Financial Reporting

Recipients are responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of grant-supported activities using their established controls and policies, as long as they are consistent with HHS requirements. However, to fulfill their role in regard to the stewardship of Federal funds, IHS monitors their grants to identify potential problems and areas where technical assistance might be necessary. This active monitoring is accomplished through review of financial and progress reports and correspondence from the recipient, audit reports, site visits, and other information available to the IHS.

During post-award administration, the Grant Management Specialist (GMS) monitors expenditures for conformance with cost policies. The GMS’s monitoring includes, among other things, responding to prior-approval requests (i.e. Carryover) and reviewing financial reports, audit reports and other periodic reports. The GMS may also use audit findings as the basis for final cost adjustments. The Program Office’s monitoring includes review of progress reports, prior approval requests, and other correspondence, and site visits.

Monitoring of a project will continue for as long as the IHS retains a financial interest in the project or activity as a result of property accountability, audit, and other requirements that may continue for a period of time after the grant is administratively closed out and the IHS is no longer providing active grant support.

The Federal Financial Report (FFR or SF-425) is used by HHS for expenditure reporting and reporting on the status of cash transaction reporting. Reports of expenditures are required as documentation of the financial status of grants according to the official accounting records of the recipient.

The FFR is required to be sent to the Payment Management Services (PMS) on an annual basis with a courtesy copy being sent to the GMS via submission as a Grant Note in GrantSolutions (GS). The annual FFR should be sent no later than 90 days after the end of the budget period and the final FFR should be sent no later than 120 days after the period of performance. All unliquidated obligations should be reconciled prior to submission of the final FFR to your GMS.

Before submitting FFRs, recipients must ensure that the information submitted is accurate, complete, and consistent with the recipient’s accounting system. The authorized organizational representative’s signature on the FFR certifies that the information in the FFR is correct and complete, and that all outlays and obligations are for the purposes set forth in grant documents, and represents a claim to the Federal government. Filing a false claim may result in the imposition of civil or criminal penalties.

In some cases, the recipient may have to revise or amend a previously submitted FFR. When the revision results in a balance due to the IHS, the recipient must submit a revised FFR whenever the overcharge is discovered, no matter how much time has lapsed since the original due date of the report. Revised expenditure reports representing additional expenditures by the recipient that were not reported to the IHS within annual or final report time frames may be submitted to the GMS with an explanation for the revision. The explanation should indicate why the revision is necessary and describe what action is being taken by the recipient to preclude similar situations in the future.

Failure to submit required financial reports within the time allowed may result in suspension or termination of an active grant, withholding of a non-competing continuation award, or other enforcement actions, including withholding of payments or converting to the reimbursement method of payment. Continued failure to submit required reports may result in the imposition of special award provisions or cause other eligible projects or activities involving the recipient to not be funded.

Submission of a required report does not necessarily fulfill the recipient’s obligation. Such reports must also meet the content requirements in regulations or other grant terms. Where reports need to be revised in order to be accepted, the recipient must provide a revised report by the due date indicated or immediate fund cutoff or other enforcement actions may be taken with regard to the delinquency.

To find your FFR, follow the instructions below:

1. Login to PMS
2. Select Menu
3. Select Federal Financial Reporting
4. Select Federal Financial Report

To access the FFR User Guide:

1. Login to PMS
2. Select Menu
3. Select Federal Financial Reporting
4. Select Grantee User Guide