Disaster Recovery Grant Reporting System

DRGR Training Slides_Day 2_Participant Notes_5.24.12_rev_FINAL.pptx

Disaster Recovery Grant Reporting System

OMB: 2506-0165

⚠️ Notice: This form may be outdated. More recent filings and information on OMB 2506-0165 can be found here:

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Disaster Recovery Grant Reporting System Training for NSP Users

Session Rules

•Ask lots of questions

•Set all cell phones to silent or vibrate.

•Raise your hand if you are having computer problems or fall behind. We are here to help!

Today’s Agenda

•Quick overview of yesterday’s material
•Items to be covered:

- –Drawdown Module
- –Admin Module
- –Reports Module
- –Telling Your NSP Story via DRGR
- –Common Issues & Troubleshooting
•Q&A Session

The Basics: DRGR Modules

DRGR is now composed of five major modules: Admin, Action Plans, Drawdowns, QPRs, and Reports. The Admin module was enhanced in late 2010 and is now a more prominent feature in DRGR. Each of these modules will be covered today. Even if you will only work within one of the modules, it is important to understand how the five modules inter-relate.

•Admin: Admin module allows the grantee admin users to certify other grantee users and assign them to grants. Grantees can also record any monitoring, audit, and technical assistance (TA) events they conduct as part of grant oversight.

•Action Plans: The Action Plan in DRGR mirrors the information submitted in the substantial amendment sent to HUD. If the grantee has not yet identified specific organizations and programs, the activities listed in the amendment may show as projects in DRGR. The Action Plan may be resubmitted multiple times as new activities are awarded and entered.

•Drawdowns: Once the Action Plan is set up and approved, grantees will use the Drawdown Module to obligate funds, receipt program income, and create draw vouchers.

•QPRs: As grantees move forward with their NSP grants, they are required to submit quarterly reports to HUD via DRGR. The information reported in the QPR module is key to demonstrating progress – both financial and performance.

•Reports: The DRGR system has a comprehensive set of canned reports available to pull information out of the system, including administrative reports, financial reports, and performance reports. Reports can serve as valuable management tools for two main reasons: (1) to help grantees monitor the status and progress of their various funded projects and subrecipient, and (2) troubleshoot issues or concerns a grantee is facing within DRGR. The reports can be viewed online, printed, or downloaded as a PDF or Excel file.

Action Plan Review:
City of Zorro Example - Activity Structure

•Financing Mechanisms (Eligible Use A)

- –City LLR LH25
- –City LLR LMMI
- –Sub recipient LLR LH25
•Acquisition/Rehab (Eligible Use B)
- –Sub recipient Acquisition/Rehab LH25
- –City Single Family Acquisition/Rehab LMMI
- –City Multi-Family Oak Street Property LH25
- –City Multi-Family Elm Street Property LH25

•The projects are straightforward. Each eligible use becomes a project, so we have Financing Mechanisms and Acquisition/Rehab. Most likely, the grantee will also be funding Admin, so that would be a third project.
•Under Financing Mechanisms, we have two responsible organizations: the subrecipient and the City. This means two activities. However, the City thinks it will serve some households at or below 50% AMI and some households above 50% AMI. In order to get credit for the set-aside requirement, the households at or below 50% AMI must be associated with the set-aside national objective. To do this, the City will set up one activity with the LMMI national objective for the proposed households over 50% AMI, and one activity with the set-aside national objective for the proposed households below 50% AMI.
•We see the same breakout under Acquisition/Rehab, but we see two additional activities to represent the proposed multifamily properties. Again, HUD would like these multifamily properties reported under their own DRGR activity.
•Notice what is not on the slide. Please note that none of the following are “wrong,” but they tend to complicate data entry and make the whole process less efficient.

- oThe City is not creating a separate activity for each single-family property.
- oThe City is not breaking out separate activities for acquisition and rehab.
- oThe City is not creating a separate activity for disposition, which can be lumped under the other activities based on its end use.
- oKEY POINT: The program description in the Substantial Amendment MUST be adapted for purposes of DRGR. This is not a one-for-one breakout.

