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How R3 grants handle subaward fiscal reporting and dispersals: reimbursement, advance pay and working capital advance
Summary
A CJIA trainer explained permissible dispersal methods for R3 subawards—reimbursement (default), advance pay (requires grantee qualification), and working capital advance (two months plus startup costs)—and urged use of cash budgets, backup documentation, and two-person approvals to manage risk.
Unidentified Trainer, representing the Criminal Justice Information Authority, outlined three permitted dispersal methods under R3 grants and the grantee’s responsibilities to ensure subawards conform to allowable costs.
"The default is reimbursement," the trainer said, describing reimbursement as the preferred approach and noting grantees may choose whether to require invoices, payroll records or other backup from subrecipients. She recommended a cash budget even for reimbursement grantees because it helps subrecipients plan monthly expenditures and helps grantees compare expected funding versus actual spending.
Advance pay: the trainer explained that advance pay is available only to grantees who have been approved for advance pay after an assessment by an outside contractor. "Only those grantees who have been approved for advance pay may offer advance pay to their subrecipients," she said, and emphasized grantees must assess subrecipient administrative and financial capacity before advancing funds.
Working capital advance: the trainer defined this option as an initial dispersal equaling two months of operating expenses plus any startup costs (for example, laptops or furniture). She warned grantees that working capital advances carry greater risk and that misused funds discovered in audits will need to be repaid up the funding chain.
Timing and controls: the trainer told participants to expect an initial delay as the Comptroller’s office establishes the grant obligation (about two weeks) and that dispersals typically take about two additional weeks after the account is set up; direct deposit can speed payments. She stressed internal controls: "You should have 2 people that are reviewing and approving that dispersal," and reminded grantees that subaward fiscal reports are not approved by the Authority but must be retained and available for audits and site visits.
Practical examples and figures given during the training included sample monthly budget lines ($20,000 salary, $10,000 fringe, $1,000 contractual services, $500 occupancy, $200 telecommunications) and a sample advance-pay illustration where the trainer used $32,300 as the first-month projected expense and reported month-one actual expenditures of $12,002.25 to demonstrate how cash balances affect subsequent dispersals.
The trainer closed by listing common errors (missing signatures, wrong month/year, cumulative mismatches, misclassified budget-line charges) and said tomorrow’s training will cover budget revisions, amendments and program income.
The Authority will distribute the sample subaward fiscal-report template and cleaned examples after the session.
