and make sure the roles are assigned, and  there's no gaps in your policies and procedures  

and personnel work together to report accurately  and address any potential issues that may arise.

Next slide.

Okay. So on your screen we   see all the systems that we work with your  system expert. When you become an OJP grantee,  

the establishment of internal controls also  helps play a part in identifying external  

federal system responsibilities. There are  there are several platforms grantees use to  

manage their awards. As seen on the screen.  JustGrants, ASAP, SAM.gov, and Grants.gov.

Take a moment to locate your   federal system responsible Entity Planning  Worksheet on page 12 in your resource packet.  

Please note that we strongly encourage your entity  to establish a backup person for all systems,   roles, and responsibilities to ensure continuity  of grant activities in the event of staff  

turnover. We all know we have staff turnover  and having a backup plan is super important.

Those individuals should be   documented in an accessible place and  shared with the grant management staff.  

The primary designees should train their backups  so they can step in as needed to ensure continuity   of grant financial management processes and  procedures. All right. So let's start with  

JustGrants. It is the DOJ grant management  system which provides resources and support  

to grant application and award management  in the JustGrant section of your worksheet.

You can see that there are   six foundational rules created to ensure  entity users have the authority to conduct  

specific requirements and tasks. Because we  know the way those roles are assigned and the   system influences the actions that they are  permitted to perform. Back to you, Eduardo.

Let's talk about ASAP. ASAP is the automated   stand there application for a payment system that  allows entities to draw down or request. There are  

wire funds in the subsection of the worksheet we  have provided you with, with other Phoenician of  

this system, alongside we detailing the names  of the several assignments required during the  

enrollment process. The names of the several  roles are listed in the information column.

Use this worksheet sheet to   record the names of who will be responsible  for each asset. Well excuse you Jennifer.

Thanks. Next, we have sam.gov.   This is a system for award management. We  call SAM a lot. The SAM account is required  

to apply for funding on grants.gov. And  entities can also verify that any vendors  

or potential sub recipients or their current  Sam recipients or contractors are approved   to do business with the federal government,  so they have to be in good standing there.

SAM requires three key rules for system   management, and I'll also note that you have to  update your registration in the sam.gov system.  

So making sure the rules are updated to receive  those reminders is super important. Eduardo.

That's a great point. Let's   go with grants.gov. This is a centralized  website with where federal agencies publish our  

opportunities. On page number 13 of the packet,  give you space for you to record the three core  

roles of this system. Core roles are defined as  your or authorized organization, representative  

roles that serve as EBPCs or electronic  business points of contact for your entity.

Any for. Thanks. There's a few additional   takeaways in relation to federal system  management that you may want to consider. You,  

like we said before, you always want to  update your point of contact information.   This is especially important and that requires  updating in all the systems. If you have,  

the need to do so, then taking a look at  your policies and procedures, you need to   develop and hand to maintain written policies  and procedures for handling staff changes.

You know, step by step. What are   you going to do when you have a staff change? You  need to identify a backup for all systems roles,  

especially for entity administrator, and  JustGrants you need to include steps for   changing roles and JustGrants Grants.gov, SAM and  ASAP and include the reassignment of roles as part of  

your entities process to update system management  assignments before an employee's last date occurs.

Because, as we know, Eduardo,   we don't want, someone to leave the  organization and have all those roles  

assigned. It'll be difficult to  change once they go back to you. That's a great point. So  

we have share a bunch of information,  right. So, summary let's talk about some   key takeaways about all the information  that we all share with you guys. First,  

always have a backup version that you can assign  access to. Do not rely only on one person for  

all federal system roles. Have a contingency  plan in place for any issues that may arise.

As you know, stuff happens   right? We have supporting resources on our  website that you might wish to view. If you  

need additional information about any  of the.gov system systems that we have  

discussed right here. Next slide please okay.  So now lesson let's go and deals deeper into  

our next topic which is our details. Having  trouble having a great understanding of the  

award details plays a significant impact  and successful grant financial management.

So next slide please. Okay Eduardo, we get to revisit Rose again.  Yep. So Rose found some quiet time at work  

and is setting up the grant file for entities. New  award from OVC. We all know as we manage grants,  

it's important to have one file dedicated  to that in your system to hold all the files   and documents. The award is one of the largest  they've received and it spans multiple years.

