FMRC Session One Recording

Hello, everyone. Welcome to session one of  the Journey in Grants Financial Management Essentials training. This session is a  collaborative effort developed by the on

behalf of the Office of Victims of Crime Financial  Management Resource Center, or OVC FMRC. We're

glad you can join us today. My name is Jamal Evans, and I'll be supporting today's presentation.

Now it's time for me to turn our presentation over to our Project  Director, Tara Ballesteros. Tara, take it away.

Good afternoon to most of you. And good morning  to probably some of you still. Thank you, Jameel,

for that introduction and for getting the  logistics out of the way. My name is Tara

by Stars. And on behalf of my colleagues,  thank you for participating. For a long time,

we've been wanting to create a  training to support those new to federal award management.

Or for those simply or for Those who simply desire a little more information.  With today's training, we are continuing to work

in partnership with you, the Office for Victims  of Crime and the Office of the Chief Financial

Officer to enhance your understanding of grants  financial management. This is your training, so please ask questions. Have they'll be chat  monitors and we'll also have time at the end.

OVC FMRC supports a strong financial  foundation to enhance public safety

and service to crime victims by ensuring  grant funds are maximized, maximize in the

communities they serve. We offer no cost training and technical assistance  for OVC, human trafficking and

discretionary grantees. Please reach out to us at any time to connect with a financial specialist. We are here to support you  and answer your questions. Now we're going to get

started. Let me introduce you to my colleagues and  our session facilitators, Tara Kay and Kyle Wade.

Over to you, Tara. Thank you. Good afternoon.  My name is Tara Kay. I'm a financial specialist

on the Financial Management Resource Center team,  providing training and technical assistance to

Office for Victims of Crime grantees. My background is in direct services to victims. National training  and technical assistance, statewide grant making,

public policy advocacy, and nonprofit  financial management. I've worked in the anti-violence field for 25 years with hands  on experience for OJP funding for the past 12

years at both the state pass through entity and  nonprofit direct grant recipient. I'm coming to

you from Lawrence, Kansas. Hi, everybody. My name is Kyle Wade. I'm a financial specialist with the OVC Financial  Management Resource Center. Also, I have worked

and OJP grants financial management and compliance  for almost a decade. I was previously with a

state administering agency focusing primarily on  formula and discretionary funding. I'm coming to

you from Lexington, Kentucky. Thanks again for taking the time to be here with us. We hope this session  will give you additional tools as you manage your

OVC awards and help to demystify grants financial  management. We want to hear from you, so please

feel free to ask questions as we go. We'll do our  best to answer, and we'll have time at the end of the session for discussion as well.

Let's get started. As we begin a reminder that this program  is not a certification training, it's a

deep dive training intended to share best  practices from subject matter experts and opportunity for you to access additional  tools and resources to support your grant

financial management journey. In this session, we will begin with a recap of the pre learning  videos which laid the foundation for what

we're going to cover today. We're going to  share a link to resources that will support the learning in this session will provide you  with the opportunity to interact with grants,

financial management, subject matter experts.  You're going to engage with some knowledge checks and peer sharing opportunities.

And then we'll conclude with information about next steps in the essential series journey.

This is an interactive session, so you will have opportunities to share your  experiences, successes, and lessons learned.

Let's begin with a quick poll to get to know  the audience makes a make a selection. As the

poll appears on your screen. What is the approximate number of years you've been in your current position?  Can say it's my first year. Less than three

years. More than three years. Now looks like we are trending towards folks having more than  three years. Let's see those results. Yes,

indeed. Okay. Well thank you.  Appreciate you sharing.

So 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. The pre learning videos

emphasize the importance of being a good steward  of funding. By complying with OJP requirements and your grant specific award conditions. 00:05:03:00 - 00:05:16:08

Guidance was given on how to access your award details, view your award  conditions and locate reporting requirements and

due dates. If you haven't already, please explore  the Jess Grant's training site for other helpful

information and resources. We 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 the learning topics.

For those attendees that didn't receive the email, the link to the resource packet  is in the chat. I'll pause for a few seconds so

everyone can open the packet. Go ahead and locate page number 14. Notes and

takeaways from session one. The top of the page.  This is your space to jot down notes and other key

takeaways, or perhaps record reminders that you  want to share with others. Your notes from today's

session can prompt discussions when you meet with  your grant financial management team. Let's look at another tool in your resource packet.

