2011 Financial Guide

Chapters:

Payments
- Using the Grant Payment Request System
- Payment Transaction Timeline
- Understanding the Withholding of Funds
- Drawing Only What is Needed
- Managing Interest Earned
- Understanding the Cash Management Improvement Act
  of 1990
- How to Manage Interest Income
Period of Availability of Funds
- Availability of Awards
- Obligation of Funds
- Expenditure of Funds
- Criteria for Award Extension
Matching or Cost Sharing Requirements
- Match Requirements
- Types of Match
- Source and Type of Funds
- Timing of Matching Contributions
- Records for Match
- Waiver of Match
Program Income
- Introduction
- Accounting Processes for Program Income
- Examples of Program Income
- Procedures for Recovery of Costs Incurred
Adjustments to Awards
- Grant Adjustment Notice
- Incurring of Certain Costs for Which Program Office Approval is Required
- Reprogramming of Funds
Costs Requiring Prior Approval
- Introduction
- Responsibility for Prior Approval
- Procedures for Requesting Prior Approval
- Listing of Costs Requiring Prior Approval
Property and Equipment
- Acquisition of Property and Equipment
- Screening
- Loss, Damage, or Theft of Equipment
- Equipment Acquired With Crime Control Act Block/Formula Funds
- Equipment Acquired With Juvenile Justice Act Formula and Victims of Crime Act Assistance (Formula) Funds
- Equipment and Nonexpendable Personal Property Acquired With Discretionary Funds
- Real Property Acquired With Formula Funds
- Real Property Acquired With Discretionary Funds
- Federal Equipment
- Replacement of Property (Equipment and Nonexpendable Personal Property)
- Retention of Property Records
- Supplies
- Copyrights
- Patents, Patent Rights, and Inventions
Procurement under
Awards of Federal Assistance
- Procurement Standards—
  General Guidance
- Construction Requirements
Allowable Costs
- Introduction
- Compensation for Personal Services
- Conferences and Workshops
- Travel
- Project Site
- Printing
- Publication
- Duplication
- Other Allowable Costs
Food and Beverage
- Introduction
- Allowability of Food and Beverage Costs
- Minimization of Costs of Meals and Refreshments
- Reporting Requirements
Indirect Costs
- Introduction
- Federal Indirect Cost Rate—Negotiated Agreements
- No Approved Plan
- Establishment of Indirect Cost Rates
- Indirect Cost Distribution Bases
- Cost Allocation Plans—Central Support Services
- Lobbying Costs and the Indirect Cost Pool
- Approval of Indirect Cost Rates for Subrecipients
Confidential Funds
- Introduction
- Approval Authorities
- Confidential Funds Certification
- Written Procedures
- Informant Files
- Regional Information Sharing Systems (RISS) Program
- Accounting and Control Procedures
Unallowable Costs
- Introduction
- Unallowable Cost Categories
Subrecipient Monitoring
- Introduction
- Subrecipient Monitoring
- Best Practices
Reporting Requirements
- Introduction
- SF-425 Federal Financial Reports
- Progress/Program Reports
- Reports Required under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
- Government Performance and Results Act
- Reports Required under the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act
Retention and Access Requirements for
Records
- Retention of Records
- Maintenance of Records
- Access to Records
Suspension or
Termination for Convenience
- Provisions of the Grant
- Suspension or Termination of the Grant
- Termination of Grant and Cooperative Agreement Awards by the Award Recipient
Closeout
- First Steps
- Closeout of Discretionary/
  Categorical and Block/Formula Awards
- Refund of Federal Grant Monies and/or Program Income
- Failure to Remit Funds Owed
Audit Requirements
- Audit Threshold
- Audit Objectives
- Audit Reporting Requirements
- Audit Submission Requirements
- Submission of Audit Reports
- Audit Report Confirmation Requests
- Due Dates for Audit Reports
- Audit Compliance
- Resolution of Audit Reports
- Top 10 Audit Findings (Fiscal Year 2009)
- Audit of Subrecipients
- Technical Assistance
- Full-Scope Auditing
- Commercial (For-Profit) Organizations
- Failure to Comply
- Office of Inspector General Regional Offices
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
of 2009
- Background
- Recovery Act Programs Administered by the Office of Justice Programs
- Supplanting Rules within the Recovery Act Programs
- Special Conditions
- Reporting Requirements for the Recovery Act
- Government-Wide Data Reporting Requirements
- Technical Requirements
- Delegation of Reporting Requirements under the Recovery Act
- Key Reporting Time Frames
- Data Quality Requirements
Grant Fraud, Waste,
and Abuse
- Introduction
- Detection of Grant Fraud
- Penalties of Grant Fraud
- Fraud Indicators
- Common Grant Fraud Schemes
- Ways to Reduce the Risk of Fraud
Payment Programs
- Introduction
- Bulletproof Vest Partnership
- State Criminal Alien Assistance Program
- Northern Border Prosecution Initiative and Southwest Border Prosecution Initiative

