{"id":1477,"date":"2021-12-20T00:20:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-20T05:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mgocpa.com\/?post_type=perspective&#038;p=1477"},"modified":"2025-07-01T15:05:51","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T20:05:51","slug":"how-strong-is-your-grant-compliance-framework","status":"publish","type":"perspective","link":"https:\/\/www.mgocpa.com\/perspective\/how-strong-is-your-grant-compliance-framework\/","title":{"rendered":"Evaluating Your Government&#8217;s Grant Compliance Framework\u202f"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Grant requirements can be complicated.\u202fDeveloping\u202fa\u202fsystematic\u202fgrant management program provides a framework to mitigate against\u202fnoncompliance.\u202fA sound framework includes\u202ffive\u202fmain\u202felements. Answering the following\u202fquestions will\u202fhelp identify\u202fareas you\u202fmay\u202fneed to strengthen to support your\u202forganization\u2019s compliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who Is Your Grant Administrator?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This seems like a simple question, but if an organization\u202fonly\u202fhas\u202fa few\u202fgrants,\u202fgrant administration may be one of many roles.\u202fOr,\u202fresponsibility\u202fmay be shared among several roles.\u202fThat situation works until the\u202fsize\u202fof the organization\u202fand the complexity of the grants make responsible grant\u202fmanagement impossible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When the responsibility and complexity of grant management becomes\u202ftoo\u202fdemanding to include as one of many responsibilities, it\u2019s\u202ftime to\u202fidentify\u202fone\u202fperson\u202fto take the lead. Eventually, that person may build the\u202fteam responsible for overseeing and coordinating grant administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u202fis easy to see the benefits of\u202fhaving one\u202fperson\u202fdevelop\u202fthe\u202ffull knowledge of grant requirements and\u202ftake responsibility\u202ffor\u202festablishing\u202fpolicies and procedures for the\u202forganization.\u202fThis\u202fperson provides guidance\u202ffor the organization\u202fand\u202fmonitors\u202fcompliance requirements.\u202fThey also serve as the point person\u202ffor grant related audits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Do You Have Policies and Procedures for Grant Administration?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A grant administrator\u2019s\u202ffirst priority\u202fis to\u202fdevelop policies and procedures\u202fthat\u202foutline each step\u202fin\u202fthe lifecycle of the grant.\u202fTypically,\u202fthis\u202fdocument will answer the following questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Who approves grant applications?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Who executes grant agreements?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What systems will be used to track grant activities, such\u202fas\u202fqualifying\u202fexpenses, reporting dates, performance metrics\u202f(both\u202ffinancial\u202fand programmatic)?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>What documentation is required for\u202fcompliance?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Who\u202freviews\u202fand approves\u202fgrant activities to ensure compliance?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Who develops and manages a schedule and process for annual financial reporting (financial statements and grant reporting, e.g., single audit)?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Who is responsible for\u202ftraining staff in grant requirements?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Are\u202fsubrecipient contracts standardized,\u202fand do they comply with your responsibilities as a grantor?<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Who is responsible\u202ffor\u202fresolving\u202faudit\u202ffindings?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Are You Prepared for Grant Reporting?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the key\u202fresponsibilities\u202fof a grant administrator is to manage\u202fdeadlines (monthly, quarterly, biannually, annually,\u202fand\u202fgrant close out).\u202fIn\u202faddition to the initial application\u202fdeadline, grants require\u202fconsistent attention. You need to file updates and reports throughout the life of the grant, and they will often require specific\u202fdocumentation. The\u202finformation in these reports must be complete,\u202faccurate, and filed promptly. If they are not, you can count on the grantor\u202frequiring\u202fyou to follow-up and\u202fresolve\u202fthe issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Do You Have the Resources to Monitor Activities?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s true, monitoring grants is a full-time job. Or it should be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Being awarded a grant is the first chapter of a long story. The rest of the tale involves using the grant for its intended purposes and documenting that fact. Responsible monitoring and documentation require time, energy, systems, and personnel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Someone should be assigned responsibility for the continuous monitoring and evaluation of grant administrative\u202fpolicies and\u202fprocedures. This involves looking for changes in grant requirements communicated by the grantor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For subrecipients, the grant administrator must convey the expectations about their activities\u202fand then monitor the progress toward the stated goals. On-site visits will sometimes be necessary and require time. Verifying the status of periodic reporting\u202fresponsibilities can also take up resources that may already be scarce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The final chapter of monitoring activities is to develop a clearly defined plan for responding to audit findings. Depending on the complexity of the findings, resolving these issues can require rewriting procedures, documenting changes, and verifying the implementation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Are You Ready for an Audit?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>While this may seem obvious, knowing your requirements should be the first step in preparing for the possibility of an audit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to reviewing grant requirements, look back at your prior year\u202ffindings to confirm that they were fully resolved. If they were not, they need to be addressed immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The next step in being prepared for an audit is to ensure all necessary documentation is complete and accurate. Your documentation should demonstrate compliance with the grant requirements. Usually, your materials will need to include evidence of internal controls that supports the process of reviews and approvals. Internal policies and\u202fprocedures\u202fshould be easily accessible. (Thankfully, once this document is complete, it only needs to be updated going forward.) When these items are assembled, make sure all\u202freconciliations connected to the grant are\u202fcomplete.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once the preparations are made, the hardest part of an audit is done. You will still need to meet with auditors and discuss expectations, timelines, and requests for information, but these are more scheduling and time management issues. If your paperwork and systems are in good order, your work will consist mainly of providing evidentiary support, and possibly providing explanations on details that may not appear obvious to an outsider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Continuously Improving Your Grant Compliance Processes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>With a lot of subjectivity in the process of managing grants, along with requirements changing on a regular basis, it is important to continuously evaluate the adequacy of your grant administration policies and procedures. So, no matter what your situation is, your processes can always improve, and any deficiencies can be remediated. But it takes commitment as an organization to devote the resources to do the ongoing work of grant compliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many state and local governments have compliance questions about the federal grants that were distributed during the pandemic. The reporting rules of these programs are complex, and requirements continue to evolve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>MGO\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mgocpa.com\/solution-industry\/state-and-local-government\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">state and local government professionals<\/a> can help answer questions about these federal grants and help organizations document their systems of internal controls, improve their audit preparation, and address audit findings. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mgocpa.com\/solution-industry\/state-and-local-government\/#lets-talk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Contact our team today<\/a> for more information on how to improve your grant compliance processes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Grant requirements can be complicated.\u202fDeveloping\u202fa\u202fsystematic\u202fgrant management program provides a framework to mitigate against\u202fnoncompliance.\u202fA sound framework includes\u202ffive\u202fmain\u202felements. Answering the following\u202fquestions will\u202fhelp identify\u202fareas you\u202fmay\u202fneed to strengthen to support your\u202forganization\u2019s compliance. Who Is Your Grant Administrator? This seems like a simple question, but if an organization\u202fonly\u202fhas\u202fa few\u202fgrants,\u202fgrant administration may be one of many roles.\u202fOr,\u202fresponsibility\u202fmay be shared among several [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1478,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"content-type":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"perspective_topic":[61,69,152,113],"perspective-type":[42],"class_list":["post-1477","perspective","type-perspective","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","perspective_topic-audit","perspective_topic-compliance","perspective_topic-grant","perspective_topic-state-and-local-government","perspective-type-articles"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Evaluating Your Government&#039;s Grant Compliance Framework\u202f - 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