LIHEAP AT-2022-01 SF-425 Submissions FY2022

Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program

Action Transmittal

AT#:                                  LIHEAP-AT-2022-01

DATE:                               December 17, 2021

TO:                                    State, Territory and Tribal Recipients

SUBJECT:                       SF-425 Federal Financial Report Submissions for LIHEAP

ATTACHMENT(S):        N/A

RELATED REFERENCES:

Low Income Home Energy Assistance Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. § 8621 et seq.); OMB Control No. 4040-0014.

PURPOSE:

1. To alert LIHEAP recipients of a change in the system via which they submit their LIHEAP SF-425 forms beginning with reports for federal fiscal year (FY) 2021; and,
2. Confirm the submission deadline of December 31, 2021.

BACKGROUND:

This Notice of Instruction informs recipients of a change in submission of the Federal Financial Report (FFR) Standard Form-425 (SF-425) for cash transactions and expenditures to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Payment Management System (PMS).  Grantees are also advised of the use of the online GrantSolutions system, specifically the OLDC module, for submission of all other required reports.

CONTENT:

Change in Submission of Federal Financial Report SF-425 for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021

ACF and the Program Support Center, which houses the PMS, are collaborating in the submission of the SF-425 to reduce the burden on recipients and assist with the reconciliation of expenditures and disbursements, and to allow for the timely closeout of grants.  Beginning with FFY 2021 grant awards, this system of separate online reporting will be consolidated into a single reporting system.  Starting with these awards, expenditures, obligations, and liquidations (lines 10d through 10o) will be reported through the recipient online accounts with PMS.

All FY 2021 new awards, issued effective October 1, 2020, are required to submit FFR SF-425 reports detailing expenditures made for its federal award(s) through the PMS.  The PMS will prepopulate the cash portion of the SF-425 report (lines 10a, b and c) based on actual recipient drawdown of federal funds.  Recipients will be required to report expenditures, obligations, and liquidations either quarterly, semi-annually or annually, as required by the grant Terms and Conditions, to the ACFs on lines 10d through 10o of the SF-425 report.

ACF incorporated the new reporting requirement in the Terms and Conditions on all new awards that started in FFY 2021.  Recipients will no longer have to report this information separately in OLDC.  However, recipients must continue to submit FFR SF-425 reports in OLDC for grant awards issued prior to FFY 2021. 

Every recipient should already have a PMS account to allow access to complete the FFR SF-425. To update permission or request new access for the FFR Module, please copy the link in your browser and follow step-by-step instructions.  You can update permissions and add new user access online.

Deadline:

The SF-425 for LIHEAP is always due December 31^st,for the prior federal fiscal year i.e., 90 days after the close of the federal fiscal year (45 CFR 96.30(b)(4)).  LIHEAP recipients are required to submit a separate SF-425 for each source of LIHEAP funding received in FY 2021, e.g., regular FY 2021 block grants, American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding, and FY 2020 reallotment grants.  Those sources of funding are separated by different Common Accounting Numbers (CANs) in the PMS.  All of these FY 2021 LIHEAP SF-425 reports are due by December 31, 2021.  However, if recipients experience issues with the submission of their FFR SF-425s, a 60-day extension to submit the report will be authorized by the ACF Office of Grants Management. Recipients can access the PMS User Guide to navigate the system.

INQUIRIES TO:

Tim Chappelle

Grants Management Officer

Community Strengthening Grants

Office of Grants Management

Administration for Children and Families, DHHS

Email:  tim.chappelle@acf.hhs.gov

Thank you for your attention to these matters. OCS looks forward to continuing to provide high-quality services to OCS grantees.