Locate the key Terms to Note worksheet on page eight. We have a visual on the  slide to show you what it looks like. Let's give

everyone a few seconds to locate this. This worksheet assists

with the development of a common language for  discussing grant financial management topics. Having a shared vocabulary ensures that everyone  is on the same page during discussion, and helps

build capacity within your entity through  mutual understanding. The terms are focused on in this session, our current terminology as  reference in the latest revision to two CFR 200,

which took place in October of 2024. The terms appear in alphabetical order. A purple callout box will  appear in the bottom right hand corner of the

slides when a new term is discussed. So free  to do to record the definition as we go.

You'll notice that we filled out the  award conditions terms as an example.

A word conditions was referenced in the pre  learning video. It means requirements attached

to funding awards to ensure compliance.  Remember this includes conditions that may lead to withholding of funds. We will share this  definition in the chat now. Please take a moment

to record it on page eight. Let's fill in two other terms while we're here. Locate the word  entity, entity grantee, recipient and nonfederal

agency are commonly used interchangeably, so  we've included 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 the Federal award. As we proceed throughout this session,

we'll circle back around to this document so you  can fill in information related to additional terms. If you have any questions about the use of  this resource, please enter them in the chat so

our chat monitors can assist.

Let's begin with a review of the OJP model for the financial lifecycle of the grant.  This model includes the five phases application,

budget review, Award, Grant administration,  and closeout. The five phases occur during the

Pre Award and Post Award. The pre award includes  the OJP phases of application. An application is

defined as a specific set of forms, documents  and attachments that comprise an applicant's

submission to a federal grant opportunity. This typically includes a proposal, abstract and narrative, a letter of support,  or a memorandum of understanding. An MOU,

disclosures and assurances, and other components  listed in the Notice of Funding opportunity, the Nofa. Remember to keep all of your application  documents. The second part is a budget. The budget

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

Ensure your budget is a rational estimate based on historical expenses  and future forecasts. Cost must be necessary,

reasonable, allowable, and applicable.  Your budget detail narrative should match the budget line. Items.

Host Award includes the OJP phases of award. Upon accepting the award, ensure your  Just Grants account is set up. You're enrolled

in the Automatic Standard Application for payments  or ASAP, and you've assigned appropriate personnel

to the rules and these systems. Next is grant  administration. This includes managing the federal

funds, drawing down grant money, requesting award  modifications, meeting reporting requirements,

submitting a single audit report if required,  being prepared for external monitoring and

managing any subrecipient. Lastly is closeout. This phase includes the  final Federal Financial Report,

Final Performance Measures Report, and final  drawdown or refund of any excess cash.

One of the first takeaways is the importance of  each entity establishing their own grant financial

management system. A system works together as part  of a mechanism or network. It can also refer to

a set of principles or procedures to approach  managing the financial aspects 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  roles and responsibilities and sources for

reporting data and documentation. How you establish your grant financial management system determines how  your entity operates. We certainly acknowledge

that many of you may already have policies and  procedures. This is an opportunity to take another look at them and update if needed.

We will share recommendations and best practices for creating  a customized system that works for your unique

entity. Grant 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 award documentation, how to plan  for staff turnover and how to apply this

information in your space. Let's dive into our

first topic roles and responsibilities. Why is  it important to have clearly defined roles and

responsibilities within your entity? Establishing internal

controls is a requirement for managing  your award and needs to be reflected in your policies and procedures. Having clear  roles helps when unexpected situations occur,

such as staff turnover or emergencies. Establish  responsibilities such as who will authorize review

payments. Keep in mind that even small entities  must ensure a separation of duties, that different

people have different roles. Let's look at a case study to consider ways to assist with this task.

We begin each section of this training with a case study to set the stage for our learning journey.  These case studies help us recognize how to put

best practices into practice. Let's begin with  hearing about our friend Rose. Congratulations to

Rose and the organization on their first federal  grant. This is an exciting opportunity to expand,

to expand on the important work they're doing. Being a good steward of funds is something an organization already does well.

Rose works in a small nonprofit with three employees. They  just received their first federal grant from

the Office for Victims of Crime. Financial grant  management processes must be assigned. Rose is a

little nervous. She knows that there are several  federal systems that require role assignments,

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 these terms mean or how to implement  them in her organization. Where can Rose go? For more information on internal controls  and separation of duties? Let's see how Rose's

entities solve this challenge.

Now, 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 Management Guide. We will post a

link in the chat for your reference.

