TFMC Session 1: Charting Your Pathway to Success (OVC-TFMC) Recording

Welcome to Session 1 of the Journey in Grants Financial Management Essentials training  entitled Charting Your Pathway to Success.

We're glad you can join us today. My name is Natalie Johns, and I'll be  supporting today's presentation with  

the Zoom.gov technical support. I'd also like to  thank my colleagues, Gloria McLean and Pam Webull,  

for supporting us behind the scenes  as our producers for this event.   Now it's time for me to turn   the presentation over 00:00:26:07 - 00:00:29:01  

to April Bird.   Good afternoon.   We are excited that you all are here to join  us today. We just want to extend a warm welcome  

to our special guests who are joining us  for today's session. And that includes,  

OCFO, great manager partners, and then  members of our Tribal Advisory Council.  

so I want to say we have our, project  director, Lanisha Bell, pictured up here.

So let's see if Lanisha has a   few words to share with us.   Thank you. April.   I just wanted to welcome everybody to, our  first essentials session. Just excited to  

have everyone here. Looking forward to a  great session today with you all. And to  

have, some of your feedback. So thank you so  much for joining. And back to you guys.

All right. Thank you. Lanisha. So we'll give you a little bit of information   about the, Tribal Financial Management Center. It  launched in the fall of 2018. So we've been going  

for a while now, and we support nearly 300 tribal  entities with over 800 OJP awards. And of course,  

we collaborate with programmatic, TA providers,  the grant managers, the OVC grant managers.  

We work with them as well. And   we offer training and technical assistance to  Native American or American Indian and Alaska  

Native grantees and applicants at no cost at all  to you. We are here to help. We're here to provide  

assistance. So just reach out to us if needed. And  our team, includes financial TTA and evaluation  

specialists with expertise in tribal communities,  victim services and financial management.  

Our staff use a trauma informed, culturally humble  

approach, and TFMC helps build strong foundations  for community victim services programs.  

And now, it's time for formal introductions. Alright. So, ᏏᏲ, ᏕᏨᏯᏓᏂᎸᎦ. My name is April Bird,  

and I'm a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee  Indians. And I'm joining you from the foothills  

of the Great Smoky Mountains   in Cherokee, North Carolina.   I have been with the Tribal Financial Management  Center, or TFMC, for a little over five years now.  

I've done a lot of work as a financial specialist,  lead financial specialist, and I'm currently the  

assistant project director.   I am super excited here for this launch  of this new training, and I can't wait to  

share some great information with you. Now I'll  turn it over to Alisha for her introduction.  

Gooday I'm Alicia Abdulla. I'm located in  South Florida. I bring my experience of being a  

financial specialist at TFMC to our conversations  today. I also bring in my background, which I  

administered around 150 grants and contracts,  a mix of state, federal and private grants.  

so I understand the nuances of financial  reporting and budgeting. I'm so happy to be  

here with you. As a member of the TFMC Technical  team. And I've actually been here two years today,  

so I'm very excited for that.   congratulations on your anniversary,  Alicia. You're super glad to have her.  

So our goals for today are to help   clear up some questions around grants financial  management. And we want to provide you with easy  

to use tools and resources that you can share  with your entity, take back to your teammates,  

etc. and to establish a partnership between you  and our TFMC TTA center by giving you a safe place  

to ask questions with the experts. Thanks. Thanks again for taking  your time to be here with us today,  

and let's get started.   As we begin, I want to mention that this  program is not a certification training,  

but it's intended to provide a pathway for  grantees who have completed the required grants,  

financial management certification training  with an opportunity to learn best practices  

from trained subject matter experts to gain  access to tools and resources, and allow you  

to seek additional knowledge as we support you  with grant financial management of your award.  

Alicia. In this section, we will begin   with a recap of the pre-learning videos which laid  the foundation for what we will cover today.  

We share links to several resources that   helped guide the content for this session. You'll  be able to interact with me and other advanced  

financial management subject matter experts,  and you'll engage in fund knowledge checks and  

peer sharing opportunities.   Also, as we conclude with information about  next steps in the Essential Series journey,  

00:05:41:04 - 00:05:50:24 the pre-learning videos emphasize   the importance of being a good steward of funding  by complying with OJP requirements and your grant  

specific award conditions. And guidance was given on how  to access your award details,

how to view your award conditions and how   to locate reporting requirements and due dates. It  was recommended in the videos to take some time to  

explore the JustGrant's website. It's always super important or, other  helpful information and resources.

on the screen is a picture of the DOJ   Grants Financial Guide cover sheet. And if you're  not familiar with the DOJ grants financial guide,  

it is a critical resource that's used by the,  it's useful for administrators, financial and  

grants management specialists, accountants and  auditors. Super helpful tool. And it's the primary  

reference manual for the OJP award recipients to  ensure day to day management of the awards.  

