FEMA Quest

Grant Management Basics: How to Do Progress Reports for Grants

4 June 2020 by Christina Moore

https://youtu.be/h9v_nVymd6k

Grant Progress Reports

Cut your progress reporting time by 20 minutes per grant by answering three questions on a web form. We’ll take a look at the grant progress reports in Tempest-GEMS. With FEMA and other federal granting agencies, applicants are encouraged to provide progress reports each quarter.

We are coaching you on grant management best practices using grant management software. If you appreciate this presentation, please share it.

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Progress Reports

Progress reports occur as a part of the dynamic between the grant execution team, also called the sub-recipient, and the state’s grant administration team. The questions that the grant managers, or applicants answer come from the state. Here at Storm Petrel, we modify this process to meet the state’s needs. Quarterly, the applicants are asked to identify if the scope is sufficient, funding is sufficient, and if there is progress on the mission.

The state reviews and summarizes for the federal granting agency.

Creating Progress Reports

The progress reporting process is specific to a grant. Open the grant menu on the left to find progress – it has a bar-chart for an icon. Click the green button to add a progress report. Answer the questions from the state then hit submit.

The questions normally focus on your activities and needs. It is an early warning or early detection system. A key risk with larger disaster grants is abandonment. Success is accomplished with regular steady work. The quarterly progress reports reinforce this message.

Reviewing of Progress Reports by States

With each cycle of progress reports, the state reviews the effort with workflows and reports in Tempest-GEMS. The action taken by the state is for them to decide. Maybe the reports get sent to FEMA, maybe just summarized.

Communication is Key

Progress reports keep communication going between the state and the applicant. The effort reminds people to review grants, reimbursement status, data entry activities, and others factors, then document the situation.

We are providing you a Power Tools card on Progress Reports. We strive to reinforce successful grant management practices.

Power Tools Cards on Progress Reports

Grant Management Basics: Reimbursement Requests

2 June 2020 by Christina Moore

https://youtu.be/Bc6ETQZ6Upg

Reimbursement Requests

How to ask for—and get—grant money, extensions, and scope changes. Grant management best practices using grant management software emphasizes an all-in-one solution. With Tempest-GEMS, this process is called a Request. You make a Request of your state to get funds. You make a Request of your state to get an Extension. You make a Request of your state for a change in scope or budget. This is how you get reimbursed by a grant.

We are providing training on how to manage disaster relief grants such as the CARES Act and FEMA grants. If you appreciate this presentation, please share it.

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Request & Review Processes

In our FEMA Quest came, we identify the Call-and-Response loop. You and your state collaborate with back-and-forth effort steadily moving the grant management process through reimbursements to scope changes and ultimately to close out. The grant execution team makes a Request. The grant administration team then steps through Workflows.

Your data entry process, and document gathering process, may continue for months and months. Especially with large capital projects such as rebuilding infrastructure (roads, bridges, damaged public buildings, etc). These kinds of grants may remain open for years. Category B – emergency protection measures – often close a few months after the emergency period. With COVID-19, we already have a 90-day emergency period. For the first time ever, we have an emergency funding grant with a significant period of performance.

We’ll look at the Request process from the applicant’s side in the Tempest-GEMS grant execution module.

Then we’ll look at the Request review process on the state’s side in the Tempest-GEMS grant administration modules.

Request for Reimbursement

https://vimeo.com/412764143/42dab6805e

Log into Tempest-GEMS, I have my grant selected in green with the check mark. I’ll now use the menu to click Request. It has a hand-pointing icon. This takes me to the Requests page. On this page, you clearly see the name of your grant. And it shows you your past requests and their disposition.

Gone are the days of emailing documents, emailing requests, and shipping documents to states. The auditing and transparency benefit all teams.

I’ll add a Request. In Tempest-GEMS, green buttons add.

I’ll pause on this Select Request Type page. This list of the Request types changes based on where you are in the grant lifecycle. For example, you can not ask for Reimbursement if the grant has not been awarded or obligated.

The Request Types are a feature that states can add and modify. Our software is customizable-off-the-shelf or COTS.