She wants to make sure the entity   does everything that they proposed, wrote  help inform the original project proposal,  

but didn't write the actual grant application.  Now she's wondering where to find the award  

information so she can jot down key details.  She's aware of something called notice of award  

and award conditions, but she's not quite  sure what that means and where to find it.

Where should she look,   and what should you take? Note. Notice. All right, let's see.  

The next slide for their solution.

Yeah. So role approach basically decides to create   an award cover sheet will which will contain  high level details about the award. Summary  

of our work conditions, contact information  for technical assistance. Growth will work to  

address any potential gaps in workers. Call and  collect the necessary documentation. Right. So  

basically, Rose is looking for all the information  or on a work cover sheet that her fingerprints.

Right. So she is just trying   to gather all the information involved in one  place. So that way she's going to be able to  

find all the details regarding the award that  they're managing. So the entity sign off on  

important assurances and certification. There  are a lot of our work on the issues. Right. So   after reading the documents, the document  rolls state notes that the organization  

plans to hire a contractor versus a security  system and travel to a training conference.

So she also sees there is a requirement to provide   cost sharing so much for the project and to  complete a grant. Financial management training.

Yeah, this is great. I mean, Rosa's   getting organized right up front. She's getting  that cover sheet or title page that lists all the  

information about the award. So Rosa developed  a To-Do list, which includes working with her  

team to establish a written policy procedure for  procuring goods and services with federal funds.  

Update the travel policy to make sure employees  reimbursements have required documentation.

Create a new timesheet   template that captures all details needed  to accurately reflect the work performed  

on this award. Update the internal  system for equipment management to   make sure a thorough inventory is conducted.  Develop a procedure for drawing down federal  

funds. Create a mechanism for tracking and  reporting cost sharing what we call match,  

and ensure grant, award administrator and  financial manager complete the required DOJ grant.

Financial management training.   So many things to do. So important to have  a checklist as you listen to Rose's story.  

Remember the OJP Territories Financial Support  Center us? We're happy to review the entities,  

policies and procedures with  you to ensure compliance.   Go over this checklist with you. All the things  that you need to consider in managing your award.

Next slide. That's right. So now we would like to share   our tool for sharing our details with all who will  work on implementing the grant. We have developed  

an award covered page for you to adapt to your  needs and award coverage documents. Important  

information about your grant Award. We quickly  visibility of important information. Every entity  

is unique. You can easily modify this document  according to what works best for your needs.

In the event of an audit or   review. Having this resource available  makes it easier for the auditors to  

understand the scope and status of your  project, and it also demonstrate that  

your entity is organized and  aware of the work conditions.

Great. So the sample cover page was included in   your confirmation email, and it's also been shared  in the chat here. Thank you Jessica. Now that we  

have our award cover page resource open, please  turn to page two. It includes a sample of what  

was a sample of a completed document. Could look  like. Page three is where the resource begins.

The top section documents   or details found in the award letter. If you  need support on how to find this information,  

reference the pre learning video, which provides  an easy to understand walk through outlining the  

steps to locate the award details in JustGrants  we all know JustGrants complex system. So this,  

resource will be very helpful. This is this is  shown on the top section outlined in purple.

The bottom section has several places   where you can indicate yes no if they apply.  And as we said, there's not a one size fits all  

model. So feel free to adapt this resource  as needed to best fit your needs. Eduardo.

Indeed, we have another poll question to   ask. How many of you plan to implement, tools such  as the grant or work cover page? Following this  

training? You have the option there throughout  the registration. What is. I cannot wait to use  

this tool. This is not for me or you already have  one version, that it is perfect and it is great.

So feel free to share with us. What do you think? Oh wow. I love these responses coming in. Eduardo.

You look at that. Yeah Alina,   I'm really happy. The majority saying that  they can not wanting to use this tool that we  

just share with them. So thank you so much  for participating and answering the poll.

Appreciate you and the   tool. So important when you have so many  awards that you're managing. Having this   type of tool is very useful. So glad it's helpful.

