ezfedgrants report review job aid - national finance center · ezfedgrants recipient report ......

ezFedGrants Recipient Report Submission Job Aid

Recipient Report Submission Job Aid 1/29 9/14/2017

Purpose

This job aid provides details for grant award recipients on submitting financial and performance progress reports through the ezFedGrants External Portal.

Contents

Purpose ......................................................................................................................................................................... 1 Procedure ..................................................................................................................................................................... 3

Initiating Report Submission ...................................................................................................................................... 3 Financial Reports ...................................................................................................................................................... 6 Performance Reports .............................................................................................................................................. 15 Certifying Reports.................................................................................................................................................... 21 Editing Submitted Reports ....................................................................................................................................... 28

Draft Pending Signature ..................................................................................................................................... 28 Returned by Certifying Official ............................................................................................................................ 28 Returned by Awarding Agency ........................................................................................................................... 28

Comments .................................................................................................................................................................. 29

Trigger

Use the information in this job aid when you need to complete a progress report for a grants award agreement.

Prerequisites

Access to the ezFedGrants External Portal

To create reports and submit them for approval, you must have either the Grants Processor (GP) or Grants Administrative Officer (GAO) role.

o If you are a GAO: You can create and submit reports for all of your organization’s agreements.

o If you are a GP: You can only create/submit reports if you are assigned to the relevant Partner type on the associated agreement. The relevant Partner type is different for each awarding agency, but some report-relevant Partner types include Recipient Administrative Contact or Recipient Program Contact.

Partners are assigned when submitting an application for an award opportunity, when an agreement is created by an awarding agency, or when an agreement is amended.

To receive report-related work items and notifications, your External Portal profile must be linked with an ezFedGrants Internal Portal contact record. If you believe you are not receiving notifications/work items correctly, please contact your awarding agency to confirm if your profile is linked correctly.

To edit a previously-submitted report, you must be either a GAO or the report creator. o Refer to the Editing Submitted Reports section for more details.

To reassign a report, you must have the GAO role.

The agreement for which you are submitting a report must be in Active status. o Any amendments to the agreement must have been accepted and finalized such that the

amended agreement is in Active status.

In order to submit a new report for a specific agreement, all prior reports for that agreement must have been cancelled or submitted to the awarding agency.



Menu Path

Use the following menu path to begin this procedure:

Launch ezFedGrants > eAuthentication > ezFedGrants External Portal Home Screen

Helpful Hints

Once a user opens a report, the report may be removed from other users’ worklists. If this occurs, a user with the Grants Administrative Officer (GAO) role can reassign the report by opening the report work item and clicking the Reassign button.

Any user can be selected as the Certifying Official for a report, including yourself. o Certifying Official is not the same as Signatory Official. o Please refer to the ezFedGrants External Portal User Roles Definitions document for

more information on the various roles available in the ezFedGrants External Portal.

Reports can be printed at any time by clicking the Print button.

On certain screens you may need to scroll to view additional data fields.

Certain screenshots may display only a portion of the screen. Note that when working within a system, only the center body of the screen will change. The navigation options along the left side of the screen and the header bar across the top of the screen will remain the same.

Note: Data used in this procedure is a representative sample for the purpose of training. Actual data in the system may vary based on agency and scenario.

https://www.nfc.usda.gov/FSS/ClientServices/ezFedGrants/index.php



Procedure

Initiating Report Submission

The following section describes how to begin the report submission process. This procedure applies to all report types.

The ezFedGrants System automatically generates draft reports at the reporting period intervals designated by your grant award agreements. These draft reports appear in your Actionable Items list.

Reporting periods are based on agreement period of performance dates.

Note: Reports may only be submitted by Grants Administrative Officers (GAOs) or Grants Processors (GPs). GPs must also be assigned to the appropriate Partner type on the associated agreement. Refer to the Prerequisites subsection of this document for more information.

1. Start the procedure by accessing the ezFedGrants External Portal Home screen.

2. Click the Actionable Items tile to view the Actionable Items for Past 90 Days popup window.



3. In the Actionable Items for Past 90 Days popup window, you will see any items sent for your action within the past 90 days. This includes open reports generated by the ezFedGrants System within the past 90 days.

Click the link in the Transaction ID column to select the report you wish to finalize and submit. Upon clicking a link in the Transaction ID column, the Create Report screen will open.

Click the View All Actionable Items link to view a list of all actionable items, including those older than 90 days.



4. Upon clicking the View All Actionable Items link, the Actionable Items screen will open. Locate the report you wish to finalize and submit and click the link in the Transaction ID column.

Once you click a link in the Transaction ID column, the Create Report screen for that report will

open.