Payments

Using the Grant Payment Request System

Frequently Asked Questions
Q	What does it mean when we use the term “draw down”?
A	“Draw down” is the term used to describe the process when a recipient requests and receives money under an award agreement.
Q	How does the money reach our organization?
A	Electronic funds transfer from the U.S. Department of the Treasury based on the information you provided on the Automated Clearinghouse (ACH) form.
Q	How do I request payment for my organization’s award?
A	Through the Grant Payment Request System, or GPRS.
Q	I tried to draw down funds but the system won’t let me?
A	We suggest that you follow up in one or more of the following ways: Check any error messages you may have received in GPRS. Sometimes minor data entry errors are the cause of the error messages. Also, if you need to call Customer Service, having the error messages will assist us in determining how to resolve your issues. Check to see if all award special conditions, including high-risk special conditions, if applicable, have been met. Many special conditions lead to the withholding of funds until the conditions have been met and cleared with a Grant Adjustment Notice, or GAN. Check to see that all Federal Financial Reports (FFRs) and Progress Reports have been submitted. The system has automatic edits in place that will prevent you from drawing your funds until all the required reports have been submitted. Call Customer Service.
Q	What if I am not a Financial Point of Contact (FPOC) in the Grants Management System (GMS)? Can I still register for GPRS?
A	No. You must first register in GMS as an FPOC.
Q	How do I register as an FPOC in the GMS?
A	Please go to the GMS website at https://grants.ojp.usdoj.gov/gmsexternal to register. Also visit Chapter 4: Conditions of Award and Acceptance for additional information.

GPRS is the method for requesting payment of award funds. It is an online system that allows you to view your active award balances and history of draw downs to date. You can access GPRS at https://grants.ojp.usdoj.gov/gprs. The GPRS User Guide [PDF - 2.05 MB] provides information on using GPRS.

Some benefits of the GPRS:

Ability to view and print a transaction history for an award
Summary of award information
Award amount
Hold amounts
Last submission of Standard Form 425 (SF-425)
Ability to cancel pending payment request
Secure individual login

The username and password used to access GPRS will vary based on the Federal organization that issued your award.

If your award was issued by the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) or the Office on Violence Against Women (OVW), only user(s) within your organization that have been designated as the FPOC for the award in GMS may access GPRS.

To log in and submit payment requests, the FPOC must first register in GPRS.
To complete the GPRS registration, the FPOC will need their GMS username and password.
Once the registration has been successfully submitted, the information will be verified against GMS.
During this time, the FPOC will not be able to log into GPRS until receiving an email from GPRS approving his or her access.
After the FPOC receives the approval email, he or she may log into GPRS using his or her existing GMS username and password.

If your award was issued by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) and you have received a preregistration email from GPRS, then you may log in to GPRS using the username and temporary password provided in the email. If you have not received a preregistration email, then the person(s) within your organization responsible for payment requests must register in GPRS.

To register in GPRS for COPS awards, you will need to enter the following:
A unique username and response to a secret question
Name and contact information
Vendor number found on your COPS award document
You must also indicate the awards to which you wish to have access for submitting payment requests. Note: You will only be able to submit payment requests for the COPS awards selected.
Once the registration has been successfully submitted, the user and award information will be verified by COPS. During this time, you will not be able to log into GPRS until you receive an approval email from GPRS with your login information. The approval email will also list the COPS awards to which you have been given access. If access was denied to any award selected during registration, the rejection reason will be included in the GPRS email.
After you receive the approval email, you may log into GPRS using the username and temporary password provided in the email.

Financial Management Tip

Recipients with both OJP/OVW and COPS awards will be required to maintain two separate accounts in GPRS.

If you have an OJP or OVW award and have questions on GPRS, please contact the OCFO Customer Service Center.

If you have an award through COPS and have questions on GPRS, please contact the COPS-U.S. Department of Justice Response Center.

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