Federal Grants Fundamentals

Uniform Grant Guidance has changed the landscape for those that are in the Grants and Cooperative Agreement community.

These changes drastically affect anyone managing grants and cooperative agreements. It’s critical that your organization is not only up-to-date on the latest rules and regulations, and that they understand the sensitivities and important compliance areas for your organization.

Please join us for Federal Grants Fundamentals, to understand the requirements under 2 CFR 200, how the recent changes may impact your federal programs and where to practically begin.

Without the proper guidance and tools, you and your current and future funding are at risk unlike ever before so don’t wait until it’s too late! Attend the “Federal Grants Fundamentals” to get the guidance you need on the management of grants and cooperative agreements.

This eight-part training event includes eight sessions delivered by compliance experts with deep, contemporary and relevant grants, accounting and legal experience. You’ll return to your office with clear guidance on how to comply, while demonstrating performance and success as well as the fundamentals to revise or revisit your policies and procedures. Additionally, 1.2 CEUs are available for the series.

Federal Grants Training Schedule:

Session 1: Federal Grants Fundamentals: Federal Grant Performance & Compliance

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) seeks to reduce the risk of waste, fraud and abuse through better performance and accountability. The uniform guidance, 2 C.F.R. 200, provides a framework to strengthen program and financial outcomes through performance metrics and evaluation from pre-award through closeout. While compliance is still important, all federal agencies and nonfederal entities need to prepare for the shift to performance and how it affects grants processes. This may appear to be a simple development, but it is a significant change. The move to performance means heightened scrutiny and tougher consequences for noncompliance — including recovery audits, federal determinations of “not qualified” for nonfederal entities, possible personal liability for certifying officials and other corrective actions – all of which are serious sanctions that are now called “remedies” under 2 C.F.R. 200. The shift from compliance to performance is a primary objective of the uniform guidance.

Session 2: Federal Grants Fundamentals: Framework of Federal Financial Assistance

In this session will include a thorough discussion of the statutory and regulatory framework, including an overview of regulations such as the Uniform Guidance and other government-wide requirements, examples of agency-specific requirements, and a discussion of the key terms in a grant or cooperative agreement notice of award. This session will address the common legal concepts across various forms of financial assistance.

Session 3: Federal Grants Fundamentals: Updating Your Policies and Procedures

OMB’s uniform guidance, 2 C.F.R. 200, requires nonfederal entities to have written policies and procedures. This session will raise your awareness about why written policies and procedures are needed and where to begin the process. There will also be a discussion about identifying provisions in the Uniform Guidance that may require your organization to update its policies and procedures. In addition, the area of policy vs procedure will be discussed and the relationship and dependencies of each within the organization will be covered. Written policies and procedures can be of the better ways of the best ways to improve your organization’s internal controls, minimizing the likelihood of fraud, waste and abuse as well as audit findings.

Session 4: Federal Grants Fundamentals: Subrecipient Relationships: From First Risk Assessment Through Close Out?

In addition to monitoring subrecipients and issuing management decisions for audit findings, the uniform guidance creates new responsibilities for pass-through entities—and new questions. In this session, we’ll clear the confusion on what pass-through entities can be doing now to prepare for all the changes, and all the new oversight. Know what it will take to avoid recovery audits, loss of funds and other sanctions. From the new risk assessments to tougher performance monitoring requirements, you’ll know what procedures have to change and what new practices must be put in place. We will address all aspects of the pass-through entity and Subrecipient relationship, from risk assessments conducted prior to award, structuring the subaward agreement, monitoring and evaluating the subrecipient activities under the agreement, and close out of the subaward relationship.

Session 5: Federal Grants Fundamentals: Procurement Standards CapEdge

In this session, we will discuss the key terms and requirements regarding the “procurement standards”. We will also discuss in-depth selected “procurement standards” such as: competition; methods of procurement to be followed; contract cost and price; and contract provisions. In addition there will be a discussion about the basic concepts of procurements and how the Uniform Guidance may affect an entities practices. The session will wrap up with discussion about planning for the impact of the new “procurement standards” for your organization.

Session 6: Federal Grants Fundamentals: Cost Issues Part 1

This session will provide an overview of cost accounting for Federal assistance awards and explains basic financial management principles, guidelines for allowability, the necessary and reasonable test, adequate documentation, and the credit principle. In addition to the selected items of cost, this session will include an overview of personnel costs and time and effort reporting requirements documentation.

Session 7: Federal Grants Fundamentals: Cost Issues Part 2

This session will provide a detailed, step by step guide to the preparation and development of an indirect cost rate. It will build on the accounting requirements and rules for allowability and allocability (as discussed in Cost Issues Basics session) required to design a compliant rate structure. The session also analyzes the different types of indirect rate structures used by nonfederal entities and delineates how organizations should develop and present indirect rate structures and claimed costs. Through the use of a brief case study and exercise, workshop attendees will prepare and develop an indirect cost rate. Participants will learn critical data points, supporting documentation, and how to reduce audit risks when indirect rates are reviewed by their cognizant federal agency.

Session 8: Federal Grants Fundamentals: Post-Award Noncompliance and Audit Resolution

In this session, we will discuss compliance programs and the discovery of noncompliance matters after the fact. This session will address your legal obligations regarding disclosure and correction when a matter of noncompliance is discovered by your own staff, when asserted by a whistleblower, or when identified by an outside auditor or agency inspection. We will address the audit resolution process, from first assertion of a “finding” to formal and informal dispute processes, and new reporting requirements such as FAPIIS.