As Rose and her colleagues make decisions about who does what, she can, keep  in mind that separation of duties simply means no

one person should do an entire process alone. For  example, there's a role for authorizing purchases,

a separate loan for completing the purchase,  and one for reconciling payments. This practice is captured in the entity's policy and  procedures to ensure compliance with

federal rules and regulations. This is internal controls in action. To learn more

about internal controls, see the Green Book. But  the U.S. Government Accountability Office, we will

post a link in the chat for your reference. And remember, the FMRC is happy to review your

entities, roles and responsibilities with you.

When establishing roles and responsibilities. Remember the grant  is managed throughout its entire lifecycle.

With that in mind, there are three main roles  involved in managing federal grants. First, there's the program role, which helps ensure  that the goals of the grant are met. Reports

milestones as required, and ensures programmatic  reporting requirements are completed. Then we

have the financial role who tracks revenues and  expenditures throughout the grant period, adheres

to financial reporting requirements, maintains  source documentation and ensures contract and

procurement requirements are followed. And then the administrative role who develops and enhances required policies for the  entity and tracks the grant throughout the entire

lifecycle or period of performance. Let's take a moment to locate the internal roles

in managing a grant planning document. Page number  ten of your resource packet. This resource can be

used to help your entity identify and define  its roles and responsibilities. As you can see

on this slide, the financial, programmatic, and  administrative personnel work closely together,

as 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 the milestones

is recommended. Personnel work together to  report accurately and address any potential

issues that may arise. The establishment of internal roles helps plays a part and identify  an external federal system. Responsibilities.

There are several platforms grantees use to manage  their awards. They are just grants, Asa Sanga and

Grants.gov. Take a moment to locate your federal  system responsibilities 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 system  roles and responsibilities to ensure continuity of

grant activities in the event of staff turnover.  Those individuals should be documented in an

accessible place with shared and shared with grant  management staff. The primary designees should

train their backups so they can step in if needed,  to ensure continuity of grant financial management

processes and procedures. Let's begin with just grants. It is the DOJ

Grants Management system, which provides resources  and support for your grant application and award

management. And the Just grants section of your  worksheet. You can see there are six foundational

roles created to ensure your entity users have  the authority to conduct specific requirements

and tasks related to the grant. Next, we have ASAP,

which is the automated standard application for  payments that allows entities to draw down or request their award funds. And the assets  section of the worksheet, we have provided

you as the definition of this system, along with  detailing the names of the seven role assignments required during the enrollment process. The  names of the seven roles are listed in the

Key Information column. Use this worksheet to record the names of who will be responsible for each asset role.

Dot is the system for award management. A Sam account is  required to apply for funding on Grants.gov.

Entities can also verify that  any vendors, sub recipients, or contractors are approved to do business with  the federal government. Sam requires three key

roles for system management. Grants.gov is a centralized website where federal agencies  publish award opportunities. Page number

13 of the packet gives space for you to  record the three core roles of this system. The main role is authorized organizational  representative or a leader who becomes the

best contact for the entity. There are a few additional takeaways in relation to federal  systems that you may wish to consider. Update

the point of contact information immediately  in each system. If there are changes. Develop,

enhance and maintain written policies or  procedures for handling staff changes. And you can do this by one. Identifying a backup  for all system roles, especially for the entity

administrator and just grants. Two include steps for

changing roles and just grants. Bradstock Sanga  and ASAP. And three include reassignment of roles

as part of your entities process to update system  assignments before an employee's last day.

The key takeaways are. Always have a backup  person that you can assign access to. Do not

rely on only one person for all federal  system roles, and have a contingency plan

in place for any issues that may arise. We  have supporting resources on our website that you may wish to view. If you need  additional information about any of the.gov

systems we have discussed. Now let's delve deeper into our next topic, which

is award details. Having a thorough understanding  of the award details plays a significant impact on

successful grant financial management.

Let's return to our case study about Rose. Rose found some  quiet time at work and is setting up the grant

file for the entity's new award from OVC. The  award is one of the largest they've received,

and it spans multiple years. She wants to make  sure the organization does everything they

proposed. Rose helped 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 sure what it means or where to find it. Where should she look and what  should she take note of? Let's see what

she did for her solution. Rose wants an award cover sheet at our

fingertips. This is such a great way to locate key  information quickly. She has a lot of support when

it comes to the grants on the project. In addition  to her, grant manager, Rose has both programmatic

and financial technical assistance providers  as well as online resources to leverage with

assistance. She located, downloaded and read the  award package the entity signed off on important

assurances and certifications. There are a lot of award conditions. After reading the document, Rose  takes note that the organization plans to hire

a contractor, purchase a security system, and  travel to a training conference. She also says

there is a requirement to provide cost sharing or  match for the project, and to complete a grant's financial management training.

