Phantom (But Real) Employee Costs – The Ghost of Benefits Past

Thank you, Mike Bailey, Redmond Finance Director, and Susanne Connelly, Sequim HR Director, for tackling this complicated subject. “This webinar addresses the issue of the unfunded liability of accrued vacation and sick leave. It is intended for mayors, managers, administrators, finance directors, city clerks and human resource managers. It will benefit anyone responsible for reporting an agencies financial condition and for dealing with the consequences of this underestimated financial issue.” So, pop some corn, put up your feet, and enjoy.

Fa la la….For your learning enjoyment, WFOA has published their 2013 Non-Conference Training calendar. There’s something for everyone, including the addition of two Cash Basis – Accounting and Reporting classes for Special Purpose Districts. Check it out. Register soon. These professional training opportunities fill up fast.

As Ann Macfarlane stated in Jurassic Parliament’s most recent email, “January is the month of new beginnings.” Now is the time to check out some of their publications on such subjects as:

• Diffusing the fear in meetings
• Unanimous consent is a chair’s best friend
• What are the duties of the person running the meeting?

Check out their publications.

Check out their Leadership Development Training.

“Lack of Adequate Internal Financial Controls” tops the findings list at 74 – 33%. This should come as no surprise to anyone.

“Lack of Adequate Controls to Ensure Compliance with Federal Grant Requirements” comes in a close second at 71 findings – 32%.

We are blessed there is training and white papers to address every finding topic. A great place to begin is on the SAO website page titled: Accountability and Fraud Prevention.

WFOA Non-Conference Training Classes include a track on Federal Grant Requirements and Management:

• March 20, 2013 – Ephrata
• April 24, 2013 – Mount Vernon
• October 9, 2013 – Tacoma
• October 16, 2013 – Yakima

The following is an excerpt from an MRSC Insight article posted by Joe Levan on 12/12/12 titled: 2012 End of Year Public Records Alert:

“As a final note, I want to call your attention to a significant records retention issue. The Washington State Archives (WSA) recently announced that it has published revisions to its local government retention schedules. All current retention schedules are currently available in PDF and Word formats through the Type of Agency and Alphabetical List pages on the WSA’s website. In case you missed it, the WSA sent out a notification on November 30, 2012, that provides:

20 records retention schedules were approved yesterday by the Local Records Committee. The following versions are effective immediately; all previous versions have been superseded and no longer provide legal disposition authority:

• Local Government Common Records Retention Schedule (CORE) (Version 3.0)
• School Districts and Educational Service Districts Records Retention Schedule (Version 8.0)
• Utility Services Records Retention Schedule (Version 1.2)

In addition, Version 5.2 of the Local Government General Records Retention Schedule (LGGRRS) has been discontinued, and LGGRRS no longer exists.”

“Video conference connection as meeting attendance is becoming more and more accepted in local government.  It can be an effective method of attendance since it allows “face time” as well as an audio connection.  And it is much closer to actual physical attendance than simply a phone connection.”

Remote/Video Attendance at Meetings.

Grant sources

Grants for local governments typically come from governmental agencies or private foundations.  Grants can help pay for items that may not otherwise be affordable, such as police cars, staff training, waste water treatment plants, etc.

Depending on what the grant is paying for, the grant funds may impact one or more fiscal years, and may cover costs in one or several departments for a given project.

Whatever the nature of the grant or who awarded it, to be successful you’ll need strong systems of internal controls, record-keeping, and financial management.  These systems will impact your budgeting, reporting, and monitoring activities.  Sound daunting?  Don’t worry, much of this will already be in place as part of your existing accounting policies and procedures, and help is available to fill in the rest.

Setting up your Grant

Set up your grant as soon as the grant is awarded.  Don’t wait for the first check to be issued or received, when you are likely to be pressed for time and distracted with processing transactions.

Award documentation

Many grant awards require signing a contract or agreement specifying the conditions for the grant award. It is very important that the contract terms are carefully read and understood. Common grant terms include the:

• Name of the grantor, their grant program name, the grant number, and the contact person for questions.
• Activities to be accomplished.
• Expenses that can or cannot be spent with grant funds.
• Budget for the grant.
• Matching or in-kind contributions.
• Contract time period.
• Program and financial reporting requirements.
• Instructions for submitting requests for reimbursement, if applicable.

Bookkeeping Best Practice

As soon as the grant contract is signed, establish the grant in your accounting software.  To do this, you’ll need the:

• Original grant award letter or contract.
• Original grant application.
• Approved grant budget, by line item.
• The annual grant budget if the grant covers more than one budget year.

Establish a separate set of BARS revenue and expense accounts for each grant in your chart accounts. This will allow you to prepare reports for each grant to aid in monitoring and reporting. Clearly name the BARS account so it can be traced back to the appropriate grant.

For example: Your grant is from the Department of Ecology, the grant number is 09-12343, and the funds will pay for a new sewer system. Name your BARS code line Dept of Ecology: 09-12343-Sewer.

Including the grant number in the name will help you accurately record revenues and expenditures in the proper accounts.  Avoid using vague descriptions such as, Dept of Ecol. Sewer Project, as this could lead to inaccurate reporting and much confusion.  What if the sewer project has more than one grant?

In your BIAS software, tag each grant to the BARS codes. This will allow help you create your annual report grant schedules with ease.

Reporting

Grant program managers, fiscal manager, mayors, council members, auditors, and community members are some of the parties who will be interested in knowing how much grant money was spend, what it was spent on, and when it was spent.

Many grants require reporting of program activity along with financial activity for specified periods during the grant. If your grant is set up appropriately, you will be able to produce reports for the project manager showing budgeted and actual revenues and expenses.

In addition to the grantor’s reporting requirements, the Washington State Auditor’s Office prescribes the accounting and reporting requirements for local governments using the Budgetary, Accounting, and Reporting System (BARS) manuals and financial reporting packages.

These reports should be reviewed by someone in authority to ensure they are accurate and filed on time.

Monitoring

Monitoring grants is very important. A grantee could lose their ability to obtain further grants if program activities, grant funds expended, and reporting requirements are not consistent with the requirements of the grant.

Program activities should be documented and reviewed to ensure they are the activities stated in the grant contract.

Expenses should be tracked to ensure they are allowable as stated in the grant contract and that they are not applied to more than one grant.

Help is Available

If you need help setting up your grant in BIAS, please give us a call at 1-888-534-2427 or log into support via your computer’s desktop icon. We’ll be happy to help you with your grant set-up questions.

Written by: Karen Seitz, BIAS Software

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