Everyone’s favorite request is the RFR, or Request for Reimbursement. It is our favorite because it is how we walk the Money Please loop in FEMA Quest. Money’s how we all keep score in this game. We spend money on authorized projects and missions. Then we ask for a reimbursement.

The Reimbursement Request involves a few simple steps and questions. The specifics are state-driven. Some states want a signed letter on letter head. Some don’t. Some just use Tempest-GEMS but limit who can make the Request to specific people.

Enter, click, confirm, and hit confirm and submit at the end. This results in the information being “sent” to the state. Of course, the data doesn’t move. The state team uses their tools to review your efforts.

The Grant Administration Module

https://vimeo.com/412764845/57a80e12fe

I have stepped over the Grant Administration Module, the state’s tool. I’ll start with the Standard Requests page. This shows the pending Requests from applicants. If you study these pictures too closely, you’ll see that I’m using my demo data with data put in by our programmers. It’s test data for us, but it serves a purpose to show you the variety of actions and processes.

Users may sort and filter data. We can accommodate multiple grant types – more coming all the time, including CARES Act grants. Please pause this video or rewind if we go to fast through this. Lean right in.

The review and approval process for most Requests follows a state-defined process. Often a quick document validation process involving consistency and completeness. Are documents actually what they are supposed to be? And how are applicants doing at gathering the essential documents as defined in the master list that we call the Virtual Binder?

Reimbursement Queue

Next, we’ll look at the Reimbursement Queue. For the state team, this is a bit more involved. The team not only reviews the documents for consistency and completeness, they also review the financial data.

The Reimbursement Queue involves a multi-stage review and approval process. The first team does the in-depth analysis – these people are often contractors or temporary staff. The next tier is an approval process and confirmation. Typically, a state employee. The third approval sends the data to the state’s financial system or other system. This can happen either with a digital link or by paper.

When payment is completed, someone on the Grant Administration goes into the disbursement queue. This final process notifies the applicants that funds have moved, and it updates the Tempest-GEMS financial balances.

Benefits of Grant Management Software

Before using grant management software, people shipped documents to the state. Or the state came to an applicant’s site to review documents. This is a labor intensive and travel intensive process. Grant management software like Tempest-GEMS facilitates collaboration and cooperation between the applicant team and the state team. We work as one helping our communities recover from disasters.

The grant management basics don’t change. Our process of doing requests is an improvement on email and shared file folder. Our process of stepping through a WorkFlow on the state-side provides the monitoring-and-controls that FEMA and other federal agencies expect of our grant administrators.

The days of using a pencil and yellow paper for grant management are long gone. Quickly we are seeing the end of using an electronic spreadsheet for managing disaster relief funds. Sophisticated tools like Tempest-GEMS prevent fraud, waste, and abuse.

Additionally, it help us all confidentially navigate the rough terrain that is federal grant management.

Please share this material with colleagues. Post about us and our efforts on your favorite social media platform. And don’t forget to grab the Hints and Hacks on Requests to help you with your FEMA Quest.

Hints and Hacks on Requests

Grant Management Basics: How to Document Your Use of Grant Funds

28 May 2020 by Christina Moore

https://youtu.be/Ao8Wk1228W8

Documenting Your Grant Funds Use

Document organization can be challenging and boring. Use your tools to make your life a whole lot easier. Oh, and both reimbursement and closeout will be easier too. The other hint is to turn it into a game. Here is a list of things to find… Go find them. Grant management best practices includes actions that are done for their own sake. It may not be as dramatic as responding to 911 calls or triaging patients. Those actions require funding, paychecks, supplies, power, and internet. Your work keeps all of that moving. Documenting your grant fund use is an integral part of how to manage relief grants.

We are providing grant management best practices so that you and your team will learn how to document your grant funds use. If you appreciate this presentation, please share it.

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The Virtual Binder

Tempest-GEMS includes a Virtual Binder. Just like a 3-ring that is empty and awaiting documents to be slid in. It serves two immediate purposes. First, it provides a robust master list of all documents you will need or should have between now and close-out. When using grant management software, like our Tempest-GEMS, you should have an easy and consistent means of gauging progress.

In this episode, we’ll first look at the virtual binder – as a framework for document management and skim through a few examples. Then we’ll look at uploading documents. I’ll define what we mean by “applicant” or “grant” documents. We’ll, also, compare the document upload wizard verses the upload button.

