The Indiana Grant Management System: Institutionalizing Success in Grant Management Caitlin McKenna Chief Financial Officer Indiana Department of Homeland Security
Overview History igms From Idea to Implementation Supplementing Encompass, Enhancing Grant Management Reconciling the igms and Encompass Providing Project and Grant Management Soliciting and Awarding Active Grant Management Closeout Additional Features
History
How It All Began September 11, 2001 Rapid influx of anti terrorism funding to states IN: $90M+ in 18 month period (2003 2004) with annual awards following: 2005: $48M 2006: $29M 2007: $49M 2008: $29M 2009: $29M 2010: $28M 2011: $13M Annual awards are smaller, but continue Policies drove the technology, not the other way around
Evolution of Grant Management 2004: Staff consisted of one full time employee and a governor s fellow; the igms was born 2005: Governor s Meritorious Service Medal awarded for collection of $20M+ in expenses documentation in six weeks 2005 2008: Staff grew through creative reorganization and new position creation to seven; the igms grew from a glorified spreadsheet to a broad project management tool architected to enforce agency and federal policies and procedures All grant management staff funded through management and administration or planning costs associated with awards 2008: Administrative manual completed 2011: IDHS cited with two national best practices in grant management by FEMA Indiana Grant Management System Sub recipient monitoring
Indiana Grants Management System: From Idea to Implementation
igms Foundation Web based system developed within the agency with one full time developer and overall project lead COTS solutions evaluated, but deemed cost prohibitive Application development managed and completed within the agency, but centrally housed and served through IOT Business first approach to development Annual cost Development: $87K (FTE including benefits) IOT: $669 monthly (three servers: one development, two production) Support: $58K (FTE including benefits) Licensing: $0
Benefits of Agency Development Ultimate control Immediate resolution for bug fixes, report requests Not fighting with hundreds or thousands of other clients for enhancement consideration Most COTS solutions provide configuration, not customization No annual license, maintenance, or upgrade costs Another state agency recently purchased a grant management system which cost more than $200K for software and initial configuration alone
igms Current State Facilitates all grant activities from pre award to closeout Manages all internal agency procurement approval and processing Provides visibility on agency payment process 2011 statistics More than $35M in disbursements processed 1,932 adjustments processed 461 agreements tracked 2012 changes Non disaster and state funding now tracked in igms More than 65 current federal and state funding sources tracked in igms Comprehensive manual and online training available
igms Supplementing Encompass, Enhancing Grant Management
Encompass State financial system of record Requires copy of federal grant award document from which SBA sets up a funding source Projects created within each funding source Requisitions (pre encumbrances), POs (encumbrances) plus vouchers (expenses) equals the total project budget Purchase Orders POs are created under those projects. PO encumbers part of that budget amount. System will not allow a PO to be created if there are not enough available funds under that project. Vouchers Vouchers can be paid that are tied to the PO and the PO amount is reduced by each voucher that is paid. Encumbered funds are then represented as expenses to that project.
Encompass Fund Project Project Project Purchase Orders Purchase Orders Purchase Orders Vouchers/Expenses Vouchers/Expenses Vouchers/Expenses
How the Systems are Similar Tracks the accounting in a similar fashion as Encompass Funding tree, categories, projects Funding tree specifies the individual grant program Categories break down funding by state or local allocations Projects are created and given an award amount. Project IDs are created in Encompass and incorporated into the igms for consistency Reimbursement Reimbursement occurs when a project manager (PM) creates a request for expenditure (RFE) Each RFE is tied to a requisition, PO, and voucher in Encompass to facilitate easier reconciliation
Encompass/iGMS Fund Funding Tree Project igms Project ID Project igms Project ID Project igms Project ID Purchase Orders RFEs in Processing, Ordered, Sent for Payment or Partial Paid Status Purchase Orders RFEs in Processing, Ordered, Sent for Payment or Partial Paid Status Purchase Orders RFEs in Processing, Ordered, Sent for Payment or Partial Paid Status Vouchers/Expenses RFEs in Partial Paid or Paid in Full Status Vouchers/Expenses RFEs in Partial Paid or Paid in Full Status Vouchers/Expenses RFEs in Partial Paid or Paid in Full Status
Reconciling Encompass and the igms
Reconciliation Reconciliations done by project or grant depending on the need Encompass Queries are run to gather data for an entire grant or project based reconciliation and inter agency transfers are manually added igms All disbursement data pulled into single report Once data gathered from both systems, compare to find discrepancies Research reconciling items Correct igms or Encompass Iterative reconciliation until both the igms and Encompass match Daily Management of Project changes in Encompass All changes in the igms are tracked and submitted to agency controller for updates to Encompass Once Encompass is updated, those changes are taken by agency procurement to make necessary adjustments to requisitions or POs
