CREATING THE ACCOUNT PROFILE

All of the information about an account in ASAP.gov is on the Account Profile.  To create an account profile, you select Create Account from the Federal Agency Functions drop down menu in the upper right hand quadrant of your screen.  Once added, an account profile in ASAP.gov may be modified via on-line or batch processes.

Each account is identified by the unique combination of the following three pieces of information:

• Agency Location Code/Region
• Recipient ID
• Account ID

All three of the above fields are required when creating an account profile.  Once a profile has been posted to the ASAP.gov database, its identifying information may not be changed, although parts of the profile itself may be modified.  

In addition to the designation of the ALC/Region, Recipient ID, and Account ID, the required fields on the account profile are Account Description and Requestor ID.

It is the Federal Agency’s responsibilities to notify recipients of the account IDs established in the system.  This is especially important when the recipient is a VRS user who may not have access to the account information online.

It is worth noting that, while the concepts discussed here apply to both on-line and batch account entry, the focus of this information is on-line account maintenance function.  For more information on batch account maintenance, consult your servicing RFC.

PROPERTIES OF THE ACCOUNT PROFILE

ASAP.gov offers the Federal Agency many options for managing accounts.  Other than defining an account type, the properties described below are optional fields on the account profile.  

Account Types (Required Field)

Regular accounts meet the needs of most agencies and offer no account details (sub-accounts) or special characteristics to allow multiple Requestors to draw from a single account, or the ability to draw on a checks-paid basis.  To meet these special needs, ASAP.gov offers other account types.

Some Federal Agencies have a need to establish a lower level, account detail for awards that are made at the account level but are drawn and expended at the sub-program or project level.  Control accounts allow the Agency to associate up to 300 account details to further define the use of funds in the account.  The Agency funds the accounts at the account level; all payment requests and adjustments are done at the detail level.

Global accounts are unique accounts set up to allow multiple Requestors to draw from a single account.  In addition to the required fields for a regular account, the global account must have at least one Requestor and Recipient defined pair.  When creating the account, the Recipient ID and Requestor ID are always 8888888.

A global account can be combined with a control account to allow detail accounts to be added. The Global Control account is funded at the account level and all payment requests and adjustments are done at the detail level.

Federal programs operating in a checks-paid (or credit) environment use 1031 accounts.  The financial institution serves as the Requestor, drawing payments via a Funds 1031 wire to cover checks paid by it on behalf of a Federal Agency.

Account Status

Although, when creating an account, the status defaults to Open that allows the account to be available and active for all transactions, there are other statuses for accounts.  

Suspended - Payment activity is on hold.  Inquiries may be made on the account, and returned payments and authorization transactions are allowed, but payment requests and book entry adjustments will not be accepted.  

·       Temporary Suspended - This is a status if the agency only wishes to suspend the account for a short period of time.  The advantage of this status is that the system remembers the prior status and, when Temporary Suspended is lifted, the account returns to the prior status.  A date can also be associated with Temporary Suspended status to remind the agency to update the status if appropriate at the time.  Temporary Suspended was created with Debt Ceiling Crisis in mind.

·       Closed - The account is no longer open.  Inquiries may be made on the account, but no payment requests, authorization transactions, returned payments, or book entry adjustments are allowed against it.

·       Liquidated – This is that status that is automatically set on the day following the PERFORMANCE PERIOD END DATE.  This status does not affect transaction activity.

If an Agency has a need to change the status of multiple accounts to the same status, this process is simplified through Change Status for Multiple Accounts which is an option available in Federal Agency Functions.  This Option is of particular value for setting Temporary Suspension.

Account Dates

Although dates associated with accounts are optional fields on the account profile, however, the Agency may choose to specify dates to correspond with their internal tracking systems.

·       Begin Date - may be used by the Federal Agency to indicate the date on which the grant/account period starts. Payment Requests cannot be initiated before the begin date of an account.  The Begin Date must be earlier than or the same as the Performance Period End Date and the End Date.

·       Performance Period End Date - Allows the Federal Agencies to record at their discretion the date up to which expenses related to this program are incurred by the Recipient.  The Performance Period End Date must be earlier than or equal to the End Date and later than or equal to the Begin Date.  On the day following this date, the account status changes to Liquidated.  This date is for information purposes only; the date specified has no effect on whether or not authorization, payment, or adjustment activity against an account is approved by the system.