And this guide is essential   on your. It's an essential tool on your journey.  Now you can save the PDF version to your desktop,  

print it, or access it through the ojp.gov  web page, and we recommend that you visit  

the JustGrants Training page to find  out about additional support issues.  

to enrich your learning experience.   Today we prepared you a special resource packet  filled with practical tools and templates.  

and you can print those out. Some of you may choose to like   open them electronically. Just make sure to  have the resource packet open throughout the  

session as we refer you to the specific  pages that to follow along as we cover,  

just different topics throughout. right now, if you will, please go ahead and  locate page 14. And that page should say  

notes and takeaways from session one. And  there's a picture of it on the screen.

Now this is going to be the page where   you can jot down notes and other key takeaways  for your personal use. Or you can just record  

reminders that you want to share with others at  your entity. And your notes from today's session  

can help drive discussions when you meet with your  grants, financial management team. Now let's look  

at another resource in your packet. All right. Please locate the Key Terms to  Know worksheet. And that's on page nine.

This worksheet is a resource to help   us with the development of a common language for  discussing grants financial management topics, and  

having a shared vocabulary is going to ensure that  we're all on the same page during the discussions,  

and it's going to help build capacity within  your entity through mutual understanding.  

The terms we're focusing on in this session  are current terminology, as referenced in  

the latest revision to the two CFR 200, and  that was last updated on October 24th.

And these terms are going to   appear in alphabetical order on the worksheet.  Now you'll see a purple callout appear in the  

bottom right corner of the slides. When  a new term is discussed. And we're going  

to provide you with the definition. So  you can record it in your worksheet.  All right Alicia that was a lot. Do you  

want to take over from here for a minute? Thanks, April. To give further  clarity on how this handout works,  

you will notice that we have filled out the word  conditions term as an example of, on the slide,  

a work conditions was referenced in the pre  learning video. It means requirements attached  

to funding awards to ensure compliance. Remember  this includes high risk conditions that may lead  

to withholding of funds.  We will share this definition in the  chat. Now please take a moment to  

record it on page eight. Let's fill in our two other terms. While we're on  this page, locate the word entity on your page.  

Entity, grantee, grantee, recipient and nonfederal  agency are commonly used interchangeably,  

so we have included them together. They refer to  an organization that receives federal grant funds.  

Please record this definition. Budget clearance we will record next.  This item refers to the process of  

obtaining approval for the financial  plan associated with a federal award.

As we proceed throughout this session,   we're going to circle back to this document  to allow you to fill in the information  

related to additional terms. Back to you, Alicia.

Let's begin with a review of the OJP model  for the Financial Lifecycle of a grant,  

which is the guide for our content. This module  includes the five phases of application budget,  

review, award, grant administration, and  closeout. The five phases occur during  

pre-award and post-award. Jessica will be dropping  the definitions of those here. Pre-award includes  

the OJP phases of application. The financial management system requires a  recipient to account for each award separately,  

ensuring accurate records and maintaining  auditable accounts. The next one is budget review.  

This process ensures your budget is a rational  estimate based on historical expenses and future  

forecasts. Remember to allocate funds for  different budget items like personnel,  

travel supplies, and all of this  is based on historical costs.

Cost must be necessary, reasonable, allowable,   and applicable a tip your budget detail narrative  should match the budget line items. April,  

back to you. All right. Thanks for the pre-award  information. Let me give you a little information  

about the post award, which in includes phases  OJP phases of award which is. Before accepting  

the award, ensure your grants account is set up  that you're enrolled in the Automated Standard  

Application for Payments (ASAP) Most of us know that as ASAP and that you have  assigned a financial manager, a grant award  

administrator, and an authorized representative.  Those three are important that those are assigned.  

Then the next phase is grant administration.  And this includes the availability of funds,  

program income, payment of grant funds, again  of ASAP, award modification or exam reporting  

requirements, single audit report requirements  monitoring and for first of reporting.

