Home / Grantees / FY 2009 New Grantee Fiscal & Administrative Training / Frequently Asked Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Payment Management
Q. How long before grant data is updated on Payment Management System (PMS) database & draws are allowed?
A. Once the award has been posted in PMS and the grantee receives access, they can commence drawing their grant funds at that time.
Q. If we are already drawing down federal funds (for existing grants) through PMS, do we need to resubmit the direct deposit and authorized party forms?
A. If a grantee is already drawing funds through PMS for other grant awards from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), a new direct deposit form and the primary contact information do not need to be resubmitted. However, if the grantee receives funds from an awarding agency other than HHS, then the submission of the 1199A Direct Deposit Form and the Primary Contact Information Form would be necessary.
Q. We are a school district and our funds will be deposited into our County Schools Account...we will not be going through a bank but through the County Office of Education...How do we handle this?
A. An 1199A Direct Deposit Form would still be required because the information on this form is what we need here at the Division of Payment Management to establish banking information for accounts established in PMS. Without this information, we would be unable to direct your grant funds to a proper bank account. The County Office of Education must have an account established with a financial institution. Therefore, the school district may wish to consider contacting their County Office of Education to obtain assistance in the completion of the 1199A.
Q. We are a year 6 grantee. Do we resubmit the Direct Deposit Banking form AND do we have a new PMS account?
A. No if you currently have a grant award from HHS you will not be assigned a new PMS Account Number and therefore no banking form is required. Your current award would be posted to your current account and the grantee would draw funds as usual.
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Q. Prior to receiving the grant award we completed and submitted a Direct Deposit Form. How do we get confirmation that this has been completed?
A. Once the grantee's Direct Deposit Form is received and the account set-up is completed in PMS, a Division of Payment Management account representative will notify the grantee either by certified mail, fax or e-mail of the access information to PMS as well as information about drawing funds through the system as well as the required financial reporting.
Q. How long after submitting the Direct Deposit sign up form can expect to receive the packet from Payment Management and draw down funds?
A. To give a specific number of days is rather difficult; however, we make every attempt to complete the set up of an account within five to seven business days. Once the Direct Deposit form is received we need to obtain direct verification from the financial institution that the information is correct. Once that is received, the banking information must be put into the system along with the request for a USER Name and temporary password. All three of these steps must go through a signature process as well.
Q. What do we do if we have not received a PIN from Division of Payment Management for a new account package?
A. You may contact your account representative to obtain the PIN. To find your account representative, go to our home page at www.dpm.psc.gov and from the links down the left hand side of the screen you will see a link labeled “Contacts.” From the drop down menu select DPM Staff. Then you would click on one of the Payment Branches and locate your account representative. The account representatives are assigned by states.
Q. On the quarterly form PSC 272, will each grant be shown on separate reports?
A. No all of your active grants will appear on the PSC 272-A. Therefore, you do not file a separate PSC 272 report for each individual grant. You file one report for all your grant awards at the same time.
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Q. Should the person requesting funds be the primary contact?
A. Yes, that is correct. The person listed as the primary person of contact is the individual your account representative will be providing the new recipient account information to.
Q. If a grantee has another SAMHSA grant, is it necessary to submit the [Direct Deposit Form 1199] or does the new DFC award automatically get added to the system or does the grantee need to submit something else?
A. If the grantee currently has a SAMHSA grant it is not necessary to provide another Direct Deposit Sign Form. DFC would automatically post the award to the existing PMS account and the grantee would draw funds as usual.
Q. Will you accept PSC 272 via e-mail in PDF format?
A. Yes, we will. Just be certain the form has been signed before it is e-mailed as a PDF.
Q. This is our first Federal award. When reporting cash on hand to Payment Management do we include pre-grant cash we currently have?
A. Cash on hand in our systems means that you have drawn Federal funds through PMS and those funds are still sitting in your bank account and have not yet been disbursed. The PSC 272 Report is a cash disbursement report for Federal expenditures made from your Federal grant award. On that report if positive cash is on hand that means that you have not disbursed all the grant funds received during the period you are reporting on. If this does not answer the question in your particular situation, contact your Division of Payment Management account representative for further information.
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Financial/Grants Management
Q. How should we track in-kind matching contributions? For instance, a partner agency allocates staff time to the project – what should we have on hand in the event of an audit?
A. Grantee financial management systems for the Federal as well as recipients' share of costs shall provide for accounting records, including cost accounting records, that are supported by source documentation. All cost sharing or matching contributions are to be verifiable. In your example, the recipient shall maintain copies of the appropriate partner agency records for the staff time allocated to the project.
Q. We currently only track staff time for one other program. What is the required documentation for staff time spent on grant-funded activities?
A. Personnel activity reports (timesheets) are to reflect the actual total activity for which employees were compensated, including the distribution of salary and wages charged to Federal awards. The timesheets must be prepared after-the-fact and they must be certified as accurate by either the employee or a supervisor familiar with the employee's activities.
Q. Can we charge both indirect AND administrative costs to the award?
A. Generally, indirect costs include an administrative component. Costs may be charged as indirect if the grantee has a negotiated indirect cost rate agreement. Alternatively, the costs may be charged directly to the award if an acceptable, documented method is used to allocate the costs to the benefiting projects or cost objectives.
Q. Can you pay your bills with a checking account that only requires one signature on the checks? Do you need to maintain a separate account?
A. The fiscal policies of grantees must require two (2) signatures on all checks over $1,000 and designate the organization officials authorized to sign the checks. A separate checking account for this purpose may be maintained, but is not required.
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Q. We are a local government entity in a small county and the positions of Auditor and Treasurer have been combined. The program that runs our checks only allows for one signature and cannot be changed.
A. The local government's policies and procedures for disbursements appear to have a weakness in internal control. Additional compensating controls must be in place to protect the interest of the local and Federal government if the program cannot be changed.
Q. We use a payroll company for payroll. Payroll is called in after timesheets are signed. How is the two signature rule applied in this case?
A. When using a payroll company, the grantee's own internal control should provide for adequate segregation of duties over maintaining payroll records, generating and approving the payroll and reviewing payroll check summaries. The payroll company should be reputable with its own system of internal control and audits to prevent unauthorized payments.
Q. What if the current checks are signed through the check processing with a signature stamp (which is kept in a locked safe when not in use), would we need to change our check processing and software to add an additional signature?
A. Use of a signature stamps on checks, even when kept in a locked safe when not in use, presents a major internal control weakness and will not be accepted in a grantee's fiscal policies.
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