The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021 was signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 11, 2021. ARPA is a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus package. The State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) is a significant component of the ARPA. The SLFRF allocates $350 billion to state, local, territorial, and tribal governments. The purpose of these funds is to provide governments with the resources needed to respond to the pandemic, replace lost revenue, and support economic recovery.

Grant Management Solutions Lead and Advisory Manager Kat Kizior and co-host and Grants Management Senior Associate Paula Heller join forces to address the upcoming ARPA SLFRF obligation deadline on December 31, 2024. Kat and Paula focus on what can and cannot be done at the last minute to obligate funds that are compliant with ARPA’s Final Rule and Obligation Interim Final Rule (IFR). As part of Cherry Bekaert’s GPS Grants Management podcast series, this episode covers:

• The definition of “obligation” as stated in the Interim IFR and the exploration of what it is not
• The usage of estimates for legal, admin, staff and indirect costs through 2026
• The way to determine if you have any unobligated funds
• Methods for obligating that are achievable is the short timeline left

Cherry Bekaert’s Grant Lifecycle Management team manages grants end-to-end, bridging the service gap to improve internal controls and staff success to help your organization maximize every opportunity. If you have any questions specific to your business needs, Cherry Bekaert’s Government & Public Sector team is available to discuss your situation with you.

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In the field of grants management, staffing transitions often lead to a high-risk environment for compliance violations, operations disruption, and heightened stress levels in organizations already stretched thin. Nevertheless, as explored in this podcast, these transitions and the accompanying challenges are common issues many organizations face for various reasons. 

Grant Management Manager Kat Kizior and new co-host and Grants Management Senior Associate Paula Heller join forces to respond to listeners’ questions concerning their staffing challenges. With Manager Kimberly Konczak serving as moderator, Kat and Paula provide guidance that will help listeners stay compliant during change. 

• As part of Cherry Bekaert’s GPS Grants Management podcast series, this episode covers:
• Investigating high turnover rates with grants managers and possible solutions
• Covering the workload equitably while a position is vacant
• Building a grant management team with adequate staffing structure and compensation
• Networking to find highly qualified grant managers
• Promoting from within to develop a grants management team
• Examining the relationship between federal funding and the grants management profession

Cherry Bekaert’s Grant Lifecycle Management team manages grants end-to-end, bridging the service gap to improve internal controls and staff success to help your organization maximize every opportunity. If you have any questions specific to your business needs, Cherry Bekaert’s Government & Public Sector team is available to discuss your situation with you.

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Following the recent natural disaster, we paused our scheduled programming to provide our viewers with key information on Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) assistance for recovery. This podcast provides essential details on deadlines, the application process for the FEMA Public Assistance Program and what to expect after applying. 

Kat Kizior, Grant Management Manager, and new co-host Paula Heller, Grants Management Senior Associate, join forces to address FEMA grant funding possibilities for all those affected by unexpected, devastating acts of nature. 

The information in this podcast is applicable for any natural disaster where the president approves a major disaster declaration. Kat and Paula focus on Hurricane Helene and discuss navigating the FEMA Public Assistance process in the wake of the recent storm. 

As part of Cherry Bekaert’s GPS Grants Management podcast series, this episode covers:

• The challenges and realities people face after a natural disaster
• How FEMA is funded and how funds flow from FEMA to applicants
• The types of funding available for individuals and public entities
• Categories for eligible expenses that can be covered by FEMA
• Deadlines and processes, particularly in the first 30 and 60 days

Cherry Bekaert’s Grant Lifecycle Management team manages grants end-to-end, bridging the service gap to improve internal controls and staff success to help your organization maximize every opportunity. If you have any questions specific to your business needs, Cherry Bekaert’s Government & Public Sector team is available to discuss your situation with you.

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In the fifth episode of the grants management podcast series, we focus on grants compliance and the benefit of using automation for tracking and reporting.

Host Kimberly Konczack, an Advisory Manager at Cherry Bekaert, is joined by Kat Kizior, Manager, and special guest Emily Naufel, Director of Customer Success at AmpliFund. Together, they discuss the benefits of automation and tips for organizations interested in making the switch. As part of Cherry Bekaert’s GPS podcast series, this episode covers:

• Benefits of making the switch from Excel spreadsheets to automation
• How organizations are handling a large influx of grant funding 
• Ways organizations are staying compliant without using workflow automation 
• How AmpliFund can help entities struggling with grant tracking, reporting and compliance
• Ways workflow automation is more effective than Excel in ensuring accurate, timely reporting 
• How an entity decides the best workflow solution for its needs

Cherry Bekaert’s Grant Lifecycle Management team manages grants end-to-end, bridging the service gap to improve internal controls and staff success to help your organization maximize every opportunity. If you have any questions specific to your business needs, Cherry Bekaert’s Government & Public Sector team is available to discuss your situation with you.

