Agenda Information

DAY 1:

8:00 am – 9:00 am
REGISTRATION & CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST

9:00 am – 9:15 am
WELCOME & INTRODUCTIONS
Overview of training, introduction of speakers, CPE & GPCI CEU Credit procedure

9:15 am – 10:45 am
FROM COMPLIANCE TO PERFORMANCE
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) seeks to reduce the risk of waste, fraud and abuse through better performance and accountability. The uniform guidance, 2 C.F.R. 200, provides a framework to strengthen program and financial outcomes through performance metrics and evaluation from pre-award through closeout. While compliance is still important, all federal agencies and nonfederal entities need to prepare for the shift to performance and how it affects grants processes. This may appear to be a simple development, but it is a significant change. The move to performance means heightened scrutiny and tougher consequences for noncompliance — including recovery audits, federal determinations of “not qualified” for nonfederal entities, possible personal liability for certifying officials and other corrective actions – all of which are serious sanctions that are now called “remedies” under 2 C.F.R. 200. Federal agencies aren’t off the hook either. Federal agencies may be held accountable for their own performance — funding decisions, the number of high-risk grantees, how long they allow nonperformance to continue before applying remedies and annual targets for each federal agency to recover funds (www.paymentaccuracy.gov). Federal agencies may even face corrective actions for their own oversight, and must report to their own Office of Inspector General and to Congress annually about their recipients. The shift from compliance to performance is a primary objective of the uniform guidance.

10:45 am – 11:00 am
BREAK

11:00 am – 12:30 pm
FRAMEWORK OF FEDERAL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
In this session will include a thorough discussion of the statutory and regulatory framework, including an overview of regulations such as the Uniform Guidance and other government-wide requirements, examples of agency-specific requirements, and a discussion of the key terms in a grant or cooperative agreement notice of award. This session will address the common legal concepts across various forms of financial assistance.

12:30 pm – 1:15 pm
LUNCH

1:15 pm – 1:30 pm
A LOOK AT THOMPSON’S GRANTS COMPLIANCE EXPERT
Learn how to access your conference slides and Grants Toolkit. Plus, get an overview of subscribers’ favorite features!

1:30 pm – 3:00 pm
UPDATING YOUR POLICIES AND PROCEDURES – ARE YOU READY?
OMB’s uniform guidance, 2 C.F.R. 200, requires nonfederal entities to have written policies and procedures. Written policies and procedures provide program managers with guidance about implementing their grants within their own organizations, and also would support a viable defense in case of an audit investigation, providing “reasonable assurance” that the recipient organization is making a good faith attempt to comply with requirements. But ensuring that your policies measure up isn’t just about compliance, it’s also about performance. The uniform guidance promotes flexibility. It defines what must be done, but not how. The burden, therefore, is now on nonfederal entities to define how they will demonstrate compliance, performance and effective stewardship of federal funds. Written policies and procedures are the gateway to that end, and are one of the best ways to improve your organization’s internal controls, minimizing the likelihood of fraud, waste and abuse as well as audit findings. Templates for creating or updating written policies and procedures are provided for all attendees.

3:00 pm – 3:15 pm
BREAK

3:15 pm - 4:45 pm
SUBRECIPIENT RELATIONSHIPS: FROM FIRST RISK ASSESSMENT THROUGH CLOSE OUT
In addition to monitoring subrecipients and issuing management decisions for audit findings, the uniform guidance creates new responsibilities for pass-through entities—and new questions. In this session, we’ll clear the confusion on what pass-through entities can be doing now to prepare for all the changes, and all the new oversight. Know what it will take to avoid recovery audits, loss of funds and other sanctions. From the new risk assessments to tougher performance monitoring requirements, you’ll know what procedures have to change and what new practices must be put in place. We will address all aspects of the pass-through entity and Subrecipient relationship, from risk assessments conducted prior to award, structuring the subaward agreement, monitoring and evaluating the subrecipient activities under the agreement, and close out of the subaward relationship.

4:45 pm – 5:00 pm
Q & A DAY 1 WRAP UP
Join us as we review and absorb the information presented today. Ask questions, share thoughts and unwind. It’s been a great day and we have another one planned for you tomorrow.

DAY 2:

8:30 am – 9:00 am
REGISTRATION & CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST

9:00 am – 10:30 am
COST ISSUES BASICS
This session will provide an overview of cost accounting for Federal assistance awards and explains basic financial management principles, guidelines for allowability, the necessary and reasonable test, adequate documentation, and the credit principle. In addition to the selected items of cost, this session will include an overview of personnel costs and time and effort reporting requirements documentation.

10:30 am - 10:45 am
BREAK

10:45 am – 12:15 pm
INDIRECT COST RATES & COST ALLOCATION PLANS
This session will provide a detailed, step by step guide to the preparation and development of an indirect cost rate. It will build on the accounting requirements and rules for allowability and allocability (as discussed in Cost Issues Basics session) required to design a compliant rate structure. The session also analyzes the different types of indirect rate structures used by nonfederal entities and delineates how organizations should develop and present indirect rate structures and claimed costs. Through the use of a case study and exercise, workshop attendees will prepare and develop an indirect cost rate. Students will learn critical data points, supporting documentation, and how to reduce audit risks when indirect rates are reviewed by their cognizant federal agency.

12:15 pm – 1:15 pm
LUNCH

1:15 pm - 2:45 pm
PROCUREMENT STANDARDS
In this session, we will discuss the requirements of the “procurement standards” under the uniform guidance, including competition requirements and procurement procedures triggered by various contract dollar-value thresholds, requirements applicable to sole source procurement decisions, and enhanced documentation requirements. We will also address conflicts of interest, and contracting vehicles that meet regulatory requirements while also providing purchasers with needed flexibility and predictability.

2:45 pm - 3:00 pm
BREAK

3:00 pm - 4:30 pm
POST-AWARD NONCOMPLIANCE & AUDIT RESOLUTIONS
In this session, we will discuss compliance programs and the discovery of noncompliance matters after the fact. This session will address your legal obligations regarding disclosure and correction when a matter of noncompliance is discovered by your own staff, when asserted by a whistleblower, or when identified by an outside auditor or agency inspection. We will address the audit resolution process, from first assertion of a “finding” to formal and informal dispute processes, and new reporting requirements such as FAPIIS.

4:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Q & A DAY 2 WRAP UP
This is your opportunity to ask any final questions or share thoughts that have come to mind over the course of the last two days. Thanks for a great Forum and travel safely home!