Note: The Transaction column indicates whether a report is a Financial or Performance report. The ID number, in the Transaction ID column, provides additional details about the report. Using FE-CR-15-050-FI-Q2-16 as an example:

FE: The first pair of letters of the ID indicates the associated USDA Agency or Department

CR: The second pair of letters indicate the agreement type

15: The first pair of numbers indicates the fiscal year of the agreement

050: The set of three numbers indicates the sequential number

FI: The third pair of letters indicates whether the report is a financial or performance report

Q2: The pair containing one letter and one number indicates the quarter of the fiscal year to which the report applies.

16: The final pair of numbers indicates the fiscal year for the report



Financial Reports

This section describes the general procedure for preparing and submitting financial reports once you have located the relevant report and accessed the Create Report screen.

There are three stages of report submission, which you may access using the numbered circles at the top of the Create Report screen, or by using the Next and Previous buttons in the top right corner of the screen. The three stages are:

Standard Form: The type of form varies based on the type of report you are submitting. o The Certification section of this form will be populated once a Certifying Official digitally

signs the report.

Signature: Indicate the Certifying Official(s), one of whom must review, digitally sign, and submit the report to the awarding agency.

Attachments: Add any attachments required for your report.

1. Once you reach the Create Report screen for the report you wish to submit, you will see the relevant fields for stage one, the standard form stage.

As this is a financial report, the SF-425 form must be completed.

Note: The following steps cover the minimum required fields for completing the SF-425 in the ezFedGrants External Portal. Depending on your organization, awarding agency, and agreement, you may need to complete additional fields not covered in this document.



2. Locate box 10. Transactions of the SF-425. Click the field in line a. Cash Receipts and enter the amount of cash receipts for the reporting period.

3. Click the field in row b. Cash Disbursements and enter the amount of cash disbursements for the reporting period.

Note: The value in row c. Cash on Hand (line a. minus b.) will automatically calculate based on the values you have provided for lines a. and b.



4. Click the field in row e. Federal share of expenditures and enter the amount of federal share of expenditures for the reporting period.



5. Click the field in row f. Federal share of unliquidated obligations and type the amount of the federal share of unliquidated obligations for the reporting period.

Note: The values for rows g. Total Federal Share (sum of lines e. and f.) and h. Unobligated balance of Federal funds (line d. minus g.) will automatically calculate based on your entries in rows e. and f.

6. Once you have completed all the necessary fields on the SF-425 (or whichever other form is required for your report in stage one), click the Save button in the top right corner of the Create Report screen.

It is recommended to click the Save button often in order to preserve any changes you have made to the report in the event your Internet connection is lost.

Note: You can print reports at any time by clicking the Print button.



7. Click the Next button or the 2 circle to advance to stage two, the Signature stage, of report submission.

8. In the Signature stage, you will assign one or more individuals to review, certify, and submit your report to the awarding agency. These individuals are referred to as Certifying Officials. Any individual in your organization with ezFedGrants External Portal access may be assigned as a Certifying Official, including yourself.

Click the Primary Certifying Official field and begin typing the name of the individual you would like to assign as the primary certifying official for this report.

Note: Please refer to the ezFedGrants External Portal User Roles Definitions document for more information on the various role available in the ezFedGrants External Portal.



9. As you type, a list of available users will appear below the Primary Certifying Official field. Once the desired individual’s username appears in the list, click their username.

10. Once you have assigned the Certifying Official(s) click the Next button or the 3 circle to proceed to stage three, the Attachments stage, of the report submission process.

Note: You may wish to click the Save button to save your progress before moving to stage three.



11. In the Attachments stage, you will upload any supporting documents required for your report. To upload an attachment, click the Click Here to Attach Files link to open the Add Attachment popup window.

Note: Do not include any personal identifying information (PII) on attachments unless it is specifically requested. PII includes details such as dates of birth, social security numbers, and personal criminal history.

12. In the Add Attachment popup window, click the Other Attachment Title field and type the title of your attachment.



13. Click the Browse button to locate and select the attachment file on your computer.

14. Once you have selected the correct file and provided a title for your attachment, click the OK button.

Note: To discard an attachment, click the Cancel button.



15. Once you have uploaded all necessary attachments and completed all required items for each of the three stages, click the Submit button.

If you are not ready to submit your report, you may click the Save button to save your progress. Use the Next and Previous buttons, or the 1, 2, and 3 circles to navigate between the various stages of the Create Report screen.

Note: To remove an attachment, click the icon in the Delete? column.

16. Once you click the Submit button, the report will be sent to the Certifying Official(s) for review, signature, and submission to the awarding agency.

A report pending action from the Certifying Officials will display the Draft Pending Signature status at the top of the Report screen. Reports not yet submitted to the Certifying Officials will display the Draft status.



Performance Reports

This section describes the general procedure for preparing and submitting performance reports once you have located the relevant report and accessed the Create Report screen.