Yep. All right. So 79% can't  

wait to use that tool. Yep. Next slide. Great list. Yeah. This is your  

turn. Yeah. Let's talk about determining the cost.  Sharing is, measurement. Right. But your project.  

So determine the measurement you're responsible  for can feel a little bit overwhelming,  

but honestly, it doesn't have to be that  way. Let's take a look at what this all   means. Through all these visuals illustrating  how to determine the cost sharing measurement.

As you can see on the slide   on step one, you can see that the formula for  determining the total adjusted project cost  

required taking the award amount and dividing  it by the percentage of federal share of the  

total project cost. If you have never done  this type of calculation in this report,  

please reach out to our TTA  center for no cost assistant. We're here for you, so feel  

free to reach out. And we are more than happy to  help you guys doing the calculation. In the second  

step in the bottom, you take the total adjusted  project cost and multiply it by the percentage  

of the recipient share of the total project cost.  This is what gives you the required much amount.

Jennifer. That's right. Eduardo. So   here the evaluation of in-kind cost share match  cost includes supplies, equipment or space. The  

value of each item must not exceed fair market  value at the time of donation. Volunteer services  

are valued at the regular rate of pay plus fringe  benefits. Let's also keep in mind that there are  

restrictions on use of funds. The entity must  follow the same guidelines as federal funds.

Expenses must be allowable   within federal funds to be allowable with the  matching funds. Makes sense as far as compliance,  

it's important to follow the award guidelines  and always reference the approved budget.  

Maintaining records is also of extreme  importance. So records calculating your  

match. Having a sound filing system for all source  documentation will help set you up for success.

For audit and monitoring visits.   And when calculating the cashier match amount  as shown in our visual always used provided  

formula to determine the required match example  for a $250,000 grant with a 75 to 25% ratio,  

the recipient shares $83,333. I will  also note that always reference to your  

award conditions. So sometimes the US  territories can be waived off match,   but that is dependent upon multiple factors.

So reaching out to our program, our project  

will help. We can help you clarify that and also  your OJP grant manager back to you, Eduardo.

Yeah. Also keep in mind that   cost sharing cannot come from another federal  source unless authorized funds cannot be used  

for cost like fundraising, compensation  must be documented similarly to federal  

funds or recovered. Indirect costs can be used  with prior approval for cost sharing must be  

apply by the end of the grant period. Changes in  cost sharing may require a budget modification.

So now let's take a look at   an example of cost sharing calculation.  Let's put some numbers here again for.  

So. In this example the match requirement is 75 to  25 right? If cost sharing is part of your grant,  

please ensure that your reference  that the DOJ grant financial guide,  

because there is a section to guide  you on how to calculate a match. You may also contact your  

OJP TFSC TA center for support is there  if this is new to you. Like we said,  

we're always here for you, to support you and  we can provide your entity with assistance.   It is very important for recipients and to  maintain records that centrally certainly  

show the resource amount and timing  for all the cost sharing contributions.

The final contact topic,   it is reported in the comment section. These  are crucial the these are crucial elements for  

grant management. The re learning video cover  where to find report due dates and information   locations. Keeping track of documentation for  an application to close out is vital for the  

for success. So all the documentation. I  will say that before making sure that you   have everything covered and you have  all the documentation in one place.

So this is going to help you in the long run. Yeah. Documentation source,   documentation backup. We all use those terms in  finance. So let's revisit Rose. With the loss of  

their external grant administrator Rose has been  juggling many roles. I know all of us have been  

there. When working with her bookkeeper, she  notices that her entity's internal calendar  

indicates that the FFR, the Federal Financial  Report, is due soon for their OVC grant.

So Rose is aware that the FFR must be complete,   it must be accurate, and it has to be submitted  on time. We all know those deadlines. Rose is  

unable to get a hold of the previous grant award  administrator for help, and is now tasked with  

completing the FFR for the first time. She's heard  of backup documentation and record retention,  

but is not sure what those terms mean exactly  or how to go about pulling everything together.

Where should she start? What did she   do? All right, let's take a look at the solution.  So Rose decided to lay out the steps to to take,  

starting with the FFR due date and utilizing  the entity's internal financial procedures to  

partner with the financial point of contact  to obtain copies of needed documentation.  

Rose received an internal financial statement  showing the total amount billed to the grant,  

starting from the beginning of the award  to the end of the most recent quarter.