And the next phase is closeout.   This phase includes the Final Federal Financial  Reporter FFFR, the Final Performance Report,  

and a Refund of Excess Cash. One of the first key takeaways that we want  to emphasize is the importance of importance  

of each entity establishing their own grants,  financial management system A system, of course,  

is a set of things working together as part  of a mechanism or network. I think that's the,  

Merriam-Webster Webster's definition. And  it can also refer to a set of principles or  

procedures for doing something. Now, in this training, your grants financial  management system is going to refer to the overall  

process of policies and procedures that work with  your project planning roles and responsibilities  

and sources for reporting data and documentation.  How you establish your grants financial management  

system determines how your entity operates. Alicia. So we will provide you with recommendations and  best practices for creating a personalized system  

that works for your unique entity. Grant financial management is not one size fits  all and this training is designed with that in  

mind, having a system in place to outline how  your internal structures will function allows  

your entity to comply with all the requirements  with ease. We will zoom in on how to establish  

clear roles and expectations internally and  externally, how to find and organize and  

maintain crucial award documentation, and  how to avoid stressors that many entities  

experience due to staff turnover, and how  to easily apply these skills on the job.

Thank you, April. Right. Let's dive into our first topic. And that's  roles and responsibilities. So just a thought,  

to get you thinking, why is it important to  have clearly defined roles and responsibilities  

within your entity? So we all know that establishing internal  controls is a government requirement,  

and it must be included in your  entity's policies and procedures.

people move, they retire, they are promoted.  So having clear roles will help your entity  

manage those unexpected situations, such as  staff turnover or family emergencies. And  

it's crucial to clearly define things such  as who will authorize and review payments,  

which can be challenging for entities with a  small group of people managing the grant.

So keep in mind that even with small entities,   they must ensure that different people have  different roles. That's crucial. So to elaborate  

on roles and responsibilities, let's look at a  case study, and just consider some of the tools  

and procedures to help assist with this task

We'll begin each section of this training with  a case study to set the stage for our learning  

journey. The purpose is to help relate the topics  we are discussing by sharing common situations  

that many grantees face. These case studies help  us to recognize how to put best practices with  

grant financial management into place. Let's  begin with hearing about our friend roles.

All right. Works in a small loan set with   three employees. They just received their first  federal or federal grant from the

Office for Victims of Crime, or OVC. Financial grant management processes must  be assigned. She's also a little nervous.  

Rose knows that there are several federal  systems that require role assignments.  

Financial responsibility within the organization  that need to be divided up, and data that must  

be tracked and reported. She keeps hearing terms like internal controls  or separation of duties, but she's not sure what  

these terms mean or how to make it work for her  organization. The organization has decided to  

use an outside vendor to serve as their grant  administrator. However, the external grant  

administrator that Rose was working with left  unexpectedly. She is unsure of how to move forward  

with roles and system access. Where can she go? For more information on internal  controls and separation of duties, and where can  

she determine roles for system access?  Let's see what this entity  did for their solution.

All right. First, congratulations to Rose. And the organization on their first  

federal grant. It's an exciting opportunity to  expand on the important work that they're doing.  

And being a good steward of funds is something  the organization already does. Well. And now  

there are some new expectations to incorporate  into their practices. Being a small entity does  

not have to be a barrier. In fact, there are several advantages, such as  direct interaction between employees and cross  

training. Lots of variety of functions.  So setting, setting their systems up for  

success is a good first step. And specific  requirements can be found in none other  

than the DOJ Grants Financial Management Guide  section 2.3 on Financial Management Systems.

Alicia as Rose and her colleague gets to make   decisions about who does what, she can keep in  mind that separation of duties simply means no  

one person should do the entire process alone. For  example, there's a role for authorized purchases,  

a role for completing the purchase,  and a role for reconcile payments.   This practice will be captured  

in a policy and procedure in order to ensure  compliance with federal rules and regulations.  

This is internal control in action. To learn more  about internal controls, see the Green Book by U.S  

Government Accountability Office. Remember, your TFMC TA center is happy to look  at roles and responsibilities with you. And once  

again, this is a free service provided by OVC.

There are several things to keep in mind when  establishing roles and responsibilities for   your entity. A grant is managed throughout its  entire period of performance, with that in mind,  

there are three main roles involved in  managing federal grants. Let me provide you   with a high level definition of each. The first  one is program role. This role ensures that the  

goals of the grants are met. Milestones are reported as required, source  documentation is maintained and ensure  

programmatic reporting requirements are complete.  The next role is financial. In this year,  

revenues are tracked. S2 expenditures retract  throughout the grant period. Ensure the financial  

reporting requirements are completed, and ensure  that contract and procurement requirements are  

followed. And the third is the administrative  role. This role makes sure develops required  

policies for the entity, submits federal reporting  that is required, and tracks the grant throughout  

the entire life cycle or period of performance. April,

let's take, to locate these terms in managing  a grant planning document in your workbook.  