Action Plan Review: Accomplishments

Performance Measure	NSP1	NSP2	NSP3
Households Benefitting	Required	Required	Required
Housing Units	Required	Required	Required
Income Levels	Required	Required	Required
Renter/Owner	Required	Required	Required
Single/Multi Family	Required	Required	Required
Race/Ethnicity	Required	Required	Required
Female-Headed	Required	Required	Required
Number of Properties	Encouraged	Encouraged	Encouraged
Green Measures	Encouraged	Required*	Required*

This slide illustrates which of the accomplishment and beneficiary data is required and which is encouraged.

•The majority of fields are required. Some of these fields, like Race/Ethnicity and Female-Headed Households, will only appear on the quarterly report; there is no need to break out your goals by these characteristics.
•Again, many grantees have not gone back and back-filled these data elements. It is important for grantees to do so as if the information is not provided on the Action Plan (the front end), the grantee will not have an option of reporting under these categories in the QPR (the back end).
•It is recommended that you verify this information is in the system before submitting your next QPR. Some of the Microstrategy Reports can quickly summarize the proposed goals entered for each activity.
•You can add a wide variety of additional accomplishment data, but if you don’t have that particular item as a regular component of your program and you won’t be tracking it, don’t include it.

QPR Review

•Purpose

- –Report progress for quarter and cumulative basis by:

- - •Identifying accomplishments once a national objective has been met
  - •Pulling financial data as entered in the Drawdown Module
  - •Detail, in narrative format, progress of the grant as a whole and per activity
•HUD FO role
- –Approval or rejection of the QPR in a timely manner
- –Provide and share comments with grantees (if desired)

Given the urgency associated with NSP, HUD wanted to make sure there was good communication between the grantees and the HUD Field Office regarding performance. The QPR module in DRGR provides a tool and framework for that communication. It is the tool to identify progress towards statutory requirements, such as national objectives being met and progress toward expenditure milestones.

You, the grantee, will show progress on three levels:

1. 1.Performance – by identifying actual metrics once a national objective has been met
2. 2.Financial – by all the financial data entered into Drawdown Module that quarter
3. 3.Narrative – by explaining how the program is progressing

After the end of each quarter, the grantee will create and submit a QPR. The HUD Field Office will review it and approve or reject the report in a timely manner.

DRGR Navigation Rules

•Navigate using DRGR Links, rather than your browser’s.
•Never use your browser’s BACK button.
•Logout using the Logout link in Utilities – don’t just close the window.
•Save early, save often! System times-out after 20 minutes.
•If you want to copy/paste text into DRGR, do so from Notepad or a file in .txt format.

Some basic navigation rules that are important enough to reiterate:

•Just like other websites, you will navigate DRGR by clicking on linked text and buttons within the page. Any text that is underlined is typically a link.
•Unlike on other websites, users should NOT use the browser’s “back” and “forward” buttons.
•When copying and pasting from another document, we recommend taking an intermediate step of pasting into Notepad first. This will remove formatting from the copied text. Once the text is in Notepad, you can copy it again and paste into DRGR. If you copy and paste directly from Word or a PDF, some of the formatting, like bullet points, will be corrupted in the downloadable versions of the action plan and QPR.
•When you are finished and would like to leave DRGR, instead of just closing the browser, always log out first. If you do not log out, you will be locked out of the system for at least 30 minutes.

Drawdown Module

Obligating Funds

Program Income

Create Vouchers

Create and Approve Draw Vouchers

Voucher Corrections

This section will cover the functions that can be performed in the Drawdown Module. This include:

•Obligating funds
•Reporting and applying program income
•Creating and approving draw vouchers
•Correcting or revising vouchers

Drawdown Module Overview

•Drawdown Process

- –Obligate Funds
- –Create Draw Voucher
- –Approve Draw Voucher
- –Over Threshold?

