FMRC Journey in Grants Financial Management Essentials: Pre-Learning Video

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Welcome to Journey in Grants  Financial Management Essentials.

In this pre-learning video, we’ll  cover topics for Session 1:  

Charting Your Pathway to Success.  Let’s begin our learning journey!

This training series is recommended to be taken  after you have completed the required Grant  

Financial Management Certification Training.  The Essentials series does not fulfill the  

Department of Justice (DOJ) Grants Financial  Management certification requirement. As an  

As an introduction to this series, let's look  at the Financial Life Cycle.  

The process of the grant life cycle has five phases based  on the Office of Justice Program (OJP) model:  

application, budget review, award,  grant administration, and closeout.

Within these five phases are high-level steps that  detail project milestones. This session has been  

developed to assist you with growing your personal  knowledge of the steps involved in financial grant  

management and, ultimately, help complement  your knowledge to assist with your grant-funded  

project. What are some processes that you  should consider as you get ready for your award?

Let's briefly take a look. Let’s check off some  key things to consider as you’re getting set  

up for your award. You’ll want to understand the  award conditions by reviewing them in JustGrants.  

And by reviewing the information in JustGrants,  you’ll be able to create a backup file system to  

establish backup copies of essential documentation  related to the life cycle of your grant. Finally,  

you should follow the performance and  financial reporting requirements of your grant.

Finally, you should follow the performance  and financial reporting requirements of your  

grant. Let’s start with understanding the award  conditions. It may have been some time since you  

last reviewed key information about your grant  award package, or maybe you need to confirm  

details related to your specific award conditions.  Make sure everyone involved in the management of  

the award, including the Grant Writer or  Planner, read the grant solicitation, too.

We’ll talk more about that when we discuss  roles and responsibilities. The Grants.gov  

website is the central platform for all federal  grants. This is where you can find the original  

Notice of Funding Opportunity, also known as  NOFO. You can also find the NOFO in JustGrants.  

From the ‘Search Grants’ button on the top of the  Grants.gov website, you can search by keyword,  

status, and many other criteria to find  high level information on all grants.

With a System for Award Management or SAM account,  

you can gain access to other specific  information related to your grant.  

There are several key pieces of information  that you can locate to begin creating an award  

grant management file. Let’s begin with how  to locate your grant award information using  

the JustGrants system. Once you log in, you can  check to see the current status of your award.

From the Actions menu, you can  select “print Award Package PDF.”

Next, your award package will download  to your computer as a PDF file.  

A copy can be printed and saved as a  backup copy. The document header will  

display the DOJ seal. Your award package  will contain information to assist you  

with filling out the Grant Information Page,  which should be placed in your grant file.

To ensure compliance with grant award  requirements, grantees should establish  

a grant file that accounts for all three phases  of the grant lifecycle. The file structure shown  

here offers a practical way to begin organizing  the records you should maintain for each phase of  

grant activity. Within each grant lifecycle phase  folder, grantees can create subfolders to organize  

relevant materials according to naming conventions  that best meet the needs of their entity.

The entity should decide what documents are  necessary to maintain the files. For security  

purposes, only individuals with clearly designated  roles should have access to the grant file. As  

mentioned earlier, roles and responsibilities  are important to designate when managing a grant.  

There are three main roles in managing federal  grants: program, financial, and administrative.

No matter how big or small your entity is,  

plan ahead to decide who will be responsible  for these roles. For more assistance, visit the  

Just Grants Training for Entity Management  linked in the Session 1 resource packet.

Like roles and responsibilities, there are various  

systems to manage grants. These include  ASAP, JustGrants, SAM.gov, and Grants.gov.  

While this journey is helpful to complement your  skills, as a DOJ award grantee, it is important to  

be acquainted with the financial management  requirements stated in 2 CFR 200: Uniform  

Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles,  and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards.

Also, use the DOJ Grants Financial Guide  to help fulfill the grant's duties,  

safeguard funds, and ensure  funds are used appropriately.  

It’s a starting point for grantees to learn about  the effective day-to-day management of awards.

All individuals responsible for the financial  administration of discretionary and/or formula  

grants awarded from federal grant-in-aid  programs administered by various bureaus and  

offices at DOJ, are required to complete  DOJ training for financial management.  

There are various reports you’ll also need to  maintain and provide throughout the lifecycle  

of your grant, including financial reports,  performance reports, and property reports.

You can download many of these  reports from our website.

As you prepare your grant management file,  

be sure to write down important dates,  such as these, in your calendar.  

Dates related to the Federal Financial Report (or  FFR) period, due dates for submitting the FFR,  

and dates the funds are frozen if you do  not submit the FFR, should all be included.

There are two systems you'll need to use  to provide reports. The Office for Victims  

of Crime's Performance Management Tool (or  PMT) is used to submit performance reports,  

and JustGrants is used to submit financial  reports. During Session 1, we will provide a  

comprehensive walkthrough of the grant management  file, showcasing various documents and strategies  

for organizing essential materials that your  team will need to set up your entity for success.

Our focus will be on the award phase,  

ensuring you have the tools and knowledge  to navigate this critical stage effectively.

We are excited to invite you to join us for  Session 1, where we will delve deeper into the  

topics covered in this video. During this session,  you will learn how to: identify documentation  

and procedures to include when establishing your  entity’s grant management processes and policies;  

establish roles and responsibilities that can  help facilitate compliance with your award  

and solicitation conditions and other federal  requirements; and set up strategies to maintain  

roles and procedures at your entity for the long  term, even when there is workforce turnover.

Reach out to your Training and Technical  Assistance center if you have any questions  

or need assistance with Session 1.  We hope to see you soon! [Music]