[Cobo] FW: Updated ARRA Reporting Guidance from OMB

[Mauck, Sheri]

ARRA Grant reporting guidance.

-----Original Message-----
From: Lisa.McKeithan at osf.ok.gov [mailto:Lisa.McKeithan at osf.ok.gov] 
Sent: Thursday, September 30, 2010 4:55 PM
To: Lisa.McKeithan at osf.ok.gov
Cc: Sammy.Paulson at osf.ok.gov; Janice.wolfenbarger at osf.ok.gov
Subject: Updated ARRA Reporting Guidance from OMB


OMB has released updated guidance on 1512 reporting.  Here is a brief
overview of the main items as well as a link to the full memo.  The two
main updates (1) Award/Project Descriptions (2) Vendor payments >
$25,000
in the reporting period are now to be aggregated for the reporting
period
(quarter)  ...  Lisa McK


On Friday, September 24, 2010, OMB released updated 1512 reporting
guidance:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/2010/m-10-34
.pdf
.

The updated OMB guidance  affects how a prime recipient will report the
"Quarterly activities/Project description" item in its October 2010
quarterly report (covering the July to September 2010 period) and
subsequent ARRA reports.  The prime will no longer be able to use only
standard "boilerplate" language for this item.

The requirement for increased transparency also affects the award
description.  While we are still asking you to enter common language
that
will clearly explain the purpose of the grant, we are also asking that
you
include any information that may be specific to your State.

The last update we would like to bring to your attention is to the
vendor
fields.  Previous guidance stated that the determination for whether a
vendor should be reported in the "vendors under $25K" field on the prime
report or separately on the vendor tab was based on individual payments
to
vendors.  In other words if a vendor received 3 payments of $10K in the
quarter the payments could be reported in the "vendors under $25K" field
because no single payment was greater than $25K.  However, the new
guidance
states that payments made within a single quarter should be added
together
to determine if the $25K threshold is reached.  Based on this new
guidance,
in the scenario above in which 3 payments of $10K were made to the
vendor
within a single quarter, the vendor should now be reported on the vendor
tab because the total payments to the vendor for the quarter are greater
than $25K.  This only applies to payments within a single quarter so if
a
vendor was paid a total of $20K in one quarter and $10K in another
quarter,
the vendor can still be reported in the aggregate in the "vendors under
$25K" field since the $25K threshold was not reached within a single
quarter.

Because OMB's revised guidance came out at the end of the reporting
period,
we recognize that many of you may have finished your data collections
for
the October report.  However, the new OMB guidance must be followed to
the
extent possible.  Recognizing that you may not be able to collect all of
the required information during the October reporting period, we
encourage
you to use the continuous corrections period to make this change if
necessary. If the information is not updated by the end of the
continuous
corrections period, OMB requires that we report this as a material
omission
or significant error so please make the change if you are able.



Lisa McKeithan
Office of State Finance - ISD
Enterprise Systems & Business Analyst
405.521.3772