Before closing the episode, I’ll show you how the Virtual Binder is used for the monitoring and control process at the state. The grant administration team steps through the document validation process first confirming the documents as what you say they are. Then they go through and compare what you’ve uploaded against the Virtual Binder – as list of what is expected.

Applicant Documents

Documenting your grant funds use? Follow the outline shown in Tempest-GEMS. There are some documents that are about you, the applicant. These documents should be part of every grant binder. With our system, you upload them once. Applicant documents include items such as procurement policy, overtime policy, union contracts, fringe rate calculations. Some organizations, especially non-profits, may also have to provide corporate documents that give evidence to your status as an essential organization.

Score Card Outline

Our grant management software then uses this outline to create a score card. The goal is to have one of each type of document. And maybe if a document is non-existent, write a memorandum for record with an explanation. Here in Tiny-Town Vermont, our road department does not have a union, therefore there is no union contract. A quick note to explain that fills the gap and gives the point. Points are good.
You can, by using the outline, modify this list to fit your needs. We provide a score card based on our experience, this does not mean it is perfect for this disaster or your state. We try… but we also give you the tools to take care of your own needs.

Let’s go answer the question how do we earn the points and upload documents.

The Grants Menu & Documents

First, navigate to the Grants menu and find documents on the menu – it has a little PDF icon. We have two green buttons for uploading documents. Why? One is a short cut for experienced folks, the other walks through a wizard giving guidance and coaching.

Remember your goal is grant closeout and final reimbursement. To do this well, you need to fill your Virtual Binder and get as many points as possible. Grant Management basics! We looked at the document score card. Tempest-GEMS and the state can only evaluate documents if they are tagged correctly. So, every document must be a PDF. This is done for security reasons. When FEMA uses our system, their security team requires only PDF.

Document Wizard

I am clicking on the Document Wizard button. I am expanding the “Examples” section. This is another guidepost in our software to help you expertly navigate through the rough terrain of FEMA Quest. My next steps are just to illustrate. I’ll pick a grant class: applicant, grant, program, transaction, etc. In my case, I’ll upload a policy for this Applicant. I pick the document type. And move on to the next page with the Next button.

Then I upload a document from my local computer.

The Upload Document button does the same thing but with fewer key clicks. Each section of the software: grants, program, applicant, vendor, etc – has a document page. Some users prefer to save keystroke, and know to click to “applicant” to upload a policy or fringe rate calculation.

Our software has flexibility and gives you two ways to accomplish the same goal!

Perform a Virtual Binder Review

The Virtual Binder is used by the state grant administration team as well. During their quality assurance process, they perform document validation. The first step confirms the documents what they are reported to be. The second step gauges completeness. They compare the documents applicants have uploaded again the Virtual Binder.

On the screen is an article from Storm Petrel’s knowledge base site. Yes, we also provide targeted how-to articles on our knowledge base too. We’re here to help in every way we can.

In this article, we are showing a grant administrator how to perform a Virtual Binder Review. Although not shown, red identifies errors or failures. Yellow is a warning indicating missing documents. And Green indicates that not only is a documented uploaded, but it has passed the review process.

On the left-hand side, the master list of documents – the Virtual binder. On the right, we show documents uploaded and their status: pass or fail.

The state-side or applicant-side, Tempest-GEMS uses the same tools, the same lists, the same rules to aid both teams through towards their shared goal: a successful close out of a grant.

Adding PDFs to the Virtual Binder

The Virtual Binder, which when I was in New York City we called the Document Manifest, is nothing more than a target or a master list of items for a scavenger hunt. Find them, save them, scan them to PDF and upload them appropriately in Tempest-GEMS.

The Virtual Binder structure can be modified to suite your needs or modified by the state to meet the needs of the FEMA Public Assistance Grant Program, or a CARES Act grant program. To us it is just a list. Same is true for you. It is just a list. It represents grant management best practices.

Over the years, we are so often asked can’t I upload my Word or Excel documents? The rule is upload PDF. PDF documents do a better job of not including malware. Because Word and Excel permit macros and some programming inside, they also represent a higher security risk. You know that yellow warning banner you see when you open a spreadsheet from an email? The warning states: do not open documents from unknown sources.