Rose developed a to do list, which includes working with her team to establish a written  policy and procedure for procurement contracts

with federal funds. Update the travel policy to  make sure employees reimbursements have required

documentation. Create a new timesheet template  that captures all the details needed to accurately

reflect the work performed on the 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 the cost sharing match. Ensure the grant

award administrator and financial manager complete  the required DOJ grant. Financial management

training within 120 days. As you listen to Rose's  story, remember the FOMC is happy to review your

policies and procedures with you.

Now, who would like to share a tool for sharing award details with all who we work with on  implementing the grant? We have developed an award

cover page for you to to act, to adapt to your  needs, and award cover page documents. Important

information about your grant award was quick  visibility of important information. Every entity

is unique. You can easily modify this document  according to what works best for your needs and in the event of an audit or review.

Having the resources available makes it easier for auditors to understand the scope and status  of your project. It also demonstrates that your

entity is organized and aware of award details. The sample

cover page was included in your confirmation  email. We're also sharing it in the chat.

Now that we have our award cover page resource  open, please turn to page two. It includes a

sample of what a completed document could look  like for reference. Page three is where the

resource begins. The top section documents  award details found in the Notice of Award.

If you need support on how to find this  information, reference the free learning video, which provides an easy to understand  walkthrough outlining the steps to locate the

award details in JustGrants. This information is captured in the top section outlined in purple.  The bottom section has several places where you

can indicate yes or no. If they apply. As we said,  there's no one size fits all model, so feel free

to adapt this resource as needed. All right, we have another poll to ask how

many of you plan to implement a tool such as the  grant Award cover page? Following this training,

when it pops up, the poll will display. You  see, you have three options. Please indicate if you cannot wait to implement this tool. This  is not for me or my entity already has its own

version and it's great.

Wow. The majority says I can't wait to use this tool. That's excellent. You're  going to love it. And let's highlight another

section on the grant Award cover page called Cost  Sharing or Match Requirements. It's the box right above where we saw some awards.

Cost sharing as an updated term included in the October 24th,  2020 for updates to Uniform guidance. You may

also know it as match. This is important  information for OVC, human trafficking, and discretionary grantees. Let's take a moment  to record the definition of cost sharing on your

terminology. Handout. Jot down that cost sharing  means that part of the project's cost is covered

by Nonfederal fund sources.

You can also know it's usually expressed as a percentage  of the award amount. Grantees should

carefully review the notice of funding,  opportunity and award conditions for any cost sharing requirements.

US share includes cash donations, funds committed by the entity such as an employee  salary, in-kind cost share includes supplies,

volunteer services, equipment or space. The value  of each must not exceed fair market value at the

time of donation. There are restrictions on use of  cost share. First, the entity must follow the same

rules for cost share as federal funds and expenses  must be necessary, allowable and reasonable with

federal funds to be used as matching funds. As far as compliance, follow the guidelines in the award conditions  and approved budget. Maintaining records for

audits or monitoring visits.

Next slide. Determining the cost share amount can feel overwhelming, but it doesn't have to be.  This visual illustrates how to demonstrate the

cost sharing amount, and in the moment we'll break  this down further. Step one is to take the award

amount and divide it by the percentage of federal  share. This is the total adjusted project cost.

Step two is to take the total adjusted  project cost and multiply it by the percentage

of the recipient share. This is the cost sharing amount for most OVC  anti-trafficking and discretionary

grantees. The mask requirement is 25%. If you  need help calculating this, please reach out

to FMRC for assistance. And also keep in mind that cost sharing cannot come from  another federal source unless authorized

funds cannot be used for an allowable cost, like  fundraising. Compensation must be documented

similarly to federal funds. Unrecovered indirect  costs can be used with prior approval for cost

share must be applied by the end of the grant  period, and changes in cost sharing may require a budget modification.

Now let's take a look. An example of a cost sharing calculation. When calculating  the cost, share a match amount. Always use the

provided formula to determine the required match.  For example, a $100,000 grant with a 25% match

requirement will require the recipient to provide  $33,333 in cost sharing. If cost sharing is part

of your grant, please reference the DOJ Grant's  financial guide, because there's a section to guide you on how to calculate a match.