Related Resources

• Podcast: Budget for Success—How to Build a Successful Grant Budget
• Podcast: Justify Your Spending— Grant Expenditures 
• Podcast: Update—2024 Uniform Guidance 
• Podcast: The True Cost of Your Grant – The More You Know, The More You Win
• Article: Determining Your True Cost for Full Cost Recovery
• Webinar recording: The True Cost of Grants and How to Maximize Your Cost Recovery – A CPE Webinar Recording

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Episode four of the Grants Management Podcast series focuses on indirect costs related to grant projects and the importance of capturing those costs to assist your organization with grant-related personnel and overhead expenses.

This podcast episode is hosted by Kimberly Konczack, an Advisory Manager at Cherry Bekaert, and Kat Kizior, Manager, with special guest Nikky Lettini, Managing Director, Advisory Services. 

As part of Cherry Bekaert’s GPS podcast series, this episode covers:

• An explanation of indirect costs
• Definitions of indirect cost rate and cost allocation 
• The importance of using indirect costs to recover administrative expenses
• The advantages of indirect cost reimbursement when receiving a grant award
• Who can receive an indirect cost rate and how long it takes
• The types of guidance for indirect costs

Cherry Bekaert’s Grant Lifecycle Management team manages grants end-to-end, bridging the service gap to improve internal controls and staff success so your organization can maximize every opportunity. If you have any questions specific to your business needs, Cherry Bekaert’s Government & Public Sector team is available to discuss your situation with you.

Related Resources

• Podcast: Budget for Success—How to Build a Successful Grant Budget
• Podcast: Justify Your Spending— Grant Expenditures 
• Podcast: Update—2024 Uniform Guidance 
• Article: Determining Your True Cost for Full Cost Recovery
• Webinar Recording: The True Cost of Grants and How to Maximize Your Cost Recovery – A CPE Webinar Recording

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Podcast host Danny Martinez, Managing Director and Government & Public Sector Accounting Advisory Lead, is joined by Lauren Strope, Partner, and Jack McKee, Advisory Senior Manager to recap and reflect on their time at the 118th Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) National Conference. Held in Orlando, FL, the conference had over 7,000 attendees, with 50 states represented and chances for continuing professional education (CPE), networking and learning.

Listen to this episode to hear about:

• Our team’s favorite parts of GFOA’s 118th Annual Conference
  • Lessons learned 
• Networking opportunities and key takeaways

As mentioned in this episode, the 2024 Cherry Bekaert Government & Public Sector Virtual Conference will take place on Wednesday, August 7 and Thursday, August 8. Click here to register. 

Related Content:

• Article: GASB 101: Compensated Absences Update
• Podcast: Navigating GASB 101: Compensated Absences

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Cherry Bekaert’s Advisory Leader, Srikant Sastry, is joined by journalist Richard Greene and his wife, Catherine Barrett, as they discuss the openness driver of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OCED) Trust in Government Framework.

Richard Greene is a prominent journalist who has spent the better part of the past 30 years covering state and local governments. It is often said that trust and confidence in government is strongest at the local level because that’s where government is closest – and most responsive. However, trust in government has been on the decline for decades. Greene has recently contributed articles to digital publication Route Fifty that explore why trust in state and local government has fallen and clear ways to reverse the trend. 

• The third in our mini-series covering the five pillars of trust, this episode covers:
• Trends in state and local government 
• What motivated Greene to write articles for Route Fifty 
• The importance of trust in government 
• Differences in what causes trust at the state and local government level 
• How the pandemic influenced perceptions of trust in government 
• If the government is doing enough to ensure citizens’ confidence in them 
• What specific practices can reverse a declining trend in trust in government
• Who we should be watching to gauge the success of efforts to restore trust in government
• Recommendations to public leader aiming to enhance trust in their respective government institutions 

If you have any questions specific to your business needs, Cherry Bekaert’s Government & Public Sector team is available to discuss your situation with you.

Related Resources:

• Article: Explaining and Exploring the Drivers of Trust in Government

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The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently published its final revisions to the federal Uniform Guidance (2 CFR Part 200). This revision outlines compliance and reporting requirements for federal financial assistance, such as grants and loans. 