That’s why PDFs are better.

Additionally, FEMA will not permit their staff to download anything but PDF.

Ergo, you must upload PDFs.

Please share this material with colleagues. Post about us and our efforts on your favorite social media platform. And don’t forget to grab the Hints and Hacks on Required Documents to help you get started with FEMA Quest.

Hints and Hacks on Required Documents

FEMA Grant Accounting Basics: How To Make Big Purchases With Grant Funds

26 May 2020 by Christina Moore

https://youtu.be/fBOZdAxT2So

Big Purchases With Grant Funds

Avoid the number one failure that causes the DHS OIG to recommend grant clawback, and keep your hard-won grant funds working in your community. In our FEMA Quest game and in our game cards, we call this the Land of Eleven. The reason is that there are eleven essential steps which will generate at least eleven documents. Get eleven documents, and you’re likely following grant management best practices. In this episode, we learn how to make big purchases with grant funds.

We are providing grant management best practices so that you and your team will learn how to manage FEMA grant accounting basics. If you appreciate this presentation, please share it.

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Large Purchases Defined

What is a large purchase? A large purchase is defined in procurement policy, or it should be. If you have a policy, you should define this threshold. If not, you fall on your state’s policy and their threshold. If they don’t have one, then you use the federal policy.

The federal policy uses the Simplified Acquisition threshold which is normally $250,000. Some funny things happened to it during the spring of 2020.

I looked up Arizona’s policy. Their policy stated that in the event of federal funding their policy guidelines revert to the federal. If you live in Arizona, your threshold is that Simplified Acquisition threshold above.

I looked up Virginia’s policy. They did offer a definition basically $100,000 (§ 2.2-4304. Methods of procurement G.1.)

That’s a lot of words and gibberish.

The Eleven Steps of Grant Management

Let’s make a short cut. When in doubt, use a competitive procurement process. It takes eleven steps, cost a few dollars. With COVID-19 emergency, there is printed guidance from FEMA about single-sourcing. That guidance precisely follows the law and matches 2-CFR-200. It seems tempting to sole-source – but please don’t. It will come around and sting years down the road. The warning is that FEMA and the OIG have a short memory. After a few lovelies abused this process, there will be scrutiny on all of us! Single source seems attractive, people will have failures and rejection because some costs are not reasonable. Oops.

In this episode, I am going to go through the eleven steps as they relate to the policy. Then I’ll show you how to set that up in Tempest-GEMS and how using grant management software, provide guidance, and scoring.

You’ll do best thinking of this as a game. Earn points here to protect yourself from bad stuff. And that is good.

Competitive Procurement “Hints and Hacks”

On the FEMA Quest Competitive Procurement “Hints and Hacks” card, you’ll see the eleven steps needed for this effort. When making big purchases with grant funds, you’ll want to follow this list.

Create a written rationale for the procurement method. Could be a memo, an email, or a motion at a meeting. State you are using a competitive process because it is a large purchase.
Create a bid packet with clear and complete instructions. For construction, this is a lot of work. For other goods and services, it can be simpler. Reference common phrases and definitions.
Issue invitations to bid. Grab a copy or screen shot of that effort in PDF.
Invite disadvantaged business entities or what ever they are called in your state. Typically you can email a state agency to send this out for you. Grab a copy of the email in PDF.
Advertise publicly. Grab a copy or screen shot in PDF.
Capture the proof of payment for an ad. If no paid ad, state that. In PDF, of course.
Hold a public meeting to open the bids. Take minutes. Make a PDF of the minutes and the attendance roster.
Validate the winning bid is not debarred in sam.gov. Keep the PDF.
Do a bid tabulation or scoring sheet. Keep them all, make PDFs.
Write a letter of intent to the winner. And yes, keep the PDF copy of that.
Write a contract that includes all of the provisions you find in your grant (Clean Water Act, Davis-Bacon, etc).

That’s eleven. The Land of Eleven!

The Contract Tool

In Tempest-GEMS, we’ll use the contract tool to help us. Let’s assume you’ve set up the vendor. That was covered in the small purchase episode. That’s an easy step. You’ll find vendors on the menu below the name of your Applicant. The icon is a map pin.