It also shows how much indirect   was recovered during the last three  months. We all know those detail reports,  

she can even practice filling out the form by  using the fillable PDF found on Grants.gov.

The backup documentation   is simply the financial statement Rose  used to fill out the Federal Financial   Report. This document contains details  that confirm the numbers reported. It  

is a list of transactions specific to the  grant collection, called a layer or sub. The  

financial statement needs to be saved with  a copy of the filing of the final submit  

federal financial report in the grant life the  accounting system that produced the financials.

The statement has the capability   of supporting source documents as such as  paid bills, cancel checks, contract invoices,  

etc. these source documents don't  have to be kept in the grant file,  

but need to remain available over request  saving. The Federal financial report,  

financial statements and search documents for  at least three years after the end of the award.

Is record retention in action?   So make sure that you keep all the documentation  backup documentation related to the grant,  

in there in your organization, at least within  three years after the award is closed. Jennifer.

Really good. That's so important. So   saving a copy of the final submitted FFR can  be tricky. So some people take screenshots,  

but we're posting a link in the chat to a  guide from the JustGrants Training Financial  

reporting webpage. Remember that your grants  financial management technical assistance  

provider US we're here to happy. Look over  your FFR with you to make sure it's accurate.

Before submission to Rose   here to help with that attitude or to. Yeah that's where we do flag up in this case,  

let's review a few key terms that played an  important role in ensuring accountability   and appropriate documentation of funds for  federal reporting. To avoid misuse of funds,  

it is important to avoid combining and  combining that. It is combining funds from  

multiple sources into a single account, which  can create challenges and legal implication.

Supplanting it is using   federal grant funds to replace nonfederal funds  previously allocated for a specific activity,  

which is generally prohibited, and duplication  receiving multiple sources of funding for the  

same purpose, leading to inefficiencies  and misuse of resources. Jennifer.

So importantly, there's a lot   to consider when managing multiple awards, and  one of those is tracking of funding sources for  

every cost and activity, and separately in your  accounting systems. For each grant or project,  

you need to ensure compliance with  applicable statutes, regulations   and award terms and clearly defining rules for  authorizing, reviewing and sending out payments.  

The goal is to have a smooth and  transparent process for grants,   financial management, and that way any auditor  or monitor can also follow your process.

Next slide. All right so creating a backup   file system. One key takeaway from this session  not mentioned in the DOJ grants financial guide,  

is important to establishing a well organized  grant financial management file system to maintain  

backup copies of essential documentation.  These copies, whether you choose to store  

them electronically or in a secured shared space  or kept in a physical binder, are separate from  

the records maintained in the government grant  website, so JustGrants, Grants.gov, SAM.gov.

Maintaining a backup documentation file system  ensures continuity and consistency with grant  

financial management when staff changes  occur. Having a system in place with ease,   the transition for new staff to access necessary  documents and will lend a hand when minimizing  

disruptions to financial procedures. This is just  one way to establish a framework for success.

Wait. As we progress through this session,   we will provide you with chosen themes for your  entity's centralized documentation system. Keep  

in mind that our technical system US  team is always here to support you.  

Usually, you just need your solution.  If you need additional assistance,   feel free to reach out after this  session and we will be here for you.

That's right Ivana, we can   always help with best practices and setting up  those that file management and record retention.  

But there's not one size fits all methods  for documentation document organization.  

So use your judgment to determine what works  best for you and your entity. Understanding   that everyone's different, but also needs to,  ensure the same guidelines to ensure compliance.

Our goal is to help you find a sustainable process   that makes things easier for you, your entity,  to track what you need to be ready for audits and  

compliance in your resource packet, let's locate  the resource entitled Grant Financial Management  

Planning Worksheet. We will place a link to  this worksheet in the chat. If you need a copy.

Yes, please locate the Backup   Documentation Planning worksheet on page four  of your packet. We have an example of what this  

page should look like. In this light. In  a moment, we will begin sharing document  

names and organizations organization ideas for  establishing best practices for maintaining  

backup, backup copies of documentation  related to the life cycle of your award.  

We encourage you to use this page to follow along  and jot down ideas to share with your entity.