Host Kat Kizior, Senior Associate at Cherry Bekaert, is joined by special guest Robert Shea, CEO of GovNavigators, to discuss2 CFR 200 uniform guidance updates and how these changes will affect state and local governments, non-profits and public entities.

As part of Cherry Bekaert’s Government & Public Sector (GPS) podcast series, and the third episode in the grants management mini-series, this episode covers:

• Major changes to the uniform guidance that will affect non-federal entities receiving grant funding
• When entities are expected to follow the update cost principles guidance
• How the federal updates affect grant recipients 
• Positive aspects of the revisions 
• Key takeaways from this episode

Cherry Bekaert’s Grant Lifecycle Management team manages grants end-to-end, bridging the service gap to improve internal controls and staff success to help your organization maximize every opportunity. If you have any questions specific to your business needs, Cherry Bekaert’s Government & Public Sector team is available to discuss your situation with you.

Related Resources:

• Podcast: Budget for Success – How to Build a Successful Grant Budget
• Podcast: Justify Your Spending – Grant Expenditures 
• Article: Determining Your True Cost for Full Cost Recovery
• Webinar recording: The True Cost of Grants and How to Maximize Your Cost Recovery – A CPE Webinar Recording

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The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) recently issued Statement No. 102, which adds new disclosure requirements for governments. Numerous risks loom over state and local governments, which could impair their service delivery or hinder their capacity to fulfill obligations in a timely manner. While certain risks demand disclosure, many others that commonly plague these governments have not been disclosed because they were not explicitly required. To address this gap, Statement No. 102 was issued with the intention to provide stakeholders of government financial statements with indispensable details concerning risks that stem from limitations or concentrations, exposing governments to vulnerabilities.

Podcast host, Danny Martinez, Managing Director and Government & Public Sector Accounting Advisory Lead, is joined by Scott Anderson, Director, to dive into the challenges, changes and key considerations for GASB 102.

As part of our GPS podcast series, and the third in our GASB mini-series for 2024, this episode covers:

• The GASB 102 basics 
• When GASB 102 is effective
• Background on why GASB took on the project 
• Why it took more than three years from agenda to issuance 
• If the GASB board members able to all get on the same page
• Risks that should be considered when adopting this guidance 
• Impact GASB 102 will have on governments 
• Key takeaways

Do You Need Assistance with GASB 102?

Cherry Bekaert’s Government and Public Sector Accounting Advisory team provides a comprehensive GASB-as-a-service offering that helps governments overcome staffing and technical challenges. Cherry Bekaert has a dedicated team of professionals who solely provide governmental accounting advisory services for governments, equipping them with the confidence that their needs will not be placed second to competing audit regulatory deadlines.

Related Resources:

• PODCAST: Navigating GASB 100: Accounting Changes and Error Corrections
• ARTICLE:  Navigating GASB 100: Accounting Changes and Error Corrections
• PODCAST: Navigating GASB 101: Compensated Absences 
• ARTICLE: Navigating GASB 101: Compensated Absences

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The National Academy of Public Administration’s Agile Government Center Coordinator, G. Edward DeSeve, joined Cherry Bekaert’s Advisory Leader, Srikant Sastry, in a conversation with Nick Hart, the current president and CEO of the Data Foundation. In this episode, Ed and Srikant discuss the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Trust in Government Framework. According to the OECD, governments with high levels of trust among their citizenry “provide open and accessible information so the public better understands what government is doing.”

Hart gives his view on the state of openness in the U.S. government and what the Data Foundation is doing to promote transparency. He also shares his work in advancing important laws that have led to greater government transparency – the DATA Act, the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act, the GREAT Act, the Financial Data Transparency Act – and what kind of reception he gets when arguing for these openness frameworks.

The second in our mini-series covering the five pillars of trust, this episode covers:

• The key drivers in restoring trust in the government 
• Whether transparency builds trust or erodes it
• How to measure the extent to which citizens find their government sufficiently open and transparent
• Data quality:
  • How good is the data government collects, uses and reports
  • If the data reported is unreliable and what that means when it comes to trust
• The ways that technology has transformed the landscape of government transparency
• Advice for policymakers at every level who are hesitant to embrace openness and transparency
• Anticipated future trends in the realm of government data and transparency

If you have any questions specific to your business needs, Cherry Bekaert’s Government & Public Sector team is available to discuss your situation with you.

Related Resources:

• Article: Explaining and Exploring the Drivers of Trust in Government

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