Financial
Management
What you need to know…
Agenda
– Introductions
– Webinar logistics
– Financial management systems
• Policies and procedures
• OMB circulars
• Accounting system
– Requirements for cash reimbursement requests
– Preparing for fiscal site visits
• Common IG audit findings
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Member support costs and grant drawdown
Administrative Costs
Close Outs
Program Income
Your Fiscal Team
• July Afable, Manager of Accounting & Finance
– 617-542-2544, x225
– jafable@mass-service.org
• Dan Glidden, CFO
– 617-542-2544, x227
– dglidden@mass-service.org
Financial Mgmt. Systems
– Required policies and procedures
– Suggested policies and procedures
– Form 990
• Questions on procedures
OMB Circulars
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.
Adapted from a Walker & Company Training
Accounting System
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)
Accounting System (cont.)
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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
Mass-Service and CNCS (PERs and FFRs)
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
• Include only allowable expenses
• Ensure Periodic Expense Report ties to the
reconciliation report
• Ensure reconciliation report ties to General Ledger
Reimbursement (cont.)
Requirements for cash reimbursement requests
• Summary page with signatures
• Periodic expense report – Excel spreadsheet
• General ledger detail report supporting all current
expenses, including match, for the period shown
on the periodic expense report
• Reconciliation report showing how the general
ledger detail report translates into the periodic
expense report
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 at least one reimbursement request is
submitted each quarter
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
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
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
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
Fiscal Site Visits (cont.)
– Likely areas for review (cont.)
• Financial policies and procedures
• Program analysis
– Actual vs. Budget reports
• Program documentation
• Staff charged to grant
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I-9
W-4
Timesheets
Current wage authorization
Job description
– Current personnel evaluation
Fiscal Site Visits (cont.)
– Recurring Fiscal Findings
• Staff Files missing I-9s
• Incomplete 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
Member Support Costs
According to the AC Provisions
– Regardless of member type:
• Stipends are not determined by the
number of hours served, it’s a flat rate
• Stipends can only be paid while a member
is serving
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
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).
Grant Drawdown (cont.)
• Section I
– Reconcile budgeted
amount with year to
date expenses
– Forecast projected
expenditures
– File amendment with
Program Officer
• Section II
– Start program year
with full enrollment
– Fill slots vacated by
members who served
less than 30% of
their hours
– Convert Member
Slots
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
Section III: Admin. 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 MSA’s)
– The only way to draw down all of Section III is to
draw down all of Section I and Section II
Section III - Calculations
Corporation Fixed Amount
Calculation: Section I + Section II
x 4.21%
A reimbursement request will
include this money
Commission Fixed Amount
Calculation: Section I + Section II
x 1.05%
A reimbursement request CANNOT
include this money.
Grant Close Out
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A grant is closed out when it is
over
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This process at CNCS documents:
– Total Funds drawn down
– Summary of results
(narrative)
– Residual equipment & supply
inventory
– Refunds as necessary
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Process
– MSA checks total funds drawn
down for program and
compares to final program
FFR/PER
– 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
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
Program Income
• What options are there for the use of program
income?
– There are three ways that program income can be used. For most Corporation
grants, the matching alternative is specified in the grant provisions or terms and
conditions. In some other cases, the Corporation instructs the grantee to use the
funds to enhance or expand grant-approved activities (additive method). In
some other cases, the Corporation requires the grantee to use the program
income to replace approved Federal grant funds (deductive method).
• Program Income Alternative Use of Program
Income (Specified in the terms and conditions or provisions of the grant)
– Matching Alternative
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Used to satisfy all or part of the required grantee share of the project or program
– Additive Alternative
• Added to funds committed to the project or program and used to further eligible project
or program objectives
– Deductive Alternative
• Deducted from the total allowable costs of the project or program to determine the net
allowable costs on which the federal share of costs will be based.