So look in on page ten, This template can be used to help your entity  define its roles and responsibilities. As  

you can see on this slide, the financial,  programmatic, and administrative personnel  

must work together to work together closely as  they're all interconnected, and they require a  

coordinated effort to ensure compliance with grant  guidelines and achieve the project's goals. This  

entails establishing a communication schedule such  as bi weekly, monthly or quarterly to discuss the  

milestones, and staff responsible for each area must collaborate to monitor progress,  report accurately, accurately,  

and address any potential issues that may  arise across all aspects of the grant.

The establishment of internal roles in   your entity helps to play a part in identifying  federal system responsibilities. The federal  

government has several websites to help you all  to help grantees. They input and submit required  

documentation for your financial grant management.  And I'll give you an overview of the four key  

systems which are listed on your screen. And those  are JustGrants, ASAP, SAM.gov, and Grants.gov.

Now take a moment to locate   your Federal System Responsibilities Entity  Planning Worksheet to map out who is going  

to be responsible for each row in it's located on  page 12 of your packet of your resource packet.

Just know that we strongly   encourage everyone in your entity or your entity  to define a backup person for all of the system,  

roles and responsibility that we're  discussing. And that's to make sure,  

continuity of grant management and will help  when things like staff turnover happen. Backup  

staff names should be documented in an accessible  place for your entity, as well as the primary.

Designees should train their backups,   and that's to make sure that they're ready in, in  case they're needed to ensure record continuity  

of grant financial management processes and  procedures. All right. Let's begin with just  

grants. So it is the DOJ Grants Management System,  which provides resources and support for grant  

applications and award management processes.  In the just Grant section of your worksheet,  

you can see that there are six foundational  roles to be created to ensure your entity  

users have authority to conduct specific  requirements and tasks related to the role.

Similarly, we recommend that you   record the names of the staff responsible  for the six roles, as well as determine a  

backup for each one of those. Aleesha I'll be speaking a little bit about ASAP.  ASAP is the automated standard application for  

payments. This system allows entities to drawdown  or requester awarded funds. In the ASAP section of  

the worksheet, you can see we have provided you  with a high-level definition of the system.  

Along with detailing the names of   the seven role assignments required during  the enrollment process. The names of the  

seven roles are listed in the key information  column. Use this worksheet to record the names  

of who will be responsible for each role in a  sale. Under the Who is Responsible column.

On your screen said this   that I'm going to talk about, and it's the  system for the award management. And you'll  

just hear people refer to it as Sam and it's,  registry for entities to verify that any vendors  

or sub recipients contract, etc. are approved  to do business with the federal government. On  

your worksheet, you can see. That a SAM account is required to apply for  funding on Grants.gov. And SAM requires three  

roles for system management. Grants.gov is our next website. It's  a centralized website where federal  

agencies publish award opportunities, and  entities can find and apply for them. Page 13 of your packet allows you to  

record three core roles of this system. Core roles  are defined as a or R or authorized organization,  

representative roles that serve as  EBPCs or electronic business points  

of contact for the entity. Core roles cannot be modified. Core roles come  with a custom set of privileges, but they may  

not be fully. They may not fully meet the needs  of what your entity may need to do in the system.  

Grants.gov allows the staff in three core roles  to establish additional custom roles as needed.

April. A legal summary of the four systems.

We want to mention one additional system   that you may have heard reference to, and it's  called DIAMD and it's spelled D.I.A.M.D and that's  

an acronym in JustGrants. That means Digital  Identity and Access Management Directory.

And that is the Secure User Management   system. It is where the entity administrator,  one of the roles that should be assigned,  

identifies who should be an entity user  and what roles that users should possess,  

and enables all users in your entity to  log in and take actions in the interest.

Grants or other systems. this system is also listed in  

your resource packet on page 11. Please take  a moment to view that worksheet, and we highly  

recommend that you document who is responsible  for this role, as well as to identify a backup

I would like to share a few additional takeaways   in relation to federal system management, but you  may want to take a note of these. We have provided  

additional notetaking space for you at the bottom  of page 13. You should. Your entity should always  

update the point of contact information.  Some systems pre-populate role assignments   information update the Point of Contact or POC  information immediately in each federal system.

If there are changes in staff,   consider including reassignment roles as part of  your entities exit interview process to take a  

proactive approach to avoid potential issues,  policies and procedures. Develop and maintain  

written policies for handling staff changes. You  can do this by identifying a backup administrator  

for all system roles, especially for the entity  administrator to prevent operating fund issues.

