Financial Management

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Financial Management

• What you need to know

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Agenda

• Financial management systems
• Requirements for cash reimbursement requests
• Preparing for fiscal site visits
• Common IG audit findings
• Member support costs and grant drawdown
• Administrative Costs
• Close Outs
• Program Income

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Expected Financial Management Systems

• -Disbursements
• -Receipts
• -Account Reconciliation
• -Overhead Allocation
• -Actual to Budget Variance Analysis

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OMB Circulars

• Adapted Walker Company Training
• All Corporation grants are governed by the
  Office of Management Budget (OMB) circulars.
• OMB establishes government-wide grants
  management policies through circulars and common
  rules in cooperation with federal agencies and
  non federal parties.

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In order to meet the CNCS reporting standards

• Your Accounting System must be capable of
• Distinguishing grant versus non-grant related
  expenditures
• Identifying costs by program year
• Identifying costs by budget category
• Differentiating between direct and indirect costs
  (administrative costs)

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Accounting System (cont.)

• Accounts for each award/grant separately
• Maintains Federal/non-Federal matching funds
  separately from grant funds
• Records in-kind contribution as both revenues and
  expenses
• Directly correlates to financial reports
  submitted to CNCS (PERs and FSRs)

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Reimbursement

• Objective To ensure that programs submit
  accurate and timely reimbursements including a
  Signed Reimbursement Request Cover Sheet with
  Program Initials, a PER, a General Ledger, and a
  clear reconciliation report tying expenses in the
  PER to the General Ledger. Both the Program
  Officer and the Massachusetts Service Alliance
  Fiscal Department will review this system.
• System Checklist Does system
• Ensure reimbursement requests are accurate
• Includes only allowable expenses
• Ensure Periodic Expense Report ties to the
  reconciliation report
• Ensure reconciliation report ties to General
  Ledger

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Requirements for cash reimbursement requests

• Summary page with signatures
• Periodic expense report formally from WBRS, now
  Excel spreadsheet
• General ledger detail report supporting all
  current expenses for the period shown on the
  periodic expense report
• Reconciliation report showing how the general
  ledger detail report translates into the periodic
  expense report

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Reimbursement (cont.)

• Provide necessary back-up documentation for
  expenses billed to CNCS Share
• Provide necessary back-up documentation for
  expenses billed to Grantee Share
• Ensure Program Staff Initial Cover Page
  indicating all member hours are up to date
• Ensure a request for reimbursement is submitted
  no later than 30 days after a Financial Status
  Report
• Ensure at least one reimbursement request is
  submitted each quarter 

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Reimbursement (cont.)

• Documentation of Expenses
• All expenses should align with the budget and
  budget narrative.
• All expenses should be reported in the the
  General Ledger and have appropriate documentation
  on site.
• Documentation should be signed and coded

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Fiscal Site Visits

• Purpose
• MSA is responsible for ensuring the fiscal
  integrity of organizations funded
• Ensure proper systems and safeguards exist around
  the financial operations of an AmeriCorps program

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Fiscal Site Visits (cont.)

• Includes, but not limited to
• Review of organization's internal control
  structure
• Review of prior audit reports and management
  letters
• Review of progress made from any prior audit and
  management letter finding(s)
• Sampling of selected fiscal transactions

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Fiscal Site Visits (cont.)

• Likely areas for review
• Member benefits
• Fiscal compliance
• Living allowance stipends
• Cash match
• In kind contributions
• Insurance
• Human resources/payroll documentation

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Fiscal Site Visits (cont.)

• Likely areas for review (cont.)
• Financial policies and procedures
• Program analysis
• Actual vs. Budget reports
• Program documentation

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Fiscal Site Visits (cont.)

• Recurring Fiscal Findings
• Staff Files missing I-9s
• Staff Files missing Job Descriptions or contracts
• Staff Files missing properly completed payroll
  authorization forms
• No Staff timesheets
• Staff timesheets missing supervisory signoff
• Section III fixes

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Member Support Costs

• According to the AC Provisions
• Regardless of member type
• Stipends are not determined by the number of
  hours served, its a flat rate
• Stipends can only be paid while a member is
  serving

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Member Support Costs (cont.)

• Guidance from CNCS
• A member stipend stays the same for the duration
  of their service
• All members with the same position description
  must be paid identical stipends
• Member stipends can not be pro-rated
• Member stipends can not be paid in lump sums
• If members are suspended through a whole pay
  period they are not eligible for that stipend

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Grant Drawdown

• Commissions and AmeriCorps Programs do not spend
  all of their Federal money each year.
• Report from 2003-2006 Grants
• Most of the unexpended funds are from Section II
  Member Support Costs and other costs associated
  with members (Trainings, Travel).

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Grant Drawdown (cont.)

• Section II
• Start program year with full enrollment
• Fill slots vacated by members who served less
  than 30 of their hours
• Convert Member Slots

• Section I
• Reconcile budgeted amount with year to date
  expenses
• Forecast projected expenditures
• File amendment with Program Officer

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Grant Drawdown (cont.)

• Budget Amendments
• Contact your AmeriCorps Program officer before
  initiating a budget amendment
• All provisions still apply to budget amendments
• Include justification with budget amendment
• Budget amendments are subject to review
• Budget amendments can be rejected

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Section III Administrative Costs

• A fixed percentage of Section I Section II
  designed for administrative costs
• Composed of
• Corporation Fixed Amount (this is yours)
• Commission Fixed Amount (this is MSAs)
• The only way to draw down all of Section III is
  to draw down all of Section I and Section II.

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Section III - Calculations
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Close Outs

• Process
• MSA checks total funds drawn down for program
• MSA sends close out letter/instructions with
  forms to programs and amounts drawn down
• Program completes forms and reconciles its total
  draw down with MSA amount provided
• Program submits documentation to MSA within 30
  days
• MSA aggregates all programs and submits one
  package to CNCS.

• A grant is closed out when it is over
• This process at CNCS documents
• Total Funds drawn down
• Summary of results (narrative)
• Residual equipment supply inventory
• Refunds as necessary

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Program Income

• Definition
• Revenue earned as a direct result of activities
  funded under the grant
• Program income must be used for the purposes of
  the grant incurred during the project period
• Program income on hand must be used to defray
  eligible program costs before requesting funds