Grants Financial Management: Frequently Asked Questions

Eligibility requirements for block, formula, and discretionary awards can be found in the grant program solicitations contained in awarding agency program announcements, notices of funding opportunities (i.e., discretionary grant program solicitations), or other awarding agency program documents. For specific agency grants, visit the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) Current Funding Opportunities page. 

DOJ discretionary grant solicitations require, at a minimum, several elements including the Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424), a program narrative, a budget detail worksheet, and a budget narrative. There are also a few certifications that may be required and other elements, as specified in the program announcement. Specific requirements may vary. For additional information, visit https://www.ojp.gov/funding/apply/ojp-grant-application-resource-guide#apply. 

This is a standard form that collects essential, basic information about the applicant and is required for use as a cover sheet for submission of pre-applications, applications, and related information under discretionary grant solicitations. It is essential that the authorized representative designated in the form has the authority to receive official notifications from DOJ, and that they have the authority to accept award offers. Some items are required and some are at the discretion of the applicant or the federal agency. Applicants must consult with their awarding agency to obtain instructions to determine other specific requirements. The form can be found here. 

Yes. Examples of types of applicants include, but are not limited to:  

1. Government organizations.

• State governments.
• County governments.
• City or township governments.
• Special district governments.
• Regional Organization 
• U.S. Territory or Possession 
• Native American tribal governments (federally recognized).
• Native American tribal governments (other than federally recognized).

2. Education organizations.

• Independent school districts.
• Public and state-controlled institutions of higher education.
• Private institutions of higher education.

3. Public housing organizations.

• Public housing authorities.

4. Nonprofit organizations.

• Nonprofits that have a 501(c)(3) status with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), other than institutions of higher education.
• Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.

5. For-profit organizations.

• Organizations other than small businesses.

6. Small businesses.

Eligible applicant types will be clearly defined in each program funding announcement and solicitation.

DOJ is required to review and assess the potential risks presented by applicants for federal grants prior to making an award (2 C.F.R. § 200.205). DOJ will use a variety of factors, which may include financial capabilities and past performance in a risk-based approach. To facilitate part of the risk assessment, DOJ applicants—other than an individual—may be required to complete a questionnaire to assess their financial capability and submit it to DOJ, prior to award approval, also known as the FCQ. 

Yes. However, it is important to note that high-risk grantees are not prohibited from applying for or receiving new awards from DOJ. If a high-risk grantee is funded, they are closely managed and monitored, and any new awards these grantees receive are subject to additional restrictions, typically imposed through the inclusion of high-risk special conditions. Such conditions may be imposed not only at the beginning of a grant but at any time throughout the period of the grant, if appropriate.

In general, a recipient may be designated as high-risk if any of the following apply:  

• Has a history of unsatisfactory performance.  
• Is not financially stable. 
• Has a management system that does not meet the standards set forth in 2 C.F.R. Part 200 (Subpart D—Post Federal Award Requirements: Standards for Financial and Program Management).
• Has a prior negative audit finding that has not been corrected. 
• Has not complied with the terms and conditions of previous awards. 
• Is otherwise not responsive to grant making organization requirements. 

If you are the individual who applied for the award or the initial point of contact (POC) of the organization named in the application, you will receive an email notifying you of your award. Once registration of at least one entity administrator is completed in the Justice Grants System (JustGrants), you may access the award by clicking on the “Awards” tab. For instructions on registering an entity administrator, see the Transition to JustGrants. 

JustGrants is the new grants management system developed by DOJ. JustGrants replaces the Grants Management System used by OJP and the Office on Violence Against Women, as well as the NexGen system used by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.

There are six foundational roles created to ensure entity users have the authority and ability to carry out specific requirements and tasks:

• Entity administrator.
• Grant award administrator—usually the POC in the old system.
• Application submitter.
• Alternate grant administrator.
• Authorized representative.
• Financial manager—usually the financial POC in the old system.

Multiple roles can be assigned to a single user. For more details regarding roles, visit JustGrants User Roles Guide. 

