1. 1

2. An Introductory Look at the New Omni-Circular Big changes have arrived! Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards 2 CFR 200 et seq Louis Peasley, SBA Office of Small Business Development Centers Director of Financial Oversight September 2014 2

3. Major changes in a nutshell! we Today’s Agenda- What is the Omni-Circular? What are the high-level goals of the Omni-Circular? How is the Omni-Circular organized? 3

4. Reform of Federal Policies related to Grants and Cooperative Agreements On December 26, 2013 OMB released the ‘final guidance’ on Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards §200.110 Effective/applicability date Federal Agencies must implement by December 26, 2014 4

5. Changes apply to new awards, made on or after December 26, 2014 Existing awards will continue to be governed by the award terms and conditions This means FY grants will not change in FY15; CY subject to change January 2015 Audit section, Subpart F. will apply to audits of fiscal years beginning on or after 12/26/14, so this will come into play for fiscal year FY 2016 Audits toward a risk-based approach Greater transparency of audit results (i.e.- single audit reports made available to the public online) 5

6. What are the high level goals of the New Omni-Circular? Streamline guidance Strengthen federal oversight Set standard requirements Codify all OMB Circulars into Title 2 of the CFR Increase efficiencies and effectiveness 6

7. Organization of the Omni-Circular, 2 CFR Part 200 Uniform Guidance Subpart A – Acronyms & Definitions Subpart B – General Provisions (Section 200.1xx) Subpart C – Pre-Award Requirements (Section 200.2xx) Subpart D – Post Award Requirement (Section 200.3xx) Subpart E – Cost Principles (Section 200.4xx) Subpart F – Audit Requirements (Section 200.5xx) 7

8. Highlights of Key Sections we Subpart B - 200.112 Conflict of Interest o The Federal awarding agencies must establish conflict of interest policies for their Federal awards o The Federal assistance recipient must disclose in writing any potential conflict of interest to the federal awarding agency in accordance with agency policy 8

9. Subpart C - 200.201 Use of Grants (including Fixed Amount Awards), Coop- Agreements and Contracts: o Federal Agencies must determine appropriate award instrument o Payments are based on meeting specific requirements of the Award o Accountability is based on performance and results o Award amount is negotiated using cost principles as a guide o Significant changes (i.e., principal investigator, project partner or scope) must receive prior awarding agency written approval 9

10. Subpart C- Continued 200.204 Federal Agency Review of Merit o This is a new requirement, and helps the small or middle size applicants understand the ‘playing field’ o Federal agencies must design and execute merit review processes for applications o The merit review process must be described in the in the funding opportunity (i.e. - transparency to the applicant) 200.203 Notice of Funding Opportunities o Specifies a set of 6 mandatory data elements (standardization) o Identifies the full text that must be included in funding opportunities, o Establishes minimum timeframe (60 days) that federal agencies must generally make funding opportunities available to applicants 10

11. Subpart C- Continued 200.205 Federal Agency Review of Risk o Federal agencies must have a framework for evaluating risks by applicants, prior to making awards o Possible risk items considered by the agencies o Financial stability o History of performance o Audit reports o Applicants ability to implement effective systems 200.210 Information Contained in a Federal Award o Provides a set of 15 standard data elements that must be provided in all Federal awards, and in Subawards o Requires agencies to incorporate general terms and conditions 11

12. Subpart D- 200.303 Internal Controls o Recipients required to have internal controls in place that comply with federal statutes and regulations (Term ‘internal controls’ used 103 times in the Omni-Circular!) o Institutions and their auditors will need to review 200.306 Cost Sharing or Matching o Voluntary Committed Cost Share cannot be used as a factor during the merit review of the proposal o Cost Sharing may only be offered/considered when it’s required by regulation and transparently displayed in the funding opportunity 12

13. Subpart E – Cost Principles (Section 200.4xx) Costs are reimbursed by the Federal Government if they meet the follow criteria: Allowable Allocable Reasonable Permissible Necessary Consistent Note: Cost that can not meet these requirements are considered unallowable no matter the expense 13