There are three stages of report submission, which you may access using the numbered circles at the top of the Create Report screen, or by using the Next and Previous buttons in the top right corner of the screen. The three stages are:

Standard Form: The type of form varies based on the type of report you are submitting. o The Certification section of this form will be populated once a Certifying Official digitally

signs the report.

Signature: Indicate the Certifying Official(s), one of whom must review, digitally sign, and submit the report to the awarding agency.

Attachments: Add any attachments required for your report .

1. Once you reach the Create Report screen for the report you wish to submit, you will see the relevant fields for stage one, the standard form stage.

As this is a performance report, the SF-PPR form must be completed.

Note: The following steps cover the minimum required fields for completing the SF-PPR in the ezFedGrants External Portal. Depending on your organization, awarding agency, and agreement, you may need to complete additional fields not covered in this document.



2. Locate box 10. Performance Narrative on the SF-PPR. You awarding agency should provide instruction on the performance narrative.

3. Once you have completed all the necessary fields on the SF-PPR (or whichever other form is required for your report in stage one), click the Save button in the top right corner of the screen.

It is recommended to click the Save button often in order to preserve any changes you have made to the report in the event your Internet connection is lost.

Note: You can print reports at any time by clicking the Print button.

4. Click the Next button or the 2 circle to advance to stage two, the Signature stage, of report submission.



5. In the Signature stage, you will assign one or more individuals to review, certify, and submit your report to the awarding agency. These individuals are referred to as Certifying Officials. Any individual in your organization with ezFedGrants External Portal access may be assigned as a Certifying Official, including yourself.

Click the Primary Certifying Official field and begin typing the name of the individual you would like to assign as the primary certifying official for this report.

Note: Please refer to the ezFedGrants External Portal User Roles Definitions document for more information on the various role available in the ezFedGrants External Portal.

6. As you type, a list of available users will appear below the Primary Certifying Official field. Once the desired individual’s username appears in the list, click their username.



7. Once you have assigned the Certifying Officials, click the Next button or the 3 circle to proceed to stage three, the Attachments stage, of the report submission process.

Note: You may wish to click the Save button to save your progress before moving to stage three.

8. In the Attachments stage, you will upload any supporting documents required for your report. To upload an attachment, click the Click Here to Attach Files link to open the Add Attachment popup window.

Note: Do not include any personal identifying information (PII) on attachments unless it is specifically requested. PII includes details such as dates of birth, social security numbers, and personal criminal history.



9. In the Add Attachment popup window, click the Other Attachment Title field and type the title of your attachment.

10. Click the Browse button to locate and select the attachment file on your computer.

11. Once you have selected the correct file and provided a title for your attachment, click the OK button.

Note: To discard an attachment, click the Cancel button.



12. Once you have uploaded all necessary attachments and completed all required items for each of the three stages, click the Submit button.

If you are not ready to submit your report, you may click the Save button to save your progress. Use the Next and Previous buttons, or the 1, 2, and 3 circles to navigate between the various stages of the Create Report screen.

Note: To remove an attachment, click the icon in the Delete? column.

13. Once you click the Submit button, the report will be sent to the Certifying Official(s) for review, signature, and submission to the awarding agency.

A report pending action from the Certifying Officials will display the Draft Pending Signature status at the top of the Report screen. Reports not yet submitted to the Certifying Officials will display the Draft status.



Certifying Reports

This section describes how you may review, sign, and submit a report for which you have been designated a Certifying Official.

1. Start the procedure by accessing the ezFedGrants External Portal Home screen.

2. Click the Actionable Items tile to view the Actionable Items for Past 90 Days popup window.



3. In the Actionable Items for Past 90 Days popup window, you will see any items sent for your action within the past 90 days, including reports for which you have been designated as Certifying Official.

Click the link in the Transaction ID column to select the report you wish to cetify. Upon clicking a link in the Transaction ID column, the Report screen will open.

Click the View All Actionable Items link to view a list of all actionable items, including those older than 90 days.



4. Upon clicking the View All Actionable Items link, the Actionable Items screen will open. Locate the report you wish to certify and click the link in the Transaction ID column.

Once you click a link in the Transaction ID column, the Report screen for that report will open.

Note: The Transaction column indicates whether a report is a Financial or Performance report. The ID number, in the Transaction ID column, provides additional details about the report. Using FE-CR-15-050-FI-Q2-16 as an example:

FE: The first pair of letters of the ID indicates the associated USDA Agency or Department

CR: The second pair of letters indicate the agreement type

15: The first pair of numbers indicates the fiscal year of the agreement

050: The set of three numbers indicates the sequential number

FI: The third pair of letters indicates whether the report is a financial or performance report

Q2: The pair containing one letter and one number indicates the quarter of the fiscal year to which the report applies.

16: The final pair of numbers indicates the fiscal year for the report



5. Once you have reached the Report screen, review the contents of the reporting by clicking each of the Standard Form, Signature, and Attachments tabs.

