§ 74.52 - Financial reporting.

(a) The following forms or other forms as may be approved by OMB are authorized for obtaining financial information from recipients.

(1) SF-269 or SF-269A—Financial Status Report. (i) Recipients are required to use the SF-269 or SF-269A to report the status of funds for all nonconstruction projects or programs. The Secretary may not require the SF-269 or SF-269A when, the Secretary determines that SF-270—Request for Advance or Reimbursement, or SF-272—Report of Federal Cash Transactions—provides adequate information to meet the Department's needs, except that a final SF-269 or SF-269A is required at the completion of the project when the SF-270 is used only for advances.

(ii) The Secretary prescribes whether the report is on a cash or accrual basis. If the Secretary requires accrual information and the recipient's accounting records are not normally kept on the accrual basis, the recipient is not required to convert its accounting system, but shall develop accrual information through best estimates based on an analysis of the documentation on hand.

(iii) The Secretary determines the frequency of the Financial Status Report for each project or program, considering the size and complexity of the particular project or program. However, the report is not required more frequently than quarterly or less frequently than annually. A final report is required at the completion of the agreement.

(iv) The Secretary requires recipients to submit the SF-269 or SF-269A (an original and no more than two copies) no later than 30 days after the end of each specified reporting period for quarterly and semi-annual reports, and 90 calendar days for annual and final reports. Extensions of reporting due dates may be approved by the Secretary upon request of the recipient.

(2) SF-272—Report of Federal Cash Transactions. (i) When funds are advanced to recipients the Secretary requires each recipient to submit the SF-272 and, when necessary, its continuation sheet, SF-272a. The Secretary uses this report to monitor cash advanced to recipients and to obtain disbursement information for each agreement with the recipients.

(ii) The Secretary may require forecasts of Federal cash requirements in the “Remarks” section of the report.

(iii) When practical and deemed necessary, the Secretary may require recipients to report in the “Remarks” section the amount of cash advances received in excess of three days. Recipients shall provide short narrative explanations of actions taken to reduce the excess balances.

(iv) Recipients shall be required to submit not more than the original and two copies of the SF-272 15 calendar days following the end of each quarter. The Secretary may require a monthly report from those recipients receiving advances totaling $1 million or more per year.

(v) The Secretary may waive the requirement for submission of the SF-272 for any one of the following reasons:

(A) When monthly advances do not exceed $25,000 per recipient, provided that advances are monitored through other forms contained in this section;

(B) If, in the Secretary's opinion, the recipient's accounting controls are adequate to minimize excessive Federal advances; or

(C) When the electronic payment mechanisms provide adequate data.

(b) When the Secretary needs additional information or more frequent reports, the following shall be observed:

(1) When additional information is needed to comply with legislative requirements, the Secretary shall issue instructions to require recipients to submit information under the “Remarks” section of the reports.

(2) When the Secretary determines that a recipient's accounting system does not meet the standards in §74.21, additional pertinent information to further monitor awards may be obtained upon written notice to the recipient until the system is brought up to standard. The Secretary, in obtaining this information, complies with the report clearance requirements of 5 CFR part 1320.

(3) The Secretary may shade out any line item on any report if not necessary.

(4) The Secretary may accept the identical information from the recipients in machine readable format or computer printouts or electronic outputs in lieu of prescribed formats.

(5) The Secretary may provide computer or electronic outputs to recipients when these outputs expedite or contribute to the accuracy of reporting.

(Approved by the Office of Management and Budget under control number 1880-0513)

(Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1221e-3, 3474; OMB Circular A-110)

[59 FR 34724, July 6, 1994, as amended at 60 FR 6660, Feb. 3, 1995]