A-133 Vulnerabilities: 12 Common Grant Audit Findings and How to Avoid Them

September 24, 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.

Learn How to Avoid 12 Common A-133 Audit Findings

There’s little question that independent auditors reviewing grant and subgrant expenditures in audits performed under Office of Management and Budget Circular A-133 have been adopting a more aggressive stance in recent years. Federal concerns about widespread substandard non-federal audit quality have been pushing them in that direction. The auditors have to prove conclusively that they performed the tests and procedures necessary to meet the scope of the required examination. And, not surprisingly, patterns have emerged as to the types of requirements where auditors are rendering findings.

This webinar will drill down on a dozen of those common audit findings and suggest some grants management antidotes to help assure that they don’t show up in your next A-133 audit report. You’ll learn about how to avoid:

• Faulty time and effort reporting
• Spotty purchasing documentation
• Inadequate cost or price analysis
• Failure to check the Excluded Parties List System (EPLS)
• Substandard records for grant-acquired property
• Untimely or ineffective inventory practices
• Failure to obtain prior approval when required
• Mismanagement of federal cash advances
• Tripping over your own organizational policies
• Incurring questionable costs
• Failure to show cost allocability
• Questionable documentation of cost sharing or matching

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

Hand-out Materials

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

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?

• Finance directors
• Accounting staff
• Grant and subgrant administrators
• Sponsored programs staff
• Program managers
• Principal investigators
• Internal auditors
• External auditors

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

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