Funding issues include steps for changing roles   in JustGrants, Grants.gov, SAM.gov, and ASAP in  your written policies and as stated. If you know  

someone is retiring, moving or have has won the  lottery and does not want to come back to work,  

include reassignments of roles as part of your  ETS. These process to update system assignments  

before the employee's last day occurs. All right, hope we are winning the lottery.  All right. So some key takeaways are always  

have a backup person with access. Do not rely  on just or rely on just one person and have  

a contingency plan in place for any issues  that may arise. So remember without a backup  

grant award administrators, the entity could  experience operational funding issues which  

are related to drawdowns. And we don't want that to happen. We have  supporting resources on our website that you may  

wish to view. If you need additional information  about any of the.gov systems we've discussed.

Now let's delve deeper into our next topic,   which is award details. Having a central  understanding plays a significant impact  

on successful grants. Financial management. And  we'll we're going to return to our case study.  

About Rose. So Rose managed to find some quiet  time at work and is setting up the grant file for  

the entities new award from OVC. And the award is one of the largest two words  they've received, and it spans multiple years.  

She wants to make sure the entity does everything  that they said they would, and Rose helped inform  

the original project proposal, but did not  actually write the grant application. Now she's  

wondering where to find the award information  so she can just jot down some key details.

She's aware of something called notice   of award. An award conditions, but she's not sure  what it means or where to find it. Where should  

she look and what should she take notice?

All right, so what did they want? So she wanted  Rose wanted a cover sheet at her fingertips.  

This is such a good way to locate key information  quickly. She has a lot of support when it comes  

to the grant funded project. In addition to  her, grant manager, Rose has both programmatic  

and financial technical assistance providers  as well as online resources to leverage.

With assistance, she was able to locate,   download, and read the award package. The  entity signed off on important assurances  

and certifications, and there are a lot of  award conditions. After reading the documents,  

Rose takes notes that the organizations plans  to hire a contract to purchase a security system  

and travel to a training conference. She also  sees that there's a requirement provided to  

provide a cost sharing match for a project  and complete a grants financial management  

training. Back to you, April. So Rose developed a To-Do list, which includes  working with her team to establish a written  

policy and procedure for procuring  goods and services with federal funds,  

including OJP prior approval for sole source  contracts. Over 250,000. She also plans to  

update the travel policy to make sure employee  reimbursements have required documentation. She's  

going to create a new timesheet template that  captures all the details needed to accurately  

reflect the work performed with a place for  employee and, supervisor certification.

So for their signatures, they see internal   entity system for equipment management to make  sure thorough inventory is done at least every two  

years. Very important. She's also going to develop  a procedure for drawing down federal funds,  

including minimizing time between receipts and  disbursements to within ten days, and create a  

mechanism for tracking and reporting cost sharing  or match which with a place for type, source,  

date, amount and location of source documents. And finally, she's going to ensure that all  team member members of the grant team complete  

the required DOJ online grants financial  management training. Within three months,  

you have 120 days to send the to certificates of  completion to your grant manager. As you listen to  

Rose's story, remember your TFMC grants financial  management technical assistance provider is happy,  

happy, happy to look at your entity's  policies and procedures with you.

So take a moment to locate your next resource. If you'll turn to page two, you'll see  

that the instructions reiterate what we're sharing  in case you want to share this with others.

And it includes a sample of, what a completed   document could look like. Just for reference.  Now, if you'll turn to page three, you'll see  

where an actual template begins. This could be  printed, scanned, emailed, whatever you would  

like to do for easy sharing. And there's several  sections to fill in on this sheet. The top section  

is where you can document award details found in  the award letter that your entity has received.

If you need support on how to fund that   information, you can reference our pre learning  video, which provides an easy to walk, easy to  

understand walk through. And it outlines the steps  from just the just grants federal system. And if  

you look at the slide we're displaying this is  the top section outlined in purple. The bottom  

section of this page has several sections where  you can indicate yes or no if they apply.

As we said, there's no one   size fits all model, so feel free to that. This  resources, resources needed. And look at the last  

two pages of the packet. We have an enlarged  version of the sample cover pages for using  

fictional information, of course, but to serve  as a reference for how to use this resource.

So, as April said, the cover page   template is a very useful, item.

I actually in my pre TFMC days had used one of  these also, and I modified it to fit my needs. I  

also found it helpful to put in important dates  for our due dates, progress report due dates,  

and drawdown dates --some grants have specific  drawdown dates -- things like that. So as we said,   you could modify this to fit your entity. 

Let's go to the second page of the blank template.  This would be page four. You'll see that there's a  

sub awards section that I want to specifically  call out. If your grant includes a sub award,  

which is defined as when the recipient of  a federal award gets part of its federal  

funds to another entity to help pay out  a portion of the federal project use.