- - •Yes – Send additional info to HUD for approval
  - •No – wire transfer in 2-3 days

•Additional Functions
- –Draw Corrections
  - •Revise
  - •Reject
  - •Cancel
- –Program Income

The Drawdown Module is where nearly all of the financial functions of DRGR are located. This includes reporting obligations and initiating the reimbursement of eligible expenditures from the grant line of credit.

•The request for funds is called a “drawdown” request, thus the name of the module.
•Each drawdown request becomes a “voucher,” or a record of the drawdown request against the grant line of credit.
•In order to draw down grant funds and receive reimbursement from the U.S. Treasury, you must complete several tasks within DRGR. These are summarized below. Detailed instructions on completing each of these tasks will be provided later in this section. It is assumed that a grantee has already set-up their Action Plan and submitted and received approval on the original submission.

- oObligate grant funds to an activity from a project.
- oCreate the voucher.
- oApprove the voucher.

•Note that if a voucher line item exceeds a drawdown threshold, it is forwarded to HUD for approval before being submitted to LOCCS.

DRGR will then automatically “send” the voucher to the federal Line of Credit Control System, also called “LOCCS.”

- oThis is the system used to directly reimburse grant funds to grantees.
- oIt is an interface with the U.S. Treasury.
- oLOCCS will receive and process the item overnight.
- oFunds will be wired to you two to three days from when the voucher is processed.

•Please remember that the ability to perform these tasks is restricted by the user permissions granted to the individual DRGR user.
•DRGR also allows draws to be revoked, cancelled, and revised, and for program income to be reported as received and applied.

Drawdown Module Overview: Field Office Actions

•Give policy recommendations on when/how to obligate funds.

•Get help from CFO if grantee has missing Tax ID (TIN) or Bank Routing Information in LOCCS.

•Take action on draws over the threshold.

Most drawdown actions can be completed by grantees alone. However, there are some instances where HUD staff may have to assist the grantee.

•HUD field office staff can help grantees determine what is, and what is not, a valid obligation: this is specifically essential for NSP1 grantees that have a obligation milestone.
•If the grantee is having issues with their Tax ID (TIN) or Bank Routing Information in LOCCS, they may not be able to draw funds from the system. The field office staff can help troubleshoot issues in these cases.
•HUD can take action on draws over the threshold. Details instructions are slide 100 of this training.

Obligate Funds

•All funds Obligated at Activity Level

- –Obligated funds include both Program Funds and Program Income (as of Release 7.3)

•Must meet NSP1 definition of Obligation
- –If questionable, clarify with CPD Rep

•Must have Request or Approve Drawdown role

Funds must be obligated to an activity before they can be drawn. This serves both as a financial function that precedes the drawdown and reports to HUD that funds have been obligated. Note that obligations are made at the activity level, not at the project level. (Keep this in mind when setting up activities in your Action Plan.)

NSP1 grantees should keep in mind that obligations are a milestone requirement for NSP1 grantees, particular attention should be paid to the timing of making obligations in DRGR. Please consult HUD guidance regarding the NSP definition of “obligation.”

Obligating funds can be performed by users with “Request Drawdown” or “Approve Drawdown” permissions.

Obligate Funds

•Necessary Roles: Request Drawdown or Approve Drawdown

Selecting the “Drawdown” module in the top navigation menu will take you automatically to the Activity Obligation screen. To get there from other screens within the drawdown module, use the module navigation links in the left margin.

From the Activity Obligation screen, you will search for activities to obligate funds to them.

You may search by Grant Number, Grantee Activity Number, and/or Responsible Organization. Once you enter the search criteria, click on the “Search” button. To clear the criteria or start over, click on the “Reset” button.

Remember: You must have user permission to either create drawdowns or approve drawdowns in order to obligate funds.

Obligate Funds

After clicking “Search,” results will appear that meet the search criteria. The default sort order is Grant Number, Responsible Organization, and Grantee Activity Number.

Note that the results may be presented on more than one page. Click on the links below the results table to see more results.

Results can be narrowed by modifying or adding search criteria and clicking on the “Search” button again.

To change the obligation amount, click on the “Maintain” link in the “Action” column at the end of the row for the activity.