The Grants Menu

With a Vendor defined, go to the Grants menu, then the Contracts menu as shown in the illustration. You’ll add a contract (green-buttons add). Select your vendor, then pick your contract type. This will be sealed bid. Give it a name and save it. You can do all sorts of data entry, or skip it. The system can track amounts, dates, and such. Up to you.

The Contract Scorecard

Here is the contract scorecard. Each of the eleven steps are detailed. We have the reference to the law, 2-CFR-200. The eyeball icon shows you the exact text and can even take you to the government’s website for more details.

Each document you upload, you get a point. Eleven steps, eleven documents.

Uploading Documents

How do you upload the documents? Well there is a documents option in the contract menu. You upload one document at a time to Tempest-GEMS. Tag it with the document type. That’s what gets you the point.

Rinse, wash, repeat. By that I mean: upload, tag it, and do it again. Probably about eleven times.

Now when you do your expense data entry, you can link that cost to a specific contract. There is a cool report in Tempest-GEMS to show your contract expenses. And Tempest-GEMS show you summaries and such provide guidance.

FEMA grant accounting requires this granularity. It will keep your process moving. It is how to manage disaster relief grants.

Sealed-Bid Closeout

The sealed-bid or competitive process is the most-favored procurement process when managing FEMA assistance grants. There are eleven steps and Tempest-GEMS provides you both the guidance and tools to help you keep score.

These eleven steps ensure a successful close out, an optimized reimbursement, and prevents issues with financial clawbacks!

Please share this material with colleagues. Post about us and our efforts on your favorite social media platform. And don’t forget to grab the Large Purchase Guide to help you get started with FEMA Quest.

Large Purchase Guide

FEMA Grant Accounting Basics: Small Purchases with Grant Funds

21 May 2020 by Christina Moore

https://youtu.be/NqcHSxxyTcU

Small Purchases with Grant Funds

The small purchases are often the ones that can skew the budget if unchecked. Maximize your reimbursements and make sure everything you’ve spent is covered by following these three simple steps – and by three steps, I think I mean four. Join us as we examine how to make small purchases with grant funds. In our FEMA Quest game, this corresponds to the Lil Money Loop.

Standards for Small Purchases

What is a small purchase? A small purchase involves procurement for a product or service that fits between micro and large. Not so helpful was that. Sorry. Let’s start over. You either have or don’t have a procurement policy. The United States Federal Government provides a definition of small. It falls below the Simplified Acquisition threshold and above $3,000 (micro). Under normal circumstances that value is $250,000.

I looked up Arizona’s policy and I did not see a policy definition there for small. I am not an expert and only been a tourist in that great state. Their policy stated that in the event of federal funding their policy guidelines revert to the federal.

I went and looked up Virginia’s policy. They did offer a definition, it’s basically $100,000. Clearly, if you are in Virginia read their policy. I am using this as an example. I see exceptions to this policy in the black-and-white on the left screen. The policy is § 2.2-4303. Methods of procurement G.1.

My little town has a threshold at $10,000.

The standard guidance for “small” purchases is that you documented that you have done some shopping. You found three or four or more competitive prices, you’ve then gotten three email quotes, looked up on-line, that sort of thing. You need to confirm that your price is reasonable.

Almost all of us know the basics of shopping and price comparisons. The difference with small purchases with grant funds is the documentation.

First, write a little memorandum for record or email to your boss, or pass a motion that states your purchase is small because it is below this threshold and above that one.

Second, do your price comparison and shopping. But add the steps of printing the prices you see to a PDF document – or better yet, print that paper, sign it and date it. You don’t have to pick the cheapest. Identify the precise product or service you need. You can’t run tissue paper through your printer. You may need good quality archival acid-free paper. Price compare that. Gather your competitive research, print it to a PDF and save it.

Third, run the name of the vendor through sam.gov. Print that to PDF; that page proving that the vendor is not debarred by the federal government. If your state has such a tool, use that as well.

Four, issue the purchase order, or execute the purchase as you normally would. This time, scan the purchase order, the invoice, and delivery receipt to a PDF. And get a copy of the cancelled check, ACH payment, or credit card statement that proves it was paid.