Note: The Standard Form tab will not be labeled “standard form”, instead it will be titled after the standard form associated with the current report, such as SF-425 or SF-PPR.

6. Once you have reviewed the report and are ready to make a decision, click the Please select an option menu in the DECISION section.



7. If the report is satisfactory and you would like to submit it to the awarding agency, select the Sign and Submit option from the Please select an option dropdown menu.

If the report requires modification (such as additional attachments or corrections), you may send the report back to the creator by selecting the Return option from the Please select an option dropdown menu.

Note: You may have assigned yourself as a Certifying Official. If this is the case, and you need to make changes to your report, you will still need to select the Return option in order to allow modifications to the report.

8. If you have selected the Sign and Submit option, you will need to review and agree to the legal notice and then digitally sign the report in order to finalize your decision. To begin, click the Legal Notice button.

Note: If you have selected the Return option, you may need to provide rejection comments and then click the appropriate button to finalize your decision.



9. When you click the Legal Notice button, the Legal Notice popup window will appear. Scroll along the window to review the full text of the legal notice. If you agree with the notice, click the checkbox to the left of the I agree with the listed Terms and Conditions statement.

10. Click the OK button to finalize your agreement with the legal notice and close the Legal Notice popup window.



11. On the Report screen, click the Complete Signature button to finalize your certification of the report and submit the report to the awarding agency.

12. If your certification was successful, the system will display a confirmation message and the Report screen will display the Submitted status.



Editing Submitted Reports

Although GAOs and GPs (if assigned to the appropriate Partner type on the associated agreement) may create reports, once a report is submitted to the Certifying Official or awarding agency, the status of the report determines who can edit or take action on the report.

Before a report is submitted to the Certifying Official, it may become “stuck” in one user’s worklist and removed from most other users’ worklists. In this case, either the “stuck” user must complete the report, or a user with the GAO role can reassign the report to another user by opening the report and clicking the Reassign button.

Draft Pending Signature

Once a report is submitted to the Certifying Official, only the Certifying Official can take action on the report. However, the Certifying Official cannot edit the report.

If you need to make changes to a report that has been submitted to the Certifying Official, the Certifying Official must select the Return option when reviewing the report. The procedure for this is described in the Certifying Reports section of this document.

Returned by Certifying Official

When a report is returned by the Certifying Official, the report creator and all GAOs will receive a work item and be able to edit the report. All other users will not be able to edit the report.

Returned by Awarding Agency

If you need to make changes to a report after it has been submitted to the awarding agency, please contact the awarding agency to request that your report be returned for editing.

Alternately, the awarding agency may determine your report requires editing during their internal report review process and return the report for editing.

When a report is returned by the awarding agency, the report creator and all GAOs will receive a work item and be able to edit the report. All other users will not be able to edit the report.



Comments

Additional Information

Refer to the following additional materials:

ezFedGrants External Portal Onboarding and Basics Job Aid

ezFedGrants External Portal User Roles Definitions

Claims and Reports in ezFedGrants FAQs

Version Control

Name Date Changes Made

April Murphy 3/6/2017 Initial Document Created

April Murphy 4/28/2017 Purpose: Added Helpful Hint re: Printing; Clarified prerequisites on which roles can

submit reports and being included as a Partner on the agreement. Procedure: Added new section- Editing Submitted Reports

Initiating Report Submission: Introduction: Clarified when and how draft reports are generated, added information on reporting periods and which roles can submit reports. Financial Reports: Step 6: Added Note re: printing; Step 14: Corrected font size Performance Reports: Step 11: Corrected font size

April Murphy May 2017 Purpose: Added Contents; Added Launch ezFedGrants link to Menu Path;

Updated Prerequisites re: Roles; Updated TOC Procedure: Initiating Report Submission: Clarified when reports are generated in intro, Updated Note in introduction; Financial Reports: Step 9 & 10 removed info re: Secondary Certifying Official, Step 11 Added Note; Performance Reports: Step 6 & 7 removed info re: Secondary Certifying Official, Step 8 Added Note; Certifying

Reports: Updated section title; Editing Reports: Updated all information, added more specific details. Comments: Corrected document title

April Murphy 7/31/2017 Procedure: Financial Reports & Performance Reports sections introductions:

Added information about the Certification section of the standard form.

April Murphy 8/14/2017 Purpose: Clarified/updated Prerequisites; Added Helpful Hint re: Reassigning

Reports Procedure: Initiating Report Submission: Updated Note in intro; Editing Submitted

Reports: Added information about Reassigning Reports to intro Throughout: Adjusted header image sizes and page breaks

Takia Glover 9/13/2017 Comments: Updated document title

ezfedgrants report review job aid - national finance center · ezfedgrants recipient report ......

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