For organization of essential   workers, please, please consider using your  notes to help guide future discussions with  

your brand management team about how to improve  your processes. Our model of organization  

correspond directly to the five phases of the  OJP life cycle of the way. Next slide please.

All right. That's right. Eduardo, let's begin by   looking at the pre award phase documents that your  entity should maintain as the basis of getting  

started with creating your backup documentation  system. Please take a moment to record what you  

feel is helpful from this. Slide onto page four  of your planning sheet and consider discussing  

this with your entity. On this slide, you'll see  two sections indicated with the blue folders.

Here. These represent files,   sections, or categories to place application  documents to help you get started. One section  

is entitled Application and Requirements  Solicitation. The other is project  

planning. We include project planning because  keeping track of your documented project plan,  

your project timeline is essential. In other  words, those documents serve as foundation   for what you told the government  you're going to do with your word.

Remember, we're funding a project to   the right sections of the screen. We have bulleted  list of possible documents to include. Your entity  

should tailor your backup documentation system  files to meet your needs. In other words, you may  

have other documents that you need to maintain and  add to the files. In addition to the examples that  

we've provided here and for additional information  related to application for these documents,  

we recommend that you review the JustGrants  application submission training resources.

We are posting a link in the   chat for you to bookmark here. So many links.  Also important for your convenience. And this  

same link is also at the bottom of page  four. So in multiple places back to you. Perfect on this slide. This  

slide particular corresponds to the budget  review phase. Right. So please go to your  

package. Go ahead and turn to page number  five. It will say budget review phase at  

the top. As part of your budget review back up  documentation. You may want to include and agree  

and agreement documents file section. This  go include items such as your award package,  

pre-approval, documentation  of work conditions, and more. If you are unsure where to  

find your work conditions as they  are located in your award letter,   and our pre learning video covers how  to locate them. You can also see that  

we included a budget, a specific section. Take a  moment to view what could be organized under that  

section, including the approved budget. Budget  modifications A regular retention files confirm  

your deliverables to stay compliant and keep up  and keep backup copies of your documentation.

So important. Yeah.

All right. So on this slide we see   contracts here. The slide also corresponds  to page five in your packet. Budget review  

encompasses a lot. So we're showing on this slide  the contracts category can include copies of all   your procurement files. Any contracts with  consultants or other contracts, invoices and,  

expense reimbursements or modification  documents. For additional budget information,  

we'll share a link in the chat to the BW,  also called the Budget Detail Worksheet.

This is an important document   that all grantees should be aware of for  your convenience. The same link is also  

at the bottom of page five in your packet.  Now the BW is a really important tool to   help form your budget. And on that budget  little worksheet there's an example tab.  

So if you're not sure how to fill that  out that example tab is super helpful. Next slide.

00:51:03:21 - 00:51:16:15 Your workspace. This slide   corresponds with page number  six of your research packet.  

Please go ahead and locate that page.  It will say our phrase at the top.

Here you can see the documents   that can be organized on there both of respondents  and a reporting section. Tracking correspondence  

or communication with various entities  collaborators is not mandatory. However,  

keeping documentation so somebody knows and  outreach materials can be beneficial in the  

event of turnover. These workers can serve as  a valuable resource to new staff. Joining your  

granting the reporting section is a especially  important for monitoring and audit compliance.

You will at some point, we're required to provide   documentation in regard to reporting. Having  these documents organize and maintain. Eliminate  

eliminates a bunch of stressful scramble to locate  key documents, right? For additional information,  

we will share a link in the chat to use when  training resources for our acceptance guidelines.  

For your convenience, this same link is also at  the bottom of page number six of your packet.

All right. This slide suggests   including a sub grantee section is applicable to  your grant. As many of you have sub recipients  

and an internal audit and compliance  section. Monitoring visits or audits   will occur throughout your grants lifecycle,  so being prepared ensures that these events  

are smooth and stress free. We all know  that you get the monitoring notifications,   but you've already have all your file management,  so you're ready for it for your convenience.

The same link is also at   the bottom of page seven in your packet.

Will also face when it comes   to close our face, I want to thank you for  the award. It is important to understand  

that the the liquidation period it is  120 days after the award period ends,  

during which all other all financial obligations  incurred by the end of the period offer  

performance must be liquidated before closeout  occurs and it is also made final financial year.