You may also contact the FMRC for support, and we can  provide you with assistance. Documentation

of cost sharing must be maintained throughout  the grant lifecycle. Records will be required for audits and monitoring visits. When it  comes to maintaining records, keep detailed

records of cost share and contributions.  Report match contributions on the Federal Finance Report FFR and the records must clearly  show the source, amount and timing for all cost

sharing contributions. Our final content

topic is reporting and documentation.  There are. These are crucial elements of grant management. The pre learning video  covered where to find report due dates and

submission locations. Keeping track of  documentation from application to close out is vital for success.

Let's get back to our story with Rose. Rose has been juggling many roles when  working with her bookkeeper. She notices that her

entity's internal calendar indicates that the  Federal Financial Report, or FFR, is due soon

for the OVC grant. Rose is where the FFR must  be complete, accurate, and submitted on time.

Rose can't get a hold of her colleague that  administers the grant for help, and is now tasked with completing an 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 the information together. Where should she start?

Let's see how Rose approached the solution.

Rose decided to lay out the steps, starting  with the FFR due date and utilizing the entity's internal financial procedures to obtain  copies of needed documentation. Rose receives 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. She can practice filling out the form by using a fillable PDF  found on Grants.gov. She also reviewed the Just

Grants training resources. The backup documentation is

the financial statement Rose used to fill out the  federal financial report. This document contains

details that confirm the numbers reported. It's  a list of transactions specific to the grant,

called a ledger or sub ledger. This financial  statement needs to be saved with a copy of the

submitted federal financial report. In the grant  file, the accounting system that produced the

financial statement for Rose has the capability of  storing the source documents, such as pay bills,

canceled checks and contract invoices. Saving the submitted FFR

financial statement and source documents for at  least three years after the end of the award is

record retention and action saving. A copy of the submitted

federal financial report can be a little tricky.  We are posting a link in the chat on how to save and print a copy of the FFR. And remember, we are  happy to review your FFR before you submit it.

As we reflect on this case. Let's review a few  key terms that ensure appropriate use of federal

funds. It is important to address co-mingling.  That's combining multiple fund sources into a

single account and not identifying funds. Sources  separately. Records must identify amount, source,

and expenditure of federal funds. This is  a requirement for your accounting system.

Next is supplanting, which means using federal  funds to replace nonfederal funds previously

budgeted for the same purpose. Federal funds can supplement existing funds for project activities, not replace  the notice of funding. Opportunity will state if

supplanting is prohibited. Duplication. This  includes requests for funding to support the

same project and cover identical costs in the  budget that are included as part of another

pending application. This is captured in the  applicant disclosure of duplication of cost

items submitted in JustGrants.

And one key takeaway from this session is the importance of 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 in a secure storage,  shared space, or keeping a physical binder,

are separate from the records maintained in  government platforms like just grants. Grants.gov, platforms like just grants grants.gov

SAM.gov and ASAP maintaining a backup documentation file system ensures

continuity and consistency with grant financial management when staff change occur staff changes occur having a file

system in place will ease the transition for new staff to new staff to access necessary documents and will lend a hand

with minimizing disruptions to financial procedures this is one way to establish a framework for

success as we progress throughout this section we will share tools and tips for your entity's file system keep in mind

that FMRC is here to support you should you need additional assistance after this session

and there is not a one-sizefits-all method for document organization so use your judgment to determine work what

works best for you and your agency our goal is to help you find a sustainable process that makes things easier for you

and your entity to track what you need for audits and compliance in your resource packet

locate the resource entitled grant file management planning worksheet we'll place a link to this worksheet in the

chat if you need a copy this worksheet which is on page

four of your resource packet we encourage you to use this page to follow along and jot down ideas to

share with your entity for organization of essential records please consider using your notes to help drive future

discussions and your grant management team about how to improve your processes the model we are sharing

corresponds directly to the five phases of the OJ life cycle of the grant

let's begin by looking at the pre-awward phase documents as the basis of getting started with your file system take a

moment to record what is helpful from this slide onto page four of your planning sheet on this slide you see two

sections indicated with blue folder visuals that represent sections to place

application documents within one section is titled application and

requirements/solicitation and the other is project planning at the very least you want to

