(The following was excerpted from an article in the Federal Grants Management Handbook.) When applying for federal grants, states should understand what funds qualify as maintenance-of-effort (MOE), and how third-party funds that are considered “donations” actually qualify as such under MOE and program guidelines.

It's finally final!!!! The 2012 OMB Circular A-133 Compliance Supplement has gone live as of today!

There has been intense focus over the past few years on ensuring that recipients of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act awards manage them properly. Now, as most of these grants come to an end, the focus is shifting to closing them out properly. That’s where Thompson is here to help.

Ever install a computer software program and follow the bar across the screen as it downloads and wonder why when it says “100 percent downloaded” it still takes a while before it’s completed? That drives me crazy. I feel like we’re in a similar mode with the Office of Management and Budget and the long-delayed final version of the 2012 Circular A-133 Compliance Supplement (note our friend the snail again).

As we continue to wait (ergo, another snail) for the Office of Management and Budget to issue the final 2012 Circular A-133 Compliance Supplement (surely it’ll be posted online any minute now, surely it will), I thought I’d give some credit to one of the members of the Thompson grants publications editorial advisory board. Judith Turner of Turner Consulting Group made an excellent point in her recent blog post in reference to a Government Accountability Office report on the U.S. Department of Justice grant programs.

(The following was excerpted from an article in the Single Audit Information Service.) By early next year, the Natural Resources Conservation Service plans to update its agencywide improper payment policies in response to concerns raised by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General. The revised policies will include quarterly improper payment reporting and annual improper payment testing.

I promised I wasn’t going to do this. I promised I was going to take the high road. I promised to wait. No more promises. The snail has returned — with a vengeance. Last year, while we waited (and waited some more) for OMB to issue the Circular A-133 Compliance Supplement, we ran a daily series of snails to symbolize the slow progress. I wasn’t going to go crazy with the snails this year, but OMB has forced me to do it.

So, we haven’t heard much from the Government Accountability and Transparency Board lately. Now we have. On Monday, GATB presented an update to President Obama, which was featured in a post on the Office of Management and Budget blog, on the progress of technological recommendations it is spearheading to improve grants management.

(The following was excerpted from an article in the Federal Grants Management Handbook.) The success of a grant program can be severely hampered if there is little discussion between a federal agency and a grant recipient about the program’s priorities and the grantee’s needs. Therefore, the Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (formerly the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service) has launched an initiative to improve grantor/grantee communication.

I came in this morning and did my usual check of the grants management/audit websites, especially the Office of Management and Budget website, for any new word on the final version of the 2012 Circular A-133 Compliance Supplement. To my delight, I found a link and send out e-mails to my colleagues letting them know it FINALLY came out. I had my blog post for the day halfway written and the tweets at the ready to let the world know the news, when I then received an e-mail from OMB saying the link was posted prematurely and would be taken down.