Financial and performance   reports ensuring all work conditions were met.

So maintaining financial reports and supporting  documents like closeout letters, property reports,  

final performance reports and final federal  financial reports is crucial for compliance  

with grant requirements. These documents  provide evidence that all grant activities  

have been completed, and funds have been used  appropriately. Having these documents readily  

available in your backup grant management  file makes it easier to respond to audits.

Auditors will need to review   these records to verify that the grant was  managed correctly, and that all reporting  

requirements were met. And that includes your,  grant monitors as well. Back to you, Eduardo.

In summary, keeping detailed records of records.   I'm sorry. Our financial reports and supporting  documents can serve as a valuable reference for  

future grant applications and management. It  helps in understanding what worked well and what  

could be improved in future projects. In addition,  proper documentation demonstrates accountability  

to entity collaborators, including funders,  partners, and the community. It shows that your  

organization is committed to transparency,  a responsible management of wealth funds.

We hope that you find, found,   found it helpful to take some time to  share how you can consider organizing  

your backup documentation system. Beginning for. Thank you. So, for those of you who have  

not been through a government monitoring process,  let me close with some tips and key information   on what to expect. All OJP grantees are monitored  by the program, office or CFO. Monitoring includes  

reviewing programmatic reports and financials  to identify costs and allowable costs and OCR  

for monitors. The monitors conduct an in-depth  review so they're looking at all of your expenses,  

your budgets, your budget, your modifications,  your receipts, your time cards, all of that.

One of the main challenges grantees   faced during monitoring is digging through  numerous files to find your necessary items.  

So having everything organized kind of in a manner  that we've presented might be helpful to you. And  

then everything's read at your fingertips for  when you're monitored. If you have followed our   tips for having a well maintained backup grant  management file, then you've done all the work.

Government notices will inform   grantees of required documentation, and a few  examples are policies and procedures. This could  

be a copy or website link to where policies and  procedures are kept. So always making sure those   are updated is very important for those monitoring  visits. Federal financial reports submitted in  

JustGrants. So again keeping copies, looking at  how to save those with the link that we shared.

The GL account, General Ledger,   for all expenditures since the grant inception.  Your chart of accounts, your organization's  

listing of all your jails, most recent audit  must be performed by the outside agency  

and also the single audit if you're required to  do so. Most recently approved budget listing of  

all your employees. Inventory. List of equipment  purchased with grant funds that you had auto.

Yeah. As also as an account.   I'll tell you this, this all, believe me. Advice.  Try to perform your own monitoring based within  

your entity. Audit yourself. Write that every. If  you proceed to that to do that kind of practice,  

make sure that you share with everybody what type  of files or documents you might be asking them.  

When you're doing that practice, and they're  mimicking that auditor audit or monitoring.

So yeah, that's a good practice.   And that's my advice to all of you try to  do to do it by yourself. Because that way  

you're going to be more prepared when  the actual monitoring is near your,   your radar. Right. So for  additional information, please,  

this is your screen in, training closed session.  In the training session, the training closed out.

There's additional information   for you there guys that you can go and look at. And that's all helpful information. And,  

and I'll add to that OJP TFSC is here  to support you in your monitoring.  

Preparation, if needed, you can always  reach out to us. All right. So now,  

what question do you have now? We take a  few minutes for you to ask the experts the   follow up questions that you may have based  on the information shared in today's session.

But if you don't have questions, you   can also talk about best practices or successes  that you have, during this time as well. You know,  

this is a really great time for all of our,  grantees to take yourself off mute, share  

your best practices. What's worked well for you?  And, you know, we would also like to extend a warm  

welcome to our OCFO and grant manager partners  to help answer questions as they come in as well.

So please raise your hand   if you'd like to come in or take yourself, off  mute. And we'll call on you when we're ready.  

So our, our production team is  standing by for any hands raised.

Also, if you want to also,   if you want to keep using the chat,  feel free to do so. We have a copy   there. And also we can we can get your  answers or, or your comments there too.