keep a copy of the notice of funding opportunity or NOVO your original

project proposal and the budget details and justification we included project

planning because keeping track of your documented project plan and timeline is

essential those documents serve as the foundation for what you told OBC you're going to do with the

award now's a good time to ensure that all reporting requirements are understood make note of any data that

you may be required to report and determine how your organization will collect it we've included a list of

possible documents to include tailor your file system to meet your needs you

may have other documents to include in addition to the examples presented and you may wish to include additional

sections for more information related to the application phase we recommend you review the just grants application

submission training resource we're posting a link in the chat for you to

bookmark this slide corresponds to page five in your packet budget review phase

as part of the pre-awward phase your proposal will undergo a budget review during this time you may be asked by the

awarding agency for programmatic or financial clarification this request will go to who whoever is the

application submitter in just grants keep track of any revisions to your original proposal as part of your budget review

file you may want to include an agreement document agreement documents section this could in include items such

as your award package prior written approvals from the awarding agency and negotiated indirect cost rate agreements

if you're unsure where to find your award conditions they are located in your notification of Ward and the

pre-learning video covers how to locate them we also included a budget specific

section the budget section is something that you that you'll keep coming back to this is where you'll keep any budget

revisions and your quarterly budget to actuals tracking take a moment to view

what could be organized under this section including the approved budget and any budget modifications when you're revising your

budget it may be helpful to use an OJP budget dial detail worksheet as a draft

it's a fillable Excel worksheet with multi-year tabs designed to calculate line item budget category yearly and

total budget amounts the budget review file

encompasses a lot this visual shows a contracts category where you can keep copies of the legal agreements you've

entered into with contractors paid for with federal funds these are the businesses or companies listed in the

procurement contract section of your budget entering into a legal agreement for goods or services under an OJ award

is called a procurement contract the steps associated with determining the amount shopping around and selecting an

entity to do business with is referred to as a procurement process and will need to be documented even the

contractor invoices and proof of payment will need to be kept sometimes a

contractor is considered to be a consultant according to OJ definitions

this means that an individual person providing the service has a specialized

skill or is a member of a particular profession when someone is considered a consultant OJP sets a maximum rate of

$81.25 per hour or $650 per day to pay someone over the maximum rate prior

written approval is needed in order to use award funds this information can be

found in the DOJ grants financial management guide and along the way contracts might be

amended supplemented or extended be sure to keep all records of all changes made

to contracts remember participant support costs like emergency client assistance

are not considered contracts and should not be kept in your contracts

section now this slide corresponds with page six in your resource packet the award phase here documents are organized

under both correspondence and reporting sections tracking correspondence or communications with various

collaborators isn't mandatory however keeping documentation such as meeting notes and outreach materials can be

beneficial in the event of turnover these records can serve as a valuable resource to new staff joining your grant

team the reporting section is especially important for monitoring and audit compliance this is where you'll keep a

copy of all submitted reports along with the backup documentation even though backup documentation isn't required when

reporting the quarterly financial status the awards amounts reported on the FFR

need to be substantiated same goes for the requesting federal funds the amounts you draw down from ASAP need to be

substantiated it may be a good idea to organize the reporting section by year or multi-year grants at some point you

may have to provide documentation for the information you've reported having these items organized and maintained

eliminates a stressful scramble to locate key backup documentation we are sharing the link to

just grants training resources for award acceptance guidelines you can also find the all the

links we are sharing in your resource packet

after an applicant receives a notice of award and the funds have been made available they will begin their project

now is the time to implement the grant-f funded services and activities this slide suggests including a subrecipient

section if applicable to your grant and an internal audit and compliance section the grantee is responsible for

meeting the administrative financial and programmatic reporting requirements of the award it's important to read and

understand all the award conditions the project must be managed according to the rules standards conditions and

guidelines provided so don't be caught unaware now even the best laid plans

will most likely encounter changes certain revisions to the budget or updates to the project may occur

throughout the award life cycle these are these changes need to be communicated with your grant manager who

will review and approve them to make a change to the award you'll submit a grant award modification request this

process is done within the just grant system but it's a good idea to keep your own records as well over the course of

the project you'll also want to ensure that the award conditions stay in compliance any steps or remedies taken

to address compliance requirements should be documented this file is also where you can keep documentation of any

deliverables that require review and approval such as publications curricula

or special reports if you have subrecipients each one will need its own

file a subrecipient is an entity that receives an agreement from the direct

recipient in order to carry out part of the federally funded project they are

responsible pro for providing services or activities reporting on deliverables

managing the subaward funds and ensuring compliance with the federal regulations and conditions of the prime

award desk reviews on-site visits or audits will occur at some point in the

grant's life cycle being prepared ensures these events are smooth and stress-free

you may consider conducting a mock monitoring visit with your organization to let everyone know the types of

documents that may be requested FMRC can help you prepare for a site visit by your grant manager or monitoring by