Which is to say it easier,   more plain language. It's when we're saying we  want a survey completed and we're going to pay  

a company to complete a survey, because that is  part of our program scope. That's what a sub award  

would mean. Okay. If you put "yes" in that field  and include a brief mention of the entity handling  

the contract, remember that several awards do  not include payments to contractors, consultants,  

or individual beneficiaries of the program. Another example of a sub award is if a  territory receives federal funds to help  

victims with housing, it could pass  these funds to a local housing agency   via a competitive process to support the  best ideas for providing the service.

Let's move on to our final concept topic,   which is reporting and documentation. These are  crucial elements of the grant management process.  

The pre learning video covered where  to find report due dates and submission   locations. Keeping track of documentation from  application to closeout is vital for a successful  

grants financial management. Let's look back at our story with Rose, but  now with the with the loss of their external  

grant administrator. She's been juggling many  roles, and when working with the bookkeeper,  

she notices that it's time for the  FFR. It's going to be due soon,  

and she's aware that the FFR needs to be complete,  accurate, and it needs to be submitted on time.  

But she's not able to get a hold of the   previous grant award administrator.

She's heard of backup documentation and  record retention, but she's not sure  

exactly what those terms mean. Where should she start? Let's see  what this entity did as a solution.

Rose decided to lay out the steps to start,   to take starting with the FFR due date and  utilizing the entity's internal financial  

procedures to partner with the financial POC to  obtain copies of the needed documentation.

the backup documentation is simply the financial   statement Rose used to fill out the federal  financial report. This document contains details  

that confirm the numbers reported. It is a list  of transactions specific to grants to the grant,  

called a ledger or sub ledger. The financial  statement needs to be saved with a copy of the   final submitted for Federal Financial Report.

In the grant file. The accounting system  that produced the financial statement has  

a capability of supporting source documents such  as paid bills, canceled checks, contract invoices,  

etc. these source document documents do not  have to be kept in the grant file, but need  

to be remain available upon request. Saving  the file for an annual report, financials and  

financial statements, and source documentation for  at least three years after the end of the award

is record retention enacted in. And remember, your grants financial  

management technical assistance provider at  TFMC is happy to look at your FRR with you.

As we reflect upon this case, let's review a few key terms that   play an important role in ensuring accountability  and appropriate documentation of funds for federal  

reporting. Let's go back to the main resource  pack to locate the key terms to know about

To avoid misuse of funds, there are   a few important things to avoid.

Let's review these terms and definitions.  Co-mingling combining funds from multiple  

resources into a single account, which can create  challenges and legal obligations. Supplanting  

using federal grant funds to place nonfederal  funds previously allocated for a specific  

activity, which is generally prohibited, and  the other one is duplication, receiving multiple  

sources of funding for the same purpose, leading  to inefficiencies and misuse of resources.

So just to summarize, some best practices,   it's important to track funding sources for  every cost and activity, ensure compliance  

with applicable statutes, regulations and work  terms, and clearly define roles for also for  

rising reviewing and sending out payments and  the goals to have a smooth, transparent process  

of the grant funding to manage.

So one key takeaway from this session, and not  mentioned in the DOJ Grants Financial Guide,  

is the importance of establishing a well  organized Grants Financial Management File  

System. Always try to keep backup copies of your  information in a binder or on a electronic copy,  

and that just make sure you have everything  that you need, and you can access the necessary   documents, and it'll lend a hand to minimize  disruptions to financial procedures.

And this is one way to establish   a framework for success. Alicia. As  we progress through this section,  

we will provide you with tools and tips for  entities' centralized documentation system.  

Keep in mind that our technical assistance team  is here to support should you need assistance.

Just remember it's there's not a   one size fits all method for document oriented,  organization. Use your own judgment and make  

sure that you're keeping as much documentation is  ready. I mean as possible so you can be ready for,  

audits and compliance. So in your resource packet,  let's locate the resource entitled Grant File  

Management Planning Worksheet. Please locate the Backup Documentation  Planning worksheet on page four of the  

resource packet we have an example on  the screen. What this page looks like. In a moment, we'll be sharing  

document names and organizational ideas  for establishing best practices for   maintaining backup copies of documentation  related to the life cycle of your award.  

We encourage you to use this page to follow along  and jot down ideas to share with your entity.

For organization of essential records,   please consider using your notes to help drive  future discussions with your event management  

team about how to improve your success. Our model  of organization corresponds directly to the five  

phases of the OJP life cycle. So start looking at the pre-launch phase  documents that you would want to maintain  

for getting started when creating your  backup system and you just take notes.