Obligate Funds

Clicking on the link will take you to the “Add-Edit Obligation Line Item” screen. You will see Activity information, including;

- •Associated grant number
- •Grantee assigned activity number
- •Entity responsible for undertaking the activity

- •Activity type

- •Activity title

This screen will also show current financial information you will need to determine how much (or how little) you can obligate. Remember the math rules of DRGR (see next slide).

- •Total Budget (from your Action Plan)
- •Total Obligated Amount (currently obligated)
- •Available for Obligation (above and beyond the current obligation amount)
- •Total Drawn Amount (includes all processed vouchers)

- - •Total PF and PI amounts drawn.

In the “Obligation Amount” field (the only field that can be edited on this screen), enter the total amount you wish to have obligated to the activity.

Click on the “Save Amount” button to change the obligation amount to the new amount entered.

You will receive the message “Obligation Amount successfully saved” if the change was accepted. If not, you will receive an error message. If you see an error message, review the math rules.

As of Release 7.3, the obligation screen provides a breakdown of the Total Amount Drawn by Program Funds and Program Income.

Obligate Funds: Drawdown Math Rules

Obligation amounts must be less than or equal to the Total Activity Budget and greater than or equal to the Total Drawn Amount

(can’t decrease the obligation amount to less than the amount that has already been drawn down)

$1,000,000 ≥ $500,000 ≥ $200,000

**As of Release 7.3, grantees enter BOTH program funds and program income as part of the Total Activity Budgets and Activity Obligations.

DRGR Math Rules

There are internal controls within DRGR that serve as checks and balances. These “math rules” will stop you in your tracks if you ignore them.

Grantees will not be able to change an obligation amount to an amount that is:

More than the total amount of un-obligated funds available to the grantee in DRGR; or

Less than the amount that has already been drawn down against an activity.

The amount available to obligate is the total budget (in the Action Plan) less the total currently obligated. This is not the same as the maximum obligation amount. The maximum amount that can be obligated is the amount available to obligate plus the amount currently obligated. The financial information provided on the “Add-edit obligation” screen is key to understanding the possible obligation amounts.

•The Activity Budget was set in the Action Plan at $1M.
•The Obligation can never exceed the Budget. The Obligation, as recorded in the Drawdown Module, thus far has been $500,000.
•The Total Activity Draw Amount can never exceed the Obligation which can never exceed the Budget. Total draws to date for the activity for both Program Funds and Program Income is $200,000.

Obligating Funds

Let’s obligate funds!

Program Income (PI)

- •Purpose and Functionality of Updates (Release 7.3)

- - •Budgeting
  - •PI Receipts
  - •PI Accounts

Program Income (PI): Purpose of Updates

As of Release 7.3, the changes in DRGR now:

- •allows Activity budgets and obligations to include estimated program income for budgeting to be more interactive.
- •complies with the requirements for spending program income first.
- •creates a means (called Program Income Accounts) that identifies organizations that a grantee allows to retain PI, and not return to the grantee, for their own uses.
- •identifies each PI transaction rather than recording amounts quarterly as in the past.
- •creates a means (at the Project level) for users to identify Revolving Loan Funds (RLF)

DRGR Release 7.3 made some significant changes to the way Program Income in reported and drawn in DRGR. This and the next few slides outline some of these changes.

PI: Functionality of Updates

Budgets: Add estimated PI at the grant level as a distinct line item. Add estimated PI as a component of the Project/Activity Budget.

Draws: To draw funds, DRGR requires all Program Income received in each RLF or PI account to be used before Program Funds. Similar rules apply to activities outside RLF and PI accounts (termed “General Account” for PI)

PI Account: Add and Edit/Search Program Income Accounts to identify activities with the organization they fund that are allowed to retain PI for their own uses.

PI Receipt: Create and Edit/Search Program Income Receipts to identify each PI transaction rather than recording amounts quarterly as in the past.

PI: Budgets at the Grant Level

Estimate the amount of Program Income the grant will receive over the grant. Re-evaluate regularly to ensure enough funds to accommodate project and activity budgets.

