Purchasing With Federal Grant Funds — Applicable Policies & Best Practices

August 23, 2012 Webinar — Listen On-Demand or Get a CD!

The On-Demand recording will be available immediately upon purchase* as a link within a PDF file of the accompanying written materials. CDs and printed materials are shipped via USPS.

Purchasing with federal grant funds—what’s required and what to do about it

When you look at the budget for a federal grant or subgrant, a big chunk often involves purchases of things like equipment, supplies and construction and other contractual services. These line items can dwarf the costs for employee services in some programs, and how they are bought creates more than its share of vulnerabilities. You’ve probably seen some of those get played out in media “horror stories” about conflicts of interest, acceptance of gratuities, “no-bid” contracts and shoddy performance.

The federal rules on grantee procurement allow for the use of an organization’s own purchasing system. But they also require that that system meet certain key minimum standards of good practice. Each recipient and subrecipient must respond to those standards in a careful, appropriate manner and demonstrate that they are handling their procurements in a responsible way.

Independent auditors performing examinations under OMB Circular A-133 are required to test procurement transactions for compliance and internal control. And federal auditors have been known to spend days looking into grantee purchasing. So this is an area that is going to be looked at! This webinar is designed to help assure that when it is, your procurements won’t be the reason for any angst.

You’ll learn about:

• Required features of an organizational code of conduct
• The role of “acquisition planning” for budgeted purchases
• Ingredients for solicitations for bids and proposals
• How to manage competition “to the maximum extent practicable”
• Screening potential contractors for suspension and debarment
• Conducting a cost or price analysis of offers
• How to document evaluation and selection of contractors
• Elements of a sound and complete contract
• Required federal contract clauses
• Steps in effective contract administration
• Required supporting documentation
• Credible justifications for "sole source" procurements

Join Bob Lloyd, a respected authority on policies and practices affecting the award, administration and oversight of federal grants and contracts and subawards and a principal of Federal Fund Management Advisor for this guided tour of purchasing with federal grant funds.

Level: Intermediate
Prerequisites: Some knowledge of federal grant management requirements is helpful
Advanced preparation: None

Hand-out Materials

Attendees will receive presentation slides as well as access to background materials.

Course Instructor

BOB LLOYD is a respected authority on policies and practices affecting the award, administration and oversight of federal grants, contracts and subawards. Mr. Lloyd has nearly 40 years of experience in federal award implementation. Prior to starting his management consulting practice in Washington, D.C., in 1982, he served as the executive director of the Grants Management Advisory Service and held staff positions in two large federally funded organizations. Since then, he has been a consultant, trainer or advisor to award and audit units in sixteen federal award-making departments and agencies, and to recipient and subrecipient organizations and their professional advisors located in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, several U.S territories and 18 foreign countries. He is the principal author of several reference works on federal grants management and audits, and currently serves as contributing editor to Federal Grants News and Federal Auditing News, published jointly by Atlantic Information Services, NACUBO and NCURA. He also is a Charter Life Member of the National Grants Management Association and served on its Board of Directors for five years.

Who Should Attend?

• Purchasing managers
• Grant and contract administrators
• Sponsored programs staff
• Financial administrators and accountants
• Program managers
• Principal investigators
• Internal auditors
• External auditors
• Legal counsels

Allowable Charges

The costs of webinars sponsored by Federal Fund Management Advisor are allowable charges to your federal grants and subgrants. Each of the sets of federal cost principles issued by OMB for federal awards administered by state, local, and tribal governments, colleges and universities, and nonprofit organizations explicitly states that the costs of training for employee development and vocational effectiveness are allowable. For your records, the specific citations are:

• OMB Circular A-21 (2 CFR 220), Appendix A, Paragraph J.51—Colleges and Universities
• OMB Circular A-87 (2 CFR 225), Appendix B, Paragraph 42—State, Local and Tribal Governments
• OMB Circular A-122 (2 CFR 230), Appendix C, Paragraph 49(a)—Nonprofit Organizations

Shipping Information

CDs (and accompanying written materials) are shipped via UPS. Please give us your street address when you order (UPS does not deliver to PO boxes). You should receive your order within two weeks.* Shipping and handling cost is $12.

The On-Demand Recording will be delivered as a link within a PDF file of the accompanying written materials. Shipping will NOT be charged for this item.

• If you order the On-Demand Recording before the conference date (by itself or in combination with the live Webinar), you will be sent an email with the PDF file attached once the recording is available.*
• After the On-Demand Recording is available*, if you order on this website through our secure shopping cart, you will receive an email, immediately after submitting your order, with a link directing you to download the PDF file. If you order through our customer service department (by phone, mail, fax or email), you will be sent an email with the PDF file attached.

Rush Orders: Please call us at 800-521-4323 to place a rush order.* We will overnight your order for an additional charge of $30, or you can give us your FedEx or UPS account number and we will charge the shipping to your account. Rush orders placed after 3:00pm EST will not be shipped out until the next business day.

*On-Demand recordings will be available within a week of the conference and CDs will be available within two weeks.

For more information regarding refunds, complaints, and/or program cancellations, please contact AIS’s Customer Service team.