Managing Disaster Relief Grants

FEMA grant accounting basics – we want to get reimbursed for that purchase. Together, we are studying how to manage disaster relief grants. If you don’t have Tempest-GEMS, you’ll need a manual method for tracking these expenses. In Tempest-GEMS, it is easy. Let’s recap. You have the following documents scanned and ready to go: justification for purchase method, price comparison, debar check, and invoice with proof-of-payment.

Creating a New Vendor

First, we’ll create a new vendor. There is a map-pin icon on the blue menu to the left, near your applicant’s name. Open vendor. You really don’t need training on the how, but I do want to touch on some important items! In tempest-GEMS, green buttons add. We’ll add a vendor called Acme Insurance.

Please note that we ask you, as a reminder, to do a debar check. And if so, when. These questions are to help you. FEMA does not provide a lower threshold on debarment checks. Just the hint. FEMA says do it. So why not. Takes a second.

Adding the Debarment Check

Now upload the debarment check with the Vendor. Done once, saved. Good for you!

Data Entry & Supporting Documentation

Second step, because we are using grant management software, we do the data entry. This is just like popular accounting systems. Vendor, invoice number, description, date and that sort of thing. But because Tempest-GEMS is not an accounting system, you’ll need to tell it (and your state and FEMA) that the invoice is paid. Only paid invoices are eligible for reimbursement. Mark it as paid, provide the paid date, the check number, EFT/ACH number, what ever that is.

Third step, you upload the supporting documentation. You can upload one or any many as you want. You’ll want to upload the invoice and proof-of-payment at a minimum. The bonus points go for the competitive research you did. And the super bonus point for that silly memo stating why this is a small purchase.

You tick those boxes, do accurate data entry and upload those documents and you are golden.

Closing Warnings

When you make small purchases with grant funds, you can circle around and around on the Lil Money Loop making small purchases and reporting them. There are a couple of closing warnings.

Warning number one, the prevailing rule for FEMA assistance is always: necessary and reasonable. Keep that in mind.

Warning number two, the federal government and most states frown on using the small purchase process if your annual aggregate expense with that vendor or product exceeds the threshold. That sounds like you dodged some rules. Just be aware.

And on a happy note, a lot of popular on-line vendors for office supplies have pre-competed government pricing. If use those vendors, you just simplified things a lot. No debar check. No competitive steps.

Simplified Procurement Process

FEMA assistance comes with strings… Small purchases fall below the competitive procurement threshold. The simplified procurement process suggests you note why you are using a small purchase process – a test to see if you know the threshold and rules. Second, a bit of price shopping that you keep as PDFs. Third, do a debar check at sam.gov. Execute your purchase, then put all of that data and documents in Tempest-GEMS readying you for your next reimbursement, moving you closer to close out!

Please share this material with colleagues. Post about us and our efforts on your favorite social media platform. And don’t forget to grab the Small Purchase Hints and Hacks Guide to help you get started with FEMA Quest.

Small Purchase Hints and Hacks Guide

FEMA Grant Accounting Basics: Labor Cost Reporting

19 May 2020 by Christina Moore

Grant Labor Cost Reporting

Halve the time it takes to enter and calculate labor, equipment and materials costs, while omitting errors using one simple tool. We all want FEMA assistance, but some of the FEMA grant accounting basics take some training and getting used to. Join us while we learn how to manage disaster relief grants and report labor costs.

We are providing grant management best practices so that you and your team will learn how to manage FEMA grants. If you appreciate this presentation, please share it.

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Labor, Equipment, & Materials Costs

Reporting the true costs of using your labor force for executing a FEMA-funded grant requires some extra steps. You’d think a payroll report is enough. While detailed payroll records are required, it’s the starting point. Your payroll data shows all hours worked, using the payrates for employees. Whereas FEMA wants you to report only the hours worked performing eligible tasks – tasks described within the grant’s scope of work. And the rate FEMA reimburses you includes benefits, taxes, and related costs. FEMA calls this the Fringe Rate – I often think of it as the “FEMA billing rate”.

Prior to calculating and reporting labor and equipment costs, you’ll have setup your staff and equipment in Tempest-GEMS. We cover this in: “Setting Up for Labor, Equipment & Material Cost Reporting”.