14. 200.343 Closeout NEW and IMPORTANT The non-Federal entity must submit, no later than 90 calendar days after the end date of the period of performance, all financial, performance, and other reports as required by or the terms and conditions of the Federal award. The Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity may approve extensions when requested by the non-Federal entity. Unless the Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity authorizes an extension, a non-Federal entity must liquidate all obligations incurred under the Federal award not later than 90 calendar days after the end date of the period of performance as specified in the terms and conditions of the Federal award. 14

15. Subpart E- Continued 200.407 Prior Written Approval o New section clarifies that in order to avoid disallowed costs, recipients can seek prior approval of the agency o One stop section that provides a comprehensive list of circumstances for which we can seek prior approvals o This section is key for the incurrence of unusual costs or costs that fall in a grey area 200.415 Certifications o Annual and final fiscal reports or vouchers requesting payment must include a certification signed by an official who can legally bind the entity. o More strongly worded certification language that introduces potential penalties under the False Claims Act (31 U.S.C. §§ 3729 – 3733), for fraudulent information for omission of material facts 15

16. Subpart E- Continued 200.453 Materials and Supplies Material and supplies section now specifically includes ‘computing devices’ as an allowable direct cost ‘In the specific case of computing devices, charging as direct costs is allowable for devices that are essential and allocable, but not solely dedicated, to the performance of a federal award.’ §200.20 Computing devices. Computing devices means machines used to acquire, store, analyze, process, and publish data and other information electronically, including accessories (or “peripherals”) for printing, transmitting and receiving, or storing electronic information. 16

17. Changes Specific to the SBA SBA offices with implementing regulations must review those existing regulations to identify conflicts with the new OMB Omni-Circular. Risk assessment criteria to be included in funding announcements. The Simplified Acquisition Threshold detailed in 2 CFR §200.308 for transfer of funds among direct cost categories will no longer require prior approval for awards less than $150,000. 17

18. Other Helpful Resources COFAR Crosswalks and links to Part 200- Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards. http//m.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants_docs 18

19. Questions Thanks! Louis Peasley louis.peasley@sba.gov 19

20. Don’t forget to rate this workshop in the Conference APP How to rate the session In the mobile app, select the workshop you attended. Select Rate session. Enter your ratings and comments Submit your rating. Once you submit the rating, Press the button on the main dashboard. 20

21. §200.203 Notices of funding opportunities For competitive grants and cooperative agreements, the Federal awarding agency must announce specific funding opportunities by providing the following information in a public notice: (a) Summary Information in Notices of Funding Opportunities. The Federal awarding agency must display the following information posted on the OMB- designated government wide Web site for finding and applying for Federal financial assistance, in a location preceding the full text of the announcement: (1) Federal Awarding Agency Name; (2) Funding Opportunity Title; (3) Announcement Type (whether the funding opportunity is the initial announcement of this funding opportunity or a modification of a previously announced opportunity); 21

22. §200.203 Notices of funding opportunities (Continued) (4) Funding Opportunity Number (required, if applicable). If the Federal awarding agency has assigned or will assign a number to the funding opportunity announcement, this number must be provided; (5) Catalog of Federal Financial Assistance (CFDA) Number(s); (6) Key Dates. Key dates include due dates for applications or Executive Order 12372 submissions, as well as for any letters of intent or pre-applications. For any announcement issued before a program's application materials are available, key dates also include the date on which those materials will be released; and any other additional information, as deemed applicable by the relevant Federal awarding agency. 22

23. §200.210 Information contained in a Federal award. A Federal award must include the following information: (1) Recipient name (which must match registered name in DUNS); (2) Recipient's DUNS number (see §200.32 Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number); (3) Unique Federal Award Identification Number (FAIN); (4) Federal Award Date (see §200.39 Federal award date); (5) Period of Performance Start and End Date; (6) Amount of Federal Funds Obligated by this action; (7) Total Amount of Federal Funds Obligated; (8) Total Amount of the Federal Award; 23

24. §200.210 Information contained in a Federal award. A Federal award must include the following information: (continued) (9) Budget Approved by the Federal Awarding Agency; (10) Total Approved Cost Sharing or Matching, where applicable; (11) Federal award project description, (to comply with statutory requirements (e.g., FFATA)); (12) Name of Federal awarding agency and contact information for awarding official, (13) CFDA Number and Name; (14) Identification of whether the award is R&D; and (15) Indirect cost rate for the Federal award (including if the de minimis rate is charged per §200.414 Indirect (F&A) costs 24