·       End Date - may be used by the Federal Agency to indicate the date on which the grant/account period ends.  When an End Date is entered on an Account Profile, the End Date must be greater than or equal to the current system cycle date.  If an End Date is indicated on an account profile, the Account Status automatically changes to Suspended on the day following the End Date and no payment requests may be made against that account after the End Date.  However, the system allows payment requests to be made up to and including the End Date for settlement on the End Date.

Warehoused Payments

Federal Agencies may allow or prevent payments against the ASAP.gov account from being warehoused with a settlement date of up to 32 days in the future.  Federal Agencies have the option of allowing no warehoused payments against any of their accounts.  If the Payment Warehouse Indicator on the Federal Program Agency profile is set to “N,” the flag for warehoused payments cannot be set to “Yes” on the account profile.

Book Entry Adjustment

Book Entry Adjustment is used by the Federal Agency to indicate whether the account may have Book Entry Adjustments made against it.  If you do not specify a value for this indicator, the system defaults it to Y.

Other Account Properties

·       Group ID - The Federal Agency may assign Group IDs to their accounts at their discretion to group related accounts.  Group IDs have no effect on ASAP Accounts for payment request purposes.  Rather, they facilitate the process of retrieving accounts for the purpose of entering authorizations.  

·       CFDA Number – allows the agency to indicate the Catalog of Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number associated with this ASAP Account.

·       CMIA Indicator – allows the agency to specify whether the ASAP Account (Y) is or (N) is not covered by the Cash Management Improvement Act (CMIA).  This field defaults to N if left blank.

·       Total Estimated Grant Amount – allows the agency to indicate an estimated total authorized amount through the End Date of the account.

·       Period Cumulative Authorized Amount Reset Information – allows the agency to track the total amount of authorizations that have been applied to the account during a monthly, quarterly, or annual period.  

·       Cumulative Draw Limit – may be assigned to an Account Detail ID to limit the amount of funds that can be withdrawn up to the account’s available balance.  If the Cumulative Draw Limit is left blank, funds can be withdrawn from that Account Detail up to the amount available in the account.  The Cumulative Draw Limit may not be set to zero or a negative number.

·       Automated Renewal – is a feature that is available for 1031 accounts only.  This functionality converts the available balance to zero on the schedule specified and renews it at the new amount.   The renewal schedule (monthly or quarterly) and amount are specified by the agency on the account profile.

·       Maximum Draw Amounts – allows the agency to set parameters that designate daily, monthly, quarterly and/or total maximum draw amounts for its accounts. The ASAP.gov will reject any payment requests made for an amount in excess of the limit. If the Maximum Draw is set on a quarterly basis with a Rollover Reset Quarter identified and the Requestor does not draw up to the maximum during the quarter, the amount not drawn is added to the amount available for the following quarter.  See Create Account for rules on Rollover Reset Quarter.  See Maximum Draw section of this page for more general information.  In addition, A Federal Agency may want to use this feature when establishing a global or global control type account, as Payment Requestors will not be able to view the available balance on these type of accounts.  If there are no Maximum Draw Limits, a payment requestor could possibly initiate a payment request for the available balance of the account.

·       Agency Review – allows the agency to set a threshold to specify that requests at or above a certain dollar amount for selected accounts be forwarded for Agency Review.  The threshold can apply to a single account, all the accounts for a single Recipient Organization, or all the accounts established by your agency.  This feature also has a ‘default action’ feature.  If after three business days the Federal Agency has not taken an action with the payment request under review, the default action occurs.  Default Actions, which can be set for accounts under review, are:  Hold, Reject, Approve.  

In addition, A Federal Agency may want to use this feature when establishing a global or global control type account, as Payment Requestors will not be able to view the available balance on these type of accounts.  If there is no Agency Review, a payment requestor could possibly initiate a payment request for the available balance of the account.

It is advisable that this feature be used only as a last resort in order to control draws by a Requestor.  See Agency Review section of this page for more information.