From this starting point, we’ll examine how to enter and calculate labor, equipment and materials costs, while omitting errors using Tempest-GEMS. We will then look at the reporting process. If you are an applicant using Tempest-GEMS and your state is also on the system, you use the Request feature. If you are an applicant using Tempest-GEMS and your state is not on the system, then you create FEMA reports as a means of asking for reimbursement.

Force Labor, Equipment, & Materials

To start, we click on the grants menu then the transactions. We can add (green buttons add) or edit an existing labor, equipment, and material record now – which is also called “force account”. Every transaction inside of Tempest-GEMS is given a unique number. I have heard people reference these numbers in conversations and emails because they are precise and unique. A force account entry is work done by your people, or your equipment, on a given day that satisfies some element of the scope of work.

Make sure that the date falls within the performance date of your grant. All FEMA assistance grants have a start performance date and an end performance date. Your work date must be between start and end. If it is not, it is not eligible.

The activity description field should be used to provide a description of the work that is clearly scope-eligible. If the scope says pick up yellow dots, then the work description should kinda be similar to that. Then we inform Tempest-GEMS how many hours we worked.

Knowing grant management best practices and understanding the challenges others have had with the FEMA Public Assistance Grant Program provides you the foundation for knowing what to emphasize. Each element, each data entry point, will either enhance and improve your ability to recover money from FEMA – or it will create problems.

Some of these little fields link raw data to your mission. Of course, you must type a work description that is backed by physical evidence such as timesheets or worklogs. Can’t lie. So use the truth to enhance your posture!

Tempest-GEMS links a work entry to a piece of equipment. This is important during weather-based disasters – Billy Bob driving a big yellow truck with 4 culverts. It maybe less important during the COVID-19 emergency work. People are not removing debris from roads or fixing damage. Your reporting for COVID-19 will likely have employees! So yes on that.

Employees

When would you not have an employee with one of these records? The most common answer is a generator. Other answers can include large light sets, or stand-alone equipment. For the COVID-19 disaster, I’m going to emphasize labor costs.

Automatically Calculates Labor Value

So, yes in our example there is an employee. We’ll pick one from our list. The system will offer us the rates that we previously put in. Click, click, pick a rate and it has calculated the labor value for us.

How fast is this? I type in (or select) the date. Type a description (maybe I keep one in my copy buffer because I’m efficient). Type the hours and hit tab. Tab, tab to get the employee. I type the first letters of the last name, and hit tab, type the “O” for over time, hit tab, select my rate. Done. A touch typist is done in seconds. With a mouse it is a little slower because a hand shifts between the mouse and keyboard.

Is this faster than Excel? Not only yes, but unlike Excel Tempest-GEMS pulls from data that is already set up.

Given speed and efficiency is our goal, we provide power-up tools for moving along. Copy Entry takes this data and make a copy. Change the date, copy again. You’re flying through a week!

Choosing Equipment

What happens if you do have an operator and equipment together like Billy Bob on his big yellow truck? Well, we go onto the next section and pick the equipment. Done. It knows the hours. And Billy Bob and his truck are entered in one effort.

Materials

And if Billy Bob put culvert or gravel in his truck from your yard or inventory? Make that selection and move on.

Summary

Here’s your summary. We’ve built a single record describing work. Billy Bob, or Brad, as my examples show, worked 2 hours of Overtimes on the 30^th of August and he was driving Truck number 5. The total value of this entry is: $141.44.

Don’t Take Shortcuts

Data entry of labor is an on-going task. I am going to make a pitch for doing it in the most detailed fashion possible. Shortcuts often backfire, more often backfire. If you have a time-keeping system that can accurately show the eligible work, the employee, date and work description that also uses the fringe rate, then you are way ahead of most. Some systems and some Wizards can make this happen. It has to follow the same rules and be 100% accurate. If done well, you can do data entry into Tempest-GEMS in batches. Just click “Add Expense” and select your expense type as “Force Account”.

90% of the people I have seen use this trick end up with rejected entries. In April 2020, the OIG published negative findings from Puerto Rico about the water and sewer agency. They took shortcuts that resulted in massive losses.