Report whatever you would like to   report on page four of your planning sheet so you  can discuss it with your entity later. And on this  

slide you can see section two indicated in the  blue folder. Visuals that represent file sections  

or categories to place application documents to  the right of the sections, we have a bulleted list  

of possible documents you include, and you can  tailor your backup documentation system files to,  

meet your needs. For additional information related  to application phase documents,  

we recommend that you review the JustGrants  application submission training resources.

the links. Also at the bottom of page four in your packet. So the next slide, we have it.  

This corresponds to the page in your packet. Page  five, it will say budget review phase at the top.  

As part of your budget review backup documentation  you may want to include an agreement Documents  

file section. This can include such items as  your award package, pre-approval documentation,  

award conditions, and more. If you're  unsure where to sign your work conditions,   there are located in your award letter and our  pre-learning video covers how to locate them.

You can also see that we included   a budget section. Take a moment to view that  what could be organized under that section,  

including the approved budget, budget  modifications and record retention files,  

confirm deliverables to stay compliant and to  keep backup copies of your documentation.  

So, referring to page five in   your packet, which is contracts. In this category  you can include copies of all of your procurement  

files, contracts, invoices and modification  documents. For additional budget information.

I always like to use a fresh,   budget detail worksheet (BDW), which  the link is going to take you there.

And it's an important document that all   grantees should be aware of for your convenience.  This same link is also at the bottom of page five  

as your packet, in your packet. Just a quick  tip. It's always good to start with a fresh,  

BDW whenever you are starting a new budget. So  you won't have any issues with the spreadsheet.

Our last document for this section is   page eight of the end, which is the closeout phase  when it comes to close off phase documentation for  

the award, it is important to understand that the  liquidation period is 120 days after the award  

period ends, during which all allowable financial  obligations incurred by the end of the period of  

performance must be liquidated. Before closeout occurs, entities must submit  a final financial report, financial report,  

and a final performance report ensuring  all award conditions are met. So we're looking at, right now  

the grant award administration says and this slide  is on page seven in your packet. Be sure to create  

documentation sections that meet your entity's  needs. So sub recipients may be an example of one  

of the things that you would like to include. And  the majority of tribal grantees that we serve do  

not have sub recipients, only direct awards. So it's important to understand that a vendor is  different from a sub recipient. And this slide  

suggests they sub grantees section is applicable  to your grant. And for your convenience, this  

same link is at the bottom of page seven in your  packet. And monitoring visits or audits will occur  

throughout your grants life cycle. Be prepared to  ensure these events are smooth and stress free.

So maintaining final reports and   supporting documents like closeout letters,  property reports, final performance reports  

and final federal reports, FFR is crucial  for compliance with grant requirements,  

and these documents provide evidence that all  bridge activities have been completed as

In summary, keeping detailed   records of final reports and supporting documents  can serve as a valuable reference for future  

grant applications and management. It helps in  understanding what worked well and what could   be improved in the future projects. In addition,  proper documentation demonstrates accountability  

to entity collaborators, including funders,  partners, and the community. It shows that  

your organization is committed to transparency  and responsible management of grant funds.

We hope this you found this helpful   to take some time to share how you can consider  organizing your backup documentation system.

Back to you, April. Thank you, Alicia. For those of  

you that have not been through the development  monitoring process, let me give you some tips  

for key information on what you can expect.  So all OJP grantees are monitored by the  

program office or CFO. And monitoring includes  reviewing programmatic reports and financials to  

identify costs that are allowable or unallowable, and CFO monitors conduct or CFO monitor.

Let's see, how am I going to put this? monitoring  

visits conduct in-depth reviews. So it's almost  like an audit, but not exactly unless it needs to  

be happening. So one of the main challenges  grantees face during monitoring is digging  

through numerous files to find the necessary  information. I've seen it happen many times.  

So if you've got a note or a folder, a file  folder, binder, with everything in one file,  

it simplifies the process. It keeps everything in one place. And if you  follow our tips by having a well-maintained  

backup grant management file, then you've already  done the work. So the government notices will  

inform grantees which documents are required,  and they may ask you to pull some policies and  

procedures. It could be a website link where  your policies and procedures are kept.

The FFR submitted in just grants   a chart of accounts, a list of employees.  There are many things that they could ask for,  

but they will send that to you. You may want you may additionally want  to consider conducting a mock monitoring  

visit with your entity. Let everyone know the  types of documents you may be asked for.

So the last ten minutes,   we're going to allow all of you to ask the experts  any outstanding follow up questions that you have  

may have based on the topics covered we'll also extend a warm welcome if any  of our OCFO and grant manager partners  

would like to answer as well. So if we had a question on cost, the  definition of cost sharing and match.