I know we we're on island a lot.   Seeing you in person, you all have really great  best practices and policies and procedures. So  

sharing any successes or hurdles that you've had  and how you've overcome them with information,  

with respect to the information share  today is helpful for other people,   to learn too. So anything comes to mind.

Feel free to share. And while you're thinking,   you know, if something if a question does  come up after this training and you're like,  

how? How would I manage the scenario? Or I'm not  really sure on this guide ins or OJP requirement,  

you know, just reach out to us here at Territories  Financial Support Center. That's what we do.

In addition to these trainings,   we meet with, the OJP grantees individually and  provide that customized assistance. And we're  

here to answer your questions and meet with you,  in your time zone on phone and zoom. You know,  

whatever works for you. We're we really  value our connection with all of the   grantees here on this call today. And  so happy to see you all here today.

So do we have anything in the chat or any hands   raised team we have? One. Is an email sufficient  to request to. Absolutely. And if someone can drop  

our VSC email in the chat, they can to send an  email to OJP TFSC for, to request assistance at  

that time. That email is forwarded to our team  and we will reach out to you, within 24 hours.

And we are happy to meet with you then. Yeah.   And then also we're asked if, I guess you  and Eduardo can add your emails to this chat.

Of course we can. Yeah. There you go. There you go. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. Jessica and Susan,  

this is the best way to reach us. The email  that Jessica posted there. But we Eduardo and  

I get that forwarded to us right away. So it's our  team who you're reaching when you when you think.

All right. All right. Should we go   to the next session Eduardo. Yeah. So thank you everyone.  

Right. Because in today's session you  stay with us. And we were able to cover,  

a bunch of topics related to getting  started in how to manage your grant.   Right. So we hopefully looking forward  for all of you joining us in the next,  

in the next stages of this four part journey, all  the grant financial management essential series.

So for session two we will cover topics   related to navigating OJP grants with confidence.  We will take a deeper dive into common challenges,  

guarantees, faces when money you're managing  right there. OJP grants information about  

specific sessions, dates and times will be sure  we all of you soon that will be coming soon. And  

in the meantime, please do not hesitate to  reach out to us like you already have the. And to Jennifer's point, we're  

going to get the message and it will be directed  to each team. So that way we can provide any kind  

of support that we're looking for. So yeah,  stay tuned for that. Yeah. There's like these.

Also plug to that. We're going to have open office   hours. It is a chance to meet with our subject  matter experts. If you have questions as well. So  

stay tuned for email communication about that. You  can also join our newsletter as well to make sure  

you're on our email distribution list. So here on  the screen we see the, DOJ grants financial guide.

And if you're not familiar with the DOJ   guide, it's critical resource that is useful for  administrators, financial and grants management  

specialists, accountants, auditors. It's the  primary reference manual for OJP recipients,  

to ensure that they are managing their  awards and that they're in compliance  

and if you don't have it, please, download  it. Bookmark it. Save it. This is the guide.

And it's an essential tool on your,   essentials journey. So we all have that bookmark.  We refer to it regularly. You can also save the  

PDF version on your desktop. You can print  it, access it on the OJP gov web page. We also  

recommend that you visit the JustGrants training  page. We shared a resource to that earlier. Tons of great resources there.  

There's videos Joby how to do anything and  JustGrants. It's there. If you can't find it,  

let us know. We'll get on a call with you.  Talk through a certain, specific scenario,  

but these links are here as well. JustGrants  in DOJ. Next slide. And, as we say goodbye,  

please remember that our training and technical  assistance team is here to support you at no cost.

Our services are free to our   U.S. territories OJP grantees, and we have a  great team. I just want to say thank you to,  

all the people involved in developing this  training. And we have a really great team  

here all serving our U.S territories grantees.  I would like to thank OJP for their partnership,  

for their participation today to  our, project director, Francis,   for his continued support to our OJP, grantees  in the Virgin Islands and in Guam, Puerto Rico.

For all being here today, taking time   out of your day. We, just love working with you.  And we're here to support you through the complex,  

landscape of, federal grants management. So thank  you for your time today. Thank you for filling out  

the survey. And I think that's a wrap. Thank  you, Eduardo, for being an awesome presenter.

Thank you for all the team. Thank you everyone. Thank you Jennifer,   and thank you everyone for being here. So we  really appreciate you and have a great evening.