Additional Encompass Entries Disbursements loaded directly into igms from Encompass query to reduce human error Journal Entries JEs are entered into Encompass for payroll, IOT charges, or corrections. JEs are also entered as a disbursement in igms. Inter Agency Transfers Not able to track in Encompass due to the Project ID that is being used, fall under the other agency s business unit. Manually tracked by Fiscal ROC created for transfer is entered into igms as a disbursement and tracked as usual. Receipt of Collection (ROC) Entered in Encompass mainly for a refund of overpayment or payment error Entered in igms as a negative disbursement
Providing Project and Grant Management
igms A Project and Grant Management Tool Full visibility to state and local sub recipients Pre award management including submission of proposals for solicitations Real time budget management including payment and change approval and tracking Agreement/MOU/Letters of consent tracking Invoice submission tracking Equipment inventory at the state and local level Multiple performance period dates supported Quarterly reporting Documentation repository for files and grant activity System enhancement flexibility Real time executive reporting Project Mgmt Fiscal Grants Legal Policy Total Project Management
Reporting Project Manager
Reporting Executive
Administrative Fund Management
Soliciting and Awarding
Managing Solicitations Serves as the primary collection tool for IDHS grant solicitations and agency budgets including: Homeland Security Grant Program (SHSP, UASI) Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness (HMEP) Homeland Security Foundation Regional Public Safety Grant Program IDHS Operating Account Completely customizable based on funding source What is needed for a federal grant may not be what is needed for state funding
Creating and Approving Budgets Captures detailed, line item budgets, as well as adjustments after award For federal grants, this module requires the information to be specific to federal reporting requirements. Fields include: Fund Project Manager Contact Proposal Status Fully Executed Agreement Encompass Project ID Allocated Budgeted Balance Disbursed Provided real time transparent feedback and gives control over change requests to grant recipient Allows for adjustments throughout the life of the grant to include changes in scope, budget, and deadlines
Creating and Approving Budgets and Payments Allows project managers to be actively involved by requiring review and approval on: Budgets Adjustments (both end date and budget) Requests for reimbursement (RFE) Invoices submitted In addition to the PM approval, review by the grants management office and fiscal department is also required to ensure compliance Review of eligibility of item and compliance with state requirements NOT appropriateness of expense Maintains segregation of duties and internal controls.
Tracking Contracts and Agreements Used to highlight the status, pending actions, and completion of all agreements handled by IDHS. Fields include: Date agreement was sent to the project manager for distribution Date the agreement was returned from the sub recipient All legal reviews and internal required signatures Date the agreement was finalized (fully executed). Exposes delays in the process and removes the mystery associated with what can be a long state signature process
Tracking Invoice Processing Allows greater visibility into the payment process and forces project managers to monitor activity Audited Completed by Recipient Submitted Completed by Procurement / Accounts Payable Processing Sent for Payment Feedback from AOS through Warrant Distribution Partial Paid Paid in Full
Active Grant Management
Equipment Inventory Regular downloads from Encompass provide immediate visibility to state employees on current assets assigned to them with the ability to signal a change to the agency asset manager When a change is indicated by the asset owner, the asset manager is notified which triggers a manual change in Encompass Allows local entities a method to track all equipment purchased with federal funds from the Indiana Department of Homeland Security Not required for local partners, but encouraged Keeps all mandated documentation and information in one area thereby providing instant access for auditing purposes
Performance Period End Dates igms Performance periods can be set at various levels: Federal performance period Initial 6 months on approved budgets or fully executed agreements Admin level adjustments Project based end dates Encompass Only allows one performance period to be assigned
Quarterly Reporting Required by both internal and external partners Assists in meeting grant monitoring requirements Ensures project managers are reviewing their projects on a regular basis Tracks reports that are overdue and requires completion before reimbursement can be requested Customizable based on fund What is needed for one federal grant may not be appropriate for another
Documentation Storage Holds information such as: Fully executed agreements Letters of consent Meeting minutes and notes Invoices/receipts Environmental and Historic Preservation screening documents Payment information including proof of payment documentation
Closeout
Closeout Provides immediate feedback to recipient regarding closeout status Generates all is well letter for closeout to be used during audits Enforces complete accounting of every penny against every project and every eligible category of cost Keeps records of grant history available for future auditing purposes
Additional Features
Additional Features Real time dashboard showing what a user needs to do in the system (approve budgets, RFEs, adjustments, invoices, etc.) Built in Help Desk for tracking enhancements and releases Monthly release schedule with maximum three hours of downtime Frequently used RFE types (travel, printing, Wright Express, Chase, etc.)
Questions?
Contact Information: Caitlin McKenna cmckenna@dhs.in.gov (317) 233 8501