On Wednesday, June 10, 2015, the release of a frequently asked questions (FAQ) document on EDGAR was announced by the Texas Education Agency. The document contains 75 FAQs that provide preliminary guidelines and interpretations on a wide range of topics related to federal grant compliance. The deadline for implementation of the EDGAR regulations is July 1, 2015 (with limited exceptions such as procurement regulations that allow a one-year grace period for implementation). The EDGAR FAQ applies to ALL federally funded grants administered by TEA and is a must read for all school officials that have roles and responsibilities related to federal grants.
Topics covered in the June 2015 preliminary FAQ include:
- General issues
- Audit and monitoring
- Payments
- Specific costs
- Travel
- Grant application changes
- Procurement and contracts
- Payroll and time and effort
- Fiscal topics
The FAQ document contains guidance on new topics like micro-purchases, in addition to issues that are not so new. An example of guidance on a long-standing financial management topic is question 20 regarding payroll accruals and drawdowns of funds.
Question 20 in the FAQ states,
“Are payroll accruals considered an advance payment or a reimbursement payment?
Response:
By definition, payroll accruals are wages, salaries, the related payroll taxes, TRS and IRS payments, and benefits that have been earned by an organization’s employees but have not yet been paid by the organization. The payroll accruals should not be claimed for reimbursement until they are reversed and paid out as payroll expenditures.
Generally, advance or reimbursed payments depend on the type of payroll drawn down from TEA’s Expenditure Reporting (ER) system. To be a reimbursement under the cash management system, the drawdown from the ER system must be no earlier than the day the payment is mailed, delivered, or electronically submitted.”
To access the TEA document New Edgar Regulations Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), click on the link below.
http://tea.texas.gov/Finance_and_Grants/Grants/Administering_a_Grant/The_New_EDGAR/