Your entity administrator must successfully set up their JustGrants account and enroll in the Automated Standard Application for Payments (ASAP) to accept and manage their award. If you have enrolled in ASAP and JustGrants, you can proceed with accepting an award in JustGrants. Please note: The authorized representative is the only role that is able to accept or decline an award. That individual must also be assigned to the award and must be the person that reviews and accepts the award.

For information on how applicants and entities will be registered and onboard their user into JustGrants, visit the Securely Onboard Your Entity Users to JustGrants section of the “Getting Started” page.

To determine whether your organization is already enrolled with JustGrants, contact the grant manager listed on the award or OJP Support (email: [email protected]; phone: 833–872–5175).

If your entity is not already registered in JustGrants, visit the Securely Onboard Your Entity Users to JustGrants section of the “Getting Started” page to find out how applicants and entities will register and onboard their users.

Your entity must successfully set up their JustGrants account and enroll in ASAP to accept and manage their award. If you have enrolled in ASAP and JustGrants, you can proceed with accepting an award in JustGrants.to accept and manage their award. If you have enrolled in ASAP and JustGrants, you can proceed with accepting an award in JustGrants.

To accept an award, sign in to JustGrants and select an award from “My Worklist.” You must then open and accept the information for each tab of the “Award Details” page. Once you have selected all acceptance boxes in each tab, click “Accept” to proceed. After accepting, the system will display a banner indicating that the award has been accepted. If you do not want to accept the award, select the “Decline” button to proceed.

For information on how applicants and entities will be registered and onboard their user into JustGrants, visit the Securely Onboard Your Entity Users to JustGrants section of the “Getting Started” page.

A GAM is created to update the award details but is used only to modify a key fact or detail about the award. A GAM is not used for more routine updates to grant information that will not modify a fact about the award details.

A GAM can be created in the JustGrants system by selecting the “Create New GAM” tab from the “Funded Award” screen. Once a GAM is submitted, DOJ reviews it and sends a notification—approved, denied, or change requested—via email to the grant award administrator. The email notification will become a permanent part of the grant file and the record will be updated, as appropriate.

For additional information about GAMs, please visit pages 7–14 of the Grant Award Modification: Job Aid Reference Guide.

There are three types of GAMs—project period extension, programmatic, and financial. GAMs are all started in the same basic way but each has specific fields and sub-types, depending on the information needed for the specific type of GAM:

• A project period extension GAM is used to extend the length of the funded award. The most direct way to do this is to change the end date and—in rare circumstances—change the start date.
• A programmatic GAM is used to update changes in project scope or to gain prior approval for changes with programmatic costs and activities as determined by the DOJ Financial Guide. Programmatic GAMs have two sub-types—costs and scope.
• Financial GAMs are used to modify budget details or approve a budget that received a conditional clearance when awarded (a process performed by a DOJ financial analyst). There are three types—budget modification, sole source, and budget reduction. (Note: Budget reduction is only available to Office of Community Oriented Policing Services grantees.)

ASAP is the shared services payment system used by the Department of the Treasury that will replace the Grants Payment Request System for grants payments. Through this platform, recipients of DOJ grant awards and other forms of federal assistance will be able to request and receive payments for grants managed through JustGrants.

Drawdown is the term used to describe the process when a recipient requests and receives money under an award agreement.

The ASAP website can be found at https://fiscal.treasury.gov/asap/

First, the awarding government agency will create a POC from the System for Award Management. If you are the POC, you should have received two emails—one providing you with your ASAP username and one providing a temporary password with a link to create a new password. 

If you are not the recipient organization POC, you must be assigned one of the six roles to use ASAP: 

• POC—adds user or modifies their roles.
• Head of organization—approves changes to users and their roles. (Note: There can be only one head of organization.)  
• Financial official—enters and maintains banking account information.
• Authorizing official—adds payment requestor and inquirer only users.
• Payment requestor—initiates payment request.
• Inquirer only—can only run reports so no other role is allowed.

Once you are assigned a role, you should be able to create an account and access ASAP using your role’s permissions. 

You can request payments directly through the ASAP system. Be mindful that if you do not have the payment requestor role, you will not be able to request payment for your organizations awards. 