Let’s move forward. We need to report labor costs. FEMA has standard reports for this process. I’ll list them and show a picture of Tempest-GEMS reports. This is under the grants reports menu. FEMA Force Account Labor Record, FEMA Force Account Equipment Record, FEMA Force Account Material Record, and the Force Account Consolidated Record. The first three are bog-standard FEMA reports – been around for decades.

Our favorite and recommend report is the Force Account Consolidated Record. This report clearly shows that the labor, equipment, and material are linked. The reviewers and auditors have an easy time seeing that Billy Bob is on his big yellow truck. Or Brad is working 2 hours on Green River Rd in Truck 5 which has FEMA cost code of 8720 and he had no materials in his truck.

If you do not have to report operator and equipment, as is likely with the COVID-19 disaster, the FEMA Force Account Labor record is more concise.

For reporting labor costs, you will need detailed labor records – as shown and generated from Tempest-GEMS – or another tool.

And you will need the detailed payroll records. You’ll need the worklogs that demonstrate the work fit within the scope of the grant. You’ll need the payroll reports and information showing the full costs of the payroll. And you’ll need some sort of proof of payment. FEMA varies on this a bit. Best to have it. Some banks or payroll companies provide ACH summaries. Get these scanned and uploaded to Tempest-GEMS. You can upload as “grant documents” – label it well so the reviewers know this pile is for the pay period X to Y. Or you can upload the entire thing on the first data entry point for the pay period. I tend to use the grant document process. It’s easier to see.

Request for Reimbursement

If you are an applicant in a state where Tempest-GEMS is the official system, then you’re in luck. You’ll make your request for reimbursement within the system. It is called a Request. We’ll cover this in another episode.

For others, your Request for Reimbursement process will be dictated by your state. Typically, it involves a cover letter on letter head. The letter states: “We’d like some money please and we’ve got these documents to support our claim.”

Then you bundle up your documents.

A little warning: FEMA does not accept thumb-drive or USB memory sticks. Many states do not either. Most email systems will prevent emailing attachments with more than 25mb. So in this world people still burn CDs with data, and hopefully your state has this problem solved for you.

Force Account Reimbursement

Reporting labor, equipment, and material costs involves several components. First, the work you report must fall within the performance dates for your grant. Second, the work described must match the grant-funded mission. Tempest-GEMS helps with these tasks.

Then you need to report the eligible hours and calculate labor costs using your fringe rates for the staff – a number that is higher than your payrates.

If you have equipment, then you normally have to show that it also has an operator with the exception of generators, pumps, and light-sets. If it has a seat, windshield, or a handle, FEMA will most likely expect to see an operator.

Force account reimbursement can also reimburse you for materials used from your inventory. Tempest-GEMS links these three together in reports designed by FEMA.

Please share this material with colleagues. Post about us and our efforts on your favorite social media platform. And don’t forget to grab the Labor Reporting Guide to help you get started with FEMA Quest.

Labor Reporting Guide

FEMA Quest

Grant Progress Reports

Progress Reports

Creating Progress Reports

Reviewing of Progress Reports by States

Communication is Key

Reimbursement Requests

Request & Review Processes

Request for Reimbursement

The Grant Administration Module

Reimbursement Queue

Benefits of Grant Management Software

Documenting Your Grant Funds Use

The Virtual Binder

Applicant Documents

Score Card Outline

The Grants Menu & Documents

Document Wizard

Perform a Virtual Binder Review

Adding PDFs to the Virtual Binder

Big Purchases With Grant Funds

Large Purchases Defined

The Eleven Steps of Grant Management

Competitive Procurement “Hints and Hacks”

The Contract Tool

The Grants Menu

The Contract Scorecard

Uploading Documents

Sealed-Bid Closeout

Small Purchases with Grant Funds

Standards for Small Purchases

Managing Disaster Relief Grants

Creating a New Vendor

Adding the Debarment Check

Data Entry & Supporting Documentation

Closing Warnings

Simplified Procurement Process

Grant Labor Cost Reporting

Labor, Equipment, & Materials Costs

Force Labor, Equipment, & Materials

Employees

Automatically Calculates Labor Value

Choosing Equipment

Materials

Summary

Don’t Take Shortcuts

Request for Reimbursement

Force Account Reimbursement

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