So Jessica put the, answer in the chat, but I'll   cover it. Cost sharing is also called matching  refers to the recipient share of the project's  

cost that is not paid by federal funds. That means a portion of the project cost  is covered by nonfederal funds, usually  

expressed as a percentage of the total award.  Then there's cash cost sharing. This includes  

cash spent on project related costs, and then  there's third party in-kind cost sharing. This  

includes evaluation of non-cash contributions  provided by third party, such as services,  

supplies, property and equipment.  Brooke has put in a little bit more information  as well. Brooke said, "cost sharing or matching  

for the tribal victims set aside program  refers to the portion of project costs not  

covered by federal funds." And James says excellent.

All my definitions are complete. Now. Good  news. Thank you for your question, James.

Alright. Does everyone in JustGrants have to take the financial training.

The financial manager and the   grant award administrator both have to  have this on each full training. That is  

a requirement. And you have 120 days to complete  that requirement. We do have several, options.

TFMC has the tribal grants,  

financial management training, and then there's  also a online version that you can do through,  

the Department of Justice. The entity administrator does not have to take  the, training, but it does not hurt. So that  

would be great, especially if the entity award  administrator may sometime have to step in as the  

grant award administrator or financial manager. What about the assistant grant award  administrator? We've got so many good  

questions coming in. The assistant grant award  administrator is not required. But again,  

it's best if they take it because as the backup  grant, award administrator or alternate sorry,  

assistant, alternate grant award administrator,  they do have to step in sometimes, so it's best  

if they take it as well. And as Ana mentioned in the chat, it is these  are the two that are assigned in JustGrants,  

the grant award administrator and the finance  manager that are assigned in JustGrants are   required to take the training.

The training is good for three  years. So, if you want to pass the   training and get your certificate, your  certificate is good for three years.

That's the best news I heard   when I took the training.

Kidding. I love the finance piece. I  love it. Right. Any other questions?  

There is a question. Another one.   Yes. If it's good for three years. So after you  three years is expired, you take it again. It's  

good for another three years. All right. Feel free to. Let's see. Another one is  the online training certificate in place of these  

webinars or in addition to so the online training  certificate for the grants, financial management  

training is not in place of these webinars or it's  for in addition to the grants financial management  

training, has to be completed by the grant  award administrator and the finance manager.

In the first 120 days, and you have   to have that specific certificate.

So this training is actually in addition  to this, that can come after just to help  

you manage your award. Thank you, Mary Ellen, for your question.  And there's one more. All right. We have  time for one more question but continue  

to put those questions in the chat. I'll go  ahead and answer the last one. But we will  

email you with the answers to the questions.  If you continue putting them in the chat.

We'll be happy to get back   with you. Will we be covering the specifics of  unethical side obligations in a future training?  

That is a great question, We definitely

will keep that in mind. And we do have,  some more sessions coming out. So that is  

something that we will definitely try  to touch on in a future training.

good transition question. James. Thank you. So, in today's sessions,  

we covered topics related to getting  started with managing your grant. And,  

Alicia, do you want to close us out on this  slide? Sure thing. We hope that you can join  

us for the next three sessions of the four part  Journey in Grants Financial Management series.  

For session two, we'll cover topics related  to navigating OJP grants with confidence.

We'll take a deeper dive into common challenges   grantees faced when managing their OJP grants  and information. What specific session dates  

will be coming soon? In the meantime, please don't  hesitate to reach out with any help you need.

Just a couple of things. Let me read over what   has changed, but did you know that tribes have  increased flexibility when it comes to prepare it?  

We have some, information under what has  changed. And then just some key takeaways  

is tribal governments have the same  flexibility, it states, when it comes   to procurement. And both states and Indian  tribes only need to follow their own rules.

So, whatever's in your policies and   procedures that your rules and plus a few specific  federal requirements like preference for small  

minority and women owned businesses, preferences  for domestic products, use of recovered materials  

and certain contract provisions.

Here is a copy of the links that  we will be providing to you.

thank you for attending our session today. We hope   to see you soon in the next ones. And please go  ahead if you have any questions. Continue putting  

them in the chat, and, we'll email out a response  to you. And if you need to sign up for the TFMC  

listserv, there's a link in the chat. And this is where you'll get all upcoming  events and webinars that we have. And so you  

can stay aware of everything. We appreciate all the time you took  with us and being here with us. April,  

do you have anything else? Just want to say to thank you all for attending  session one of the Journey in Grants Financial  

Management Essentials series. And remember that our training and  technical assistance team is here to  

assist you at no cost at all, and we look  forward to connecting with you soon.

Thank you all very much and have a great day.