OCFO before closeout occurs entities must submit final federal financial and

performance reports and ensure all award conditions are met upon completing all

the closeout requirements the grant life cycle comes to an end it is important to remember that the liquidation period is

120 days after the award period ends during which all allowable financial obligations incurred by the end of the

period of performance must be liquidated the closeout section of your grant management file is where you'll keep the

final reports and closeout letter these documents provide evidence that all grant activities have been completed and

funds have been used appropriately keeping detailed records can serve as a valuable reference for future grant

applications it helps in understanding what worked well and what could have been improved for future projects proper

documentation also demonstrates accountability to collaborative to collaborators including funders partners

and the community it shows that your organization is committed to transparency and the responsible

management of grant funds for those of you who have not had a grant monitored let me close with some

tips and key information on what to expect all OJP grantees are monitored by the program office or

OCFO monitoring includes reviewing programmatic reports and financials to identify allowable and unallowable costs

OCFO conducts in-depth reviews program offices like OVC conduct site visits

examples of required documentation include policies and procedures federal financial reports general ledger or the

GL for all grant expenditures your chart of accounts the most recent audit the

most recently approved grant budget a listing of all employees and an inventory list of equipment purchased

one of the main challenges grantees face during a monitoring or site visit is finding the required information if you

have a well-maintained grant management file it will make the process so much easier

we're going to take about 10 minutes for you to ask some follow-up questions and I know our chat moderators have done an

excellent job addressing comments and questions throughout but if you have a follow-up question or saw something in

the chat that sparked a thought for you be feel free to bring it up now there

are many subject matters with us today we've got our financial specialists there may be some grant managers or even

um OCFO monitors on the call so feel free to share any of your own best

practices or success stories with the group as well feel free to raise your hand if you

want to come off mute so we can avoid having multiple people speak at the same time or if you prefer you may also enter

questions or comments into the chat we'll answer as many questions as we can

so go ahead and we are on standby for you okay so our first question is who

completes the financial reconciliation during closeout i think this means month end closeout Kyle you

want to take this one uh that's up to who is assigned to doing that in your agency usually your

bookkeeper or accounting um expert and if you're talking about the final reconciliation that that's also

done internally and that's a a step in the process in just grants u to reconcile your award to your to your

expenditures and revenue feel free to ask any additional

follow-up questions we had a question earlier by the way um it's in terms to cost share i believe

Justin is the one who um brought it up the approval process for cost share

so in order to get your the type of match the source the

amount everything required for your match that would be in your

approved budget so that process is built in to from the beginning from the from when

you first fill out your application you're going to indicate what your match

is and that's going to get reviewed and approved through um the budget review process

uh I had a follow-up to that because it was mentioned earlier in the presentation that you're not allowed to

use other federal grants for matching unless you do get uh prior approval from

that so I was wondering if you could talk a little more about uh that process and under what circumstances you might

be able to do that as well Kyle do you want to take this one sure

um first of all you would need uh uh approval from your grant manager that that's allowable most OJ OBC grants do

not allow that um I had this recently on a site visit is they wanted to use a HUD grant for match because HUD allows

federal funds as match for their awards so it goes one way to HUD but not vice

versa so generally um that's not allowed if you think it if you if you want to

use that then you would start with um asking your grant manager for approval and then they would pro they might refer

you to OCFO for final approval but like I said it's very rare

with an OBVC grant to use other federal funds certainly a case by case basis correct

absolutely can state funds be used as match

Kyle you said yes okay yep state government funds so if you're receiving

funds from a state administering agency a pass through entity who's passing

through federal funds those can't be used as match but if the state has their

own funds that can be used for your federal match let's see what if you come up

short on one of the cost share line items how can you make up for it um you

do have a little bit of wiggle room you got the 10% wiggle room um so if you're using more than one type of cost sharing

then one type is higher another type is lower um again speak to your grant manager and see if that's approved if

they will allow that to use the 10% on your indirect if you want to bring in a

whole different type of indirect uh a different source that you hadn't included in your approved budget that

