[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 112 (Monday, June 11, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34386-34387]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-14049]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Implementation of Federal Financial Report--Upcoming Mandatory
Use of the Federal Financial Report System in the eRA Commons
AGENCY: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Department of
Health and Human Services.
ACTION: Notice.
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Purpose
Beginning October 1, 2012, CDC will implement the expenditure data
portion of the Federal Financial Report (FFR) in the Electronic
Research Administration (eRA) Commons. The transition to use the FFR
for reporting expenditure data includes new reporting dates for annual
FFRs, and reporting of cumulative data only.
Background
The Office of Management and Budget has consolidated the Financial
Status Report (FSR or SF-269/SF-269A) and the Federal Cash Transaction
Report (FCTR or SF-272/SF-272A) into a single form known as the Federal
Financial Report (FFR or SF-425/SF-425A). Since January 1, 2010, CDC
grantees have been required to report cash transaction data via the
Payment Management System (PMS) using the FFR cash transaction data
elements. The FSR/FFR module allows grantees to electronically submit a
statement of expenditures associated with their grant to the sponsor of
the grant via eRA Commons. The new eRA Commons system was piloted with
5 Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP) institutions that assisted
CDC with feedback and testing during the Third Quarter of Fiscal Year
2011.
The Electronic Research Administration (eRA) was established by the
National Institutes of Health (NIH) in response to the Government
Paperwork Elimination Act requiring federal agencies to pursue
electronic means of production. The intent of eRA is to provide for
secure receipt, review and administration of electronic grants. The eRA
Commons offers a meeting place for grantees tracking research grants
administration information and applications and will now be used by
grantees to submit their FFRs.
DATES: The effective date is October 1, 2012.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Technical Information Management
Section (TIMS), Procurement and Grants Office, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 2920 Brandywine Rd, NE., Atlanta, GA 30341;
telephone (770) 488-2700; email @ [email protected].
Implementation
All CDC Financial Expenditure data due on/after October 1, 2012
must be submitted using the FFR via the eFSR/FFR system in the eRA
Commons. All Federal Reporting in the Payment Management System is
unchanged. All new submissions should be prepared and submitted as
FFRs.
CDC's implementation of the FFR retains a financial reporting
period that coincides with the budget period of a particular project.
However, the due date for annual FFRs will be 90 days after the end of
the calendar quarter in which the budget period ends. Note that this is
a change in due dates of annual FFRs and may provide up to 60
additional days to report, depending upon when the budget period end
date falls within a calendar quarter. For example, if the budget period
ends 1/30/2012, the annual FFR is due 6/30/2012 (90 days after the end
of the calendar quarter of 3/31/2012).
Due dates of final reports will remain unchanged. The due date for
final FFRs will continue to be 90 days after the project period end
date.
Grantees must submit closeout reports in a timely manner. Unless
the Grants Management Officer (GMO) of the awarding Institute or Center
approves an extension, grantees must submit a final FFR, final progress
report, and
[[Page 34387]]
Final Invention Statement and Certification within 90 days of the end
of grant period. Failure to submit timely and accurate final reports
may affect future funding to the organization or awards under the
direction of the same Project Director/Principal Investigator.
FFR (SF 425) instructions for CDC Grantees are now available at
http://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms.htm. For further information,
contact [email protected]. Additional resources concerning the eFSR/
FFR system, including a User Guide and an on-line demonstration, can be
found on the eRA Commons Support Page: http://www.cdc.gov/od/pgo/funding/grants/eramain.shtm.
Getting Started--eRA Commons Registration
The submission of FFRs to CDC will require organizations to
register with eRA Commons (Commons) (https://commons.era.nih.gov/commons/). CDC recommends that this one time registration process be
completed at least 2 weeks prior to the submittal date of a FFR
submission.
Organizations may verify their current registration status by
running the ``List of Commons Registered Organizations'' query found
at: http://era.nih.gov/commons/. Organizations not yet registered can
go to https://commons.era.nih.gov/commons/registration/registrationInstructions.jsp for instructions. It generally takes
several days to complete this registration process. This registration
is independent of Grants.gov and may be done at any time.
The individual designated as the Principle Investigator (PI) on the
application must also be registered in the Commons. The PI must hold a
PI account and be affiliated with the applicant organization. This
registration must be done by an organizational official or their
delegate who is already registered in the Commons. To register PIs in
the Commons, refer to the eRA Commons User Guide found at: http://era.nih.gov/commons/index.cfm.
Inquiries
General questions concerning using the eRA Commons should be
directed to the eRA Commons Helpdesk at: eRA Commons Help Desk Web:
http://ithelpdesk.nih.gov/eRA/. (Preferred method of contact).
Toll-free: 1-866-504-9552
Phone: 301-402-7469
TTY: 301-451-5939
Hours: Mon-Fri, 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.
Email: [email protected].
Dated: June 5, 2012.
Alan A. Kotch,
Director, Procurement and Grants Office, Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2012-14049 Filed 6-8-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P