Title 10

SECTION 600.311

600.311 Standards for financial management systems.

§ 600.311 Standards for financial management systems.

(a) Recipients are encouraged to use existing financial management systems to the extent that the systems comply with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and the minimum standards in this section. At a minimum, a recipient's financial management system must provide:

(1) Effective control of all funds. Control systems must be adequate to ensure that costs charged to Federal funds and those counted as the recipient's cost share or match are consistent with requirements for cost reasonableness, allowability, and allocability in the applicable cost principles (see § 600.317) and in the terms and conditions of the award.

(2) Accurate, current and complete records that document, for each project funded wholly or in part with Federal funds, the source and application of the Federal funds and the recipient's required cost share or match. These records must:

(i) Contain information about receipts, authorizations, assets, expenditures, program income, and interest.

(ii) Be adequate to make comparisons of outlays with amounts budgeted for each award (as required for programmatic and financial reporting under § 600.341). Where appropriate, financial information should be related to performance and unit cost data.

(3) To the extent that advance payments are authorized under § 600.312, procedures that minimize the time elapsing between the transfer of funds to the recipient from the Government and the recipient's disbursement of the funds for program purposes.

(4) A system to support charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages, whether treated as direct or indirect costs. If employees work on multiple activities or cost objectives, a distribution of their salaries and wages must be supported by personnel activity reports which:

(i) Reflect an after the fact distribution of the actual activity of each employee.

(ii) Account for the total activity for which each employee is compensated.

(iii) Are prepared at least monthly, and coincide with one or more pay periods.

(b) If the Federal Government guarantees or insures the repayment of money borrowed by the recipient, DOE, at its discretion, may require adequate bonding and insurance if the bonding and insurance requirements of the recipient are not deemed adequate to protect the interest of the Federal Government.

(c) DOE may require adequate fidelity bond coverage if the recipient lacks sufficient coverage to protect the Federal Government's interest.

(d) If bonds are required in the situations described in paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, the bonds must be obtained from companies holding certificates of authority as acceptable sureties, as prescribed in 31 CFR part 223, “Surety Companies Doing Business with the United States.”