would go through a GAM again your financial your OBVC program manager would have to approve it that that's

allowable to even do and then you would do a budget gam to add that yeah the cost sharing information

is very precise so if there is a change if you come up short and you didn't get the donation you expected to then you

would have to modify your budget and if you if you come up all the way to closeout and realize that you're short

you will be expected to pay back some federal funds you can only you can only keep the federal funds that you applied

the amount of match for so that's a possibility as well

Kyle we could go back to Michael's question about um the final so the close

out steps include a financial reconciliation and that step is done in

just grants and I believe the role that has to do that that step for closeout is

the financial manager is that right correct there's um I believe there's five steps is you file your final

financial report you do your financial reconciliation i sign off on that um

your program person then steps in and makes sure that you have met all of your award deliverables and that all the PMT

performance reports are complete and then your third person is the grant award administrator actually clicks that

submit button so the process is not difficult it but it does require coordination between the financial the

program and the GAA to complete all the steps but I will say one of the really fun things

about writing this training was we got to ask ourselves you know what do we wish we had known when we first started

managing federal grants and that led to a lot of the

content that we talked about today so think about that question and and I know it's hard because you don't

know what you don't know but I mean what what do you um wish you had at your fingertips that you could ask us right

now well here's one that we come across often it's very um seems

simple but a lot of times folks don't know how to pull their budget out of

just grants how do you do that so that's an example and if anyone

has any tips on how to pull your budget out of Jess Grant feel free to

share Kyle what do you wish you had known everything we just

covered i wish I had more guidance on the federal financial report where to find the due dates what goes on 10E

versus 10J especially how to report indirect it looks like a it's a

fairly simple form but you do need the correct information from the correct sources and as we said all that

supporting documentation how to secure that with your FFR um it's not

unheard of if you have a site visit or a compliance monitoring someone will you

know two years into your grant where's the information for that third quarter FFR where'd you get that number from

that's always going to be the question where'd that number come from so make sure anything that you're reporting on

your grant expenditures on your cost sharing requirement on your indirect cost you completely fully understand

where that where that number comes from and it's substantiated I love that question. I ask myself all

the time where did this number come from and trace it back save it

and same for draw downs same for draw downs they will pull your draw down from November the 4th 2024 and you're like

"What where'd that number come from which again goes to my my my personal

favorite is policy and procedures make sure you have that for every step of this do you need a policy

and procedure for how your uh who and when your FFRs are completed how and

when your ASAP draw downs are completed because again that's the number one question if you if you if you're seeking

assistance or during a monitoring the first thing they'll say well what's your what's your PMP around that

so follow the procedures make sure you have We have we have question Wendy

chiming in about the um easiest way to pull out the budget so she took the bait thanks Wendy

okay so if anyone has anything better please speak up but um Kyle and I have

played around with this and really like copying so you've got to drop down

all your carrots drop down all open all the carrots in your budget

um copy and paste it into a word document that is in landscape

layout 8 by 14 page

size with very like 02 margins so play around with that you

just want a really big word document in landscape mode with no margins you can

copy and paste it into and Tara also highlighted that the just

grants training page have a lot of um good step-by-step guides

well on that note Kyle do you want to talk about the DOJ grants financial guide yeah if you all aren't familiar

with the DOJ grants financial guide it's a critical resource that's useful for anyone in your organization that

interacts with grants um it's the primary reference material for OJP award recipients to ensure day-to-day

management of awards it is absolutely essential an essential tool on your journey um you can save a PDF version to

your desktop uh you can print it or you can access it through the ojp.gov web page i personally have it as a bookmark

at the top of my screen so I know I'm always getting the most recent version um we also recommend that you visit the

JustCrants training page as Tara said just a second ago to find additional support resources and the links to those

resources are in the chat for you to bookmark so listed on the screen are additional

resources used to develop today's training and all of these links have been shared throughout today's session

and today we cover topics related to getting started with managing your grant uh we hope that you can join us for the

next three sessions this is this is a four-part uh journey through grants financial management series for

session two we're going to cover topics relating to navigating OJP grants with confidence including a deeper dive into

common challenges grantees face when managing their OVC grants um information about those specific session dates and

times are coming soon and in the meantime please do not hesitate to reach out if you if you need assistance with

anything we'll help you or we'll point you in the right direction

so thanks for attending session one of the journey in grants financial management essentials series remember

the FMRC team is here to support you and we look forward to connecting with you soon