If you have the payment requestor role, login to ASAP.gov, mouse over “Initiate Payment Request,” and then follow the instructions: 

• For same day settlement, select Fedwire.
• For same day Automated Clearing House (ACH), enter current date in next step. 
• For next day ACH, simply select ACH.

Electronic funds transfer from the U.S. Department of the Treasury to the grantee, based on the information provided on the ACH form. The U.S. Department of Treasury uses ACH information to transmit payments using electronic funds transfer to the recipient’s bank. Without a current, valid, and complete ACH form on file, payment requests for the same grant on the same day must be less than $10 million.

If you are a DOJ grantee and you are getting an error message when trying to download your SF-425, please contact JustGrants support at [email protected] or 833–872–5175.

We suggest you follow-up in one or more of the following ways:  

• Check for any error messages you may have received in ASAP and document the error message. Having the error message(s) can assist the help desk in resolving your issues. Contact the ASAP help desk at 855–868–0151 or [email protected].
• Have all award special conditions, including high-risk special conditions, if applicable, been met? Many special conditions lead to the withholding of funds until the conditions have been met and cleared through a GAM.  
• Check if all Federal Financial Reports and progress reports including the Performance Measurement Tool  report have been submitted. The system has automatic verification features in place, which prevent drawdowns if all the required reports have not been submitted. 

Payment requests may be unsuccessful for various reasons, including:

• Award was not accepted or special conditions of the grant were not met.
• Certain reporting requirements throughout the life of the grant were not fulfilled.
• Legislation and federal grant management procedures during the life of a grant were not followed.
• Amount requested exceeded what was available.
• Grant reports (e.g., SF-425, progress, or audit) were not submitted by the due date.
• Grant end date passed and an administrative closeout was initiated. 

Compliance may affect the timing or the amount of the funds made available at any time.

Upon initial award:

• Sign and email the award and special conditions to confirm award acceptance to [email protected]. 
• Complete and return the ACH form according to the instructions in the award letter. 
• Follow the instructions to notify your program manager of your compliance with applicable special conditions.

(Please check with your OJP grant manager to confirm your actual reporting deadlines because the deadlines listed here are examples and may differ from your actual deadline.)

Federal Financial Reports (known as SF-425 or FFRs) are due quarterly, as follows or as listed in the solicitation:

The final SF-425 is due 90 days after the grant end date. OJP grantees are required to submit the SF-425 online via ASAP. A POC must be registered before an SF-425 can be submitted. For instructions on registering an POC, see the ASAP Registration Checklist. 

Progress reports are usually due in JustGrants as follows or as listed in the solicitation:

Single audit reports may be required. Non-federal entities that expend $750,000 or more in federal funds (from all sources including pass-through subawards) in the organization’s fiscal year are required to arrange for a single organization-wide audit conducted in accordance with the provisions of Title 2 C.F.R. Subpart F (§ 200.500 et seq.). A special condition is included with your award detailing the reporting requirements for the audit reports. All audit reports must be submitted to the audit clearinghouse at https://harvester.census.gov/facweb/ no later than nine months after the end of the fiscal year.

• Always keep auditable records and proper documentation of expenditures such as receipts, purchase orders, invoices, checks from bank statements, etc. 
• If you have more than one award, make sure they are accounted for separately.
• Include federal, matching, and program income in your reports and make sure there are separate general ledger accounts and/or cost centers for each.
• For costs, before incurring, always verify if they are:

          - Allowable.
          - Necessary for the performance of the project.
          - Reasonable.
          - Allocable for the project and consistently treated.
          - Non-profitable.
          - Claimed against only one award.
          - Permissible under federal and state laws and regulations.

Grantees should contact their assigned cognizant agency to renegotiate a new indirect cost rate or request an extension of the existing indirect cost rate, which could be up to four years.

If a grantee does not have an indirect cost rate, they will have to negotiate a new indirect cost rate. Grantees can also elect to charge a de minimis rate of 10% of their direct costs, if they are not an entity listed in Appendix VII to Part 200 paragraph (d)(1)(B).

The training is valid for three calendar years from the date on the certificate.