Marked for Deletion – when an Agency deletes an account it removes the account from all activity.  Accounts eligible for deletion are those with no available balances and no pending activity.  Accounts can be undeleted by the Agency.  

SYSTEM-GENERATED FIELDS

The following pieces of account profile information are generated by ASAP.gov and may not be entered or modified by the Federal Agency user.

·       Create Date - the date when the account profile was created.

·       Cumulative Authorized Amount - the net of all authorization activity for the account.  It equals the sum of all increase authorizations minus all decrease authorizations.

·       Available Balance - the net of all transaction activity against the account.  It includes the cumulative authorized amount, plus returned payments, plus book entry increases, minus approved payment requests, minus book entry decreases.

·       Cumulative Draws/RP/BE to Date - the total payment requests, returned payments and book entries done against a control account.

AGENCY REVIEW & MAXIMUM DRAW

The Agency Review and Maximum Draw features were developed in ASAP.gov to provide a mechanism for Federal Agencies to better control cash outlays for cash management purposes. These features support the agencies’ need to balance controlling cash outlays and ensuring compliance with grant/funding awards, with the Cash Management Improvement Act and Treasury / State Agreements.  

Purpose

Agency Review and Maximum Draw Amounts are recommended for use at a Federal Agency’s discretion for situations related to non-compliance with proper cash management and/or reporting requirements.  Notification must be sent to the Recipient Organization prior to implementation.

·       Federal Agencies are responsible for managing grant/funding programs.  Since they have the responsibility of assuring compliance with good cash management practices, each Federal Agency will define the circumstances under which Agency Review and Maximum Draw Amounts are invoked.  Consideration factors could include, but not be limited to, the dollar value of the grant award and the history of cash management performance by the Recipient and/or Requestor Organization.

·       In addition, A Federal Agency may want to use these features when establishing a global or global control type account, as Payment Requestors will not be able to view the available balance on these type of accounts.  If there is no Agency Review or Maximum Draw Limits, a payment requestor could possibly initiate a payment request for the available balance of the account.

·       Both features are considered measures to be instituted as a last resort for grantees.  Federal Agencies should have discussions with the Recipient and Requestor Organizations prior to any decision to place an account on Agency Review or Maximum Draw.

·       When invoking Agency Review features, the Federal Agency must regularly and routinely log on to ASAP throughout the day to review payment requests.

Notifications

Federal Agencies must insure that Recipient Organizations receive notification 30 days prior to invoking Agency Review or Maximum Draw.

·       The notice will include, at a minimum, the date of the notice, the specific reasons why the Recipient Organization will be placed on Agency Review, the date the Agency Review feature will be invoked, the name and address of the Federal Agency authorizing official, and the name and phone number of a Federal Agency contact.

·       The notification will be sent to the primary contacts identified in the Recipient Organization and Payment Requestor profiles in the ASAP system.

·       Recipient Organization appeals related to the decision should be in writing and addressed to the Federal Agency authorizing official.

·       When Agency Review or Maximum Draw Amounts are invoked for an ASAP account; ASAP.gov automatically generates an immediate system notification delivered, via email, to the recipient organization advising that the Agency Review and/or Maximum Draw Amount feature is in effect.  Any changes to an Agency Review or Maximum Draw Amount parameter will also generate an ASAP.gov notification delivered via email.

CMIA Implications

Federal Agencies who plan to use Agency Review and Maximum Draw Amounts shall be mindful of the Cash Management Improvement Act and regulations, the associated Treasury/State Agreements, grant award documents, the general financial positions of their recipients, and the relative fiscal impacts.  

·       Timeliness of reviews by Federal Agencies is critical in order to minimize payment delays for recipients and avoid CMIA interest liabilities.  Federal interest liabilities will accrue if payment delays result from the use of Agency Review.

·       States must submit specific documentation to support all Federal interest liability claims resulting from the use of Agency Review and/or Maximum Draw Amounts.

Time Frame

Federal Agencies should review their decision to place Recipient Organizations under Maximum Draw and/or Agency Review every 90 days to determine the need to continue.  If a Federal Agency decides to invoke these features for another 90-day period, it must notify the Recipient Organization at least 10 days prior to the end of each 90-day period.

Procedures to Set Agency Review and Maximum Draw are available in the Accounts section of this Help system.

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