Appendix B to Part 276 - Financial Reporting Requirements

Appendix B to Part 276 - Financial Reporting Requirements

A. Purpose and scope. This appendix prescribes requirements for grantee to report financial information to the Bureau and to request advances and reimbursement when a letter-of-credit method is not used.

B. Definitions. 1. Accrued expenditures. Accrued expenditures are the charges incurred by the grantee during a given period requiring the provision of funds for:

(1) Goods and other tangible property received;

(2) services performed by employes, contractors, subgrantees, and other payees; and

(3) amounts becoming owed under programs for which no current services or performed are required.

2. Accrued income. Accrued income is the earnings during a given period which is a source of funds resulting from: (1) Services performed by the grantee; (2) goods and other tangible property delivered to purchasers; and (3) amounts becoming owed to the grantee for which no current services or performance are required by the grantee.

3. Disbursements. Disbursements are payments in cash or by check.

4. Bureau funds authorized. Funds authorized represent the total amount of the Bureau funds authorized for obligations and establish the ceilings for obligation of Bureau funds. This amount may include any authorized carryover of unobligated funds from prior fiscal years.

5. Obligations. Obligations are the amounts of orders placed, contracts and grants awarded, services received, and similar transactions during a given period, which will require payment during the same or a future period.

6. Outlays. Outlays represent charges made to the grant project or program. Outlays can be reported on a cash or accrued expenditure basis.

7. Program income. Program income represents earnings by the grantee realized from the grant-supported activities. Such earnings exclude interest income and may include, but will not be limited to, income from service fees, sale of commodities, usage or rental fees, sale of assets purchased with grant funds, and royalties on patents and copy-rights. Program income can be reported on a cash or accrued income basis.

8. Unobligated balance. The unobligated balance is the portion of the funds authorized by the Bureau which has not been obligated by the grantee and is determined by deducting the cumulative obligations from the funds authorized.

9. Unpaid obligations. Unpaid obligations represent the amout of obligations incurred by the grantee which have not been paid.

C. Standard forms.

1. Only the following forms will be authorized for obtaining financial information from grantees for grant programs:

a. Financial Status Report.

(1) The Bureau shall require grantees to use a standard Financial Status Report to report the status of funds for all nonconstruction grant programs. The Bureau may, however, have the option of not requiring a Federal Status Report when a request for advance or reimbursement (paragraph 2a) is determined to provide adequate information to meet their needs, except that a final Financial Status Report shall be required at the completion of the grant when the Request for Advance or Reimbursement form is used only for advances.

(2) The Bureau shall prescribe whether the report shall be on a cash or accrual basis. If the Bureau requires accrual information and the grantee's accouting records are not normally kept on the accrual basis, the grantee should develop such information through an analysis of the documentation on hand or on the basis of best estimates.

(3) The grant agreement shall determine the frequency of the Financial Status Report for each grant program considering the size and complexity of the particular program. However, the report shall not be required more frequently than quarterly or less frequently than annually. Also, a final report shall be required at the completion of the grant.

(4) The original and two copies of the Financial Status Report shall be submitted 30 days after the end of each specified reporting period. In addition, final reports shall be submitted 90 days after the end of the grant period or the completion of the project or program. Extensions to reporting due dates may be approved when requested by the grantee.

b. Report of federal cash transactions.

(1) When funds are advanced to grantees through letters of credit or with Treasury checks, each grantee shall submit a report of Federal Cash Transactions. The Bureau shall use this report to monitor cash advanced to grantees and to obtain disbursement or outlay information for each grant or project from the grantees.

(2) The grant agreement may require forecasts of Federal cash requirement in the Remarks section of the report.

(3) When practical and deemed necessary, the Bureau may require grantees to report in the Remarks section the amount of cash in excess of three days' requirements in the hands of subgrantees or other secondary recipients and to provide short narrative explanations of actions taken by the grantees to reduce the excess balances.

(4) The Bureau shall accept the identical information from the grantees in a machine-usable format in lieu of the Report of Federal Cash Transactions.

(5) Grantees shall submit the original and two copies of the Report of Federal Cash Transactions no later than 15 working days following the end of each quarter. For those grantees receiving annual grants totalling one million dollars or more, the Bureau shall require a monthly report.

(6) The Bureau shall waive the requirement for submission of a Report of Federal Cash Transactions when monthly advances do not exceed $10,000 per grantee provided that such advances are monitored through other forms contained in this appendix or the grantee's accounting controls are adequate to minimize excessive Federal advances.

2. Except as noted below, only the following forms will be authorized for the grantees in requesting advances and reimbursements.

a. Request for advance or reimbursement.

(1) The “Request for Advance or Reimbursement” form is the standard form for all nonconstruction grant programs when letters of credit or predetermined automatic advance methods are not used. The Bureau, however, has the option of using this form for construction programs in lieu of an “Outlay Report and Request for Reimbursement for Construction Programs” (paragraph 2b) and shall specify in the grant agreement.

(2) Grantees shall be authorized to submit requests for advances or reimbursement at least monthly when letters of credit are not used. Grantees shall submit the original and two copies of a Request for Advance or Reimbursement.

b. Outlay Report and Request for Reimbursement for Construction Program.

(1) The “Outlay Report and Request for Reimbursement for Construction Programs” form is the standard format to be used for requesting reimbursement for construction programs. The Bureau may, however, have the option of substituting a “Request for Advance or Reimbursement” form (paragraph 2a) in lieu of this form when the Bureau determines that the former provides adequate information to meet its needs as stated in the grant agreement.

(2) Grantees shall be authorized to submit requests for reimbursement at least monthly when letters of credit are not used. Grantees shall submit the original and two copies of an “Outlay Report and Request for Reimbursement for Construction Programs” form.

3. When the Bureau needs additional information in using these forms, the following shall be observed:

a. When necessary to comply with future legislative requirements, the Bureau shall issue instructions to require grantees to submit such information under the Remarks section of the reports.

b. When necessary to meet specific program needs, the Bureau shall submit the proposed reporting requirements to the General Services Administration for approval under the exception provision of this appendix.

c. The Bureau, in obtaining information as in paragraphs a and b above, must also comply with report clearance requirements of the Office of Management and Budget Circular No. A-40, as revised.

[40 FR 51316, Nov. 4, 1975, as amended at 41 FR 5099, Feb. 4, 1976; 43 FR 37447, Aug. 23, 1978]