3.1 Payments
Managing Interest Earned
Both you and your subrecipients should minimize the time elapsed between receiving Federal funds and the disbursement of those funds to pay for program expenses. Various laws and regulations affect how you should account for, use, and return interest income earned on Federal funds to the Federal Government.
Interest earned amounts up to $500 per year may be retained by the non-Federal entity for administrative expense. Any additional interest earned on Federal advance payments deposited in interest-bearing accounts must be remitted annually to the Department of Health and Human Services Payment Management System (PMS) through an electronic medium using either the Automated Clearing House (ACH) network or a Fedwire Funds Service payment. Remittances must include pertinent information of the payee and nature of payment in the memo area (often referred to as “addenda records” by financial institutions) to assist in the timely posting of interested earned on federal funds. Pertinent details include the Payee Account Number (PAN) if the payment originated from PMS, or Agency information if the payment originated from ASAP, NSF, or another federal agency payment system. Please refer to the How to Manage Interest Income table at the end of this chapter for remittance instructions.