On the Action Plan page, you can now enter amount of PI or RLF the grant is estimated to generate. The estimation is done at all three phases of the budgeting in DRGR: at the Grant Level, for Projects, and Activities. These budgets should be re-evaluated periodically to ensure accuracy and to verify enough funds to accommodate Project and Activity budgets. The Grant level the only place that breaks out the PI or RLF, in the Project and Activity budgets it is entered as one sum amount (PF+PI).

At the grant level, for the Edit Action Plan screen, the Grant Amount is automatically loaded into DRGR when the grant is originally entered into the system. The Estimated PI/RL Funds is an editable line item. The Total Budget line sums the Grant Amount and Estimated PI/RL Funds; it provides the budget that the sum of the Project Budgets can not exceed.

PI: Budgets for Project/Activity

- •Total Project and Activity budgets must include program funds and estimated program income.
- •Re-evaluate regularly to ensure enough funds to accommodate project and activity budgets.
- •Math Rules:

For Projects and Activities, a user includes estimated Program Income budget in the Total Budget.

PI Categories

PI will now be categorized as:

•General Account: Pool of all PI receipted that is not in any individual RLF or PI Account(s).
•PI Account(s): Separate accounts created by grantee to identify Activities under their funding agreements with their organizations that allow these organizations to RETAIN and use PI on their own Activities. In effect, PI Accounts allow users to “wall off” PI receipts for specific Activities.
•Revolving Loan Fund(s): Projects to identify activities of a single Activity type where loan repayments are used to fund new loans

•PI is receipted and disbursed by Activity, and each Activity is associated with either a PI Account (as set up by the user), a General PI Account (default account if an Activity has not been associated with a PI Account), or a RLF (identified by a Project).

•A Program Income Account is intended to help grantees use Program Income generated by one Activity or Responsible Organization towards the Activities managed by that same Responsible Organization, if the organization administering these activities is allowed to keep their Program Income. If this does not apply, grantees do not need to set up any program income accounts to work with program income.

•Prior to the set up of these accounts, all Activities will automatically fall into a General Account. Once the grantee if finished “walling off” activities for each Responsible Organization, there may only be the grantee Administration Activity left in the General Account.

PI Receipts

PI received is recorded in the Drawdown Module as a receipts for individual PI transactions

•Prior to Release 7.3, Program Income was receipted in the QPR quarterly and drawn in the Drawdown Module. Similar to IDIS, Release 7.3 allowed Program Income receipts to be created in the Drawdown Module for individual PI transactions.

•If the grantee has set up Program Income Accounts, the Program Income received will be associated with the Program Income Account the Activity belongs to. If there are no PI Accounts or RLF, it will automatically apply to the General Account

To Create a Receipt,

1.Select the grant
2.Create a Receipt Number, (there is no required naming convention)
3.Select the Activity that generated this PI
4.Enter the Amount and the Date Receipted
5.The Comment Field is optional, but can be helpful to keep track of PI sources.
6.Save

PI Accounts: Set-Up

•Established by Responsible Organization with, typically, all of the Activities associated with that Responsible Org. in their own PI Account.
•Program Income generated by an Activity in this account can only be used for itself or other Activities in that same account.
•Any Activities not assigned to a PI Account will remain in a General PI Account.

As the purpose of PI Accounts is to “wall off” PI from one organization from another, a grantee establishes PI Accounts by Responsible Organization.

NOTE: In other cases, states may require all PI to be returned from the local government to the state. It is important to remember that PI accounts do not need to be set up if local governments or subrecipients are not allowed to retain their PI.

Program Income Accounts: Set-up

•To set up a Program Income Accounts, go to the Drawdown Module and along the left navigation select Add PI Account.

•Select the grant and create a name for the account.

•Select the Responsible Organization. Key Hint: One Responsible Organization could have been entered into the system in a number of ways such as “The City of” or “City of”. To make sure you get all activities that are associated with that Responsible Organization the system allows the user to select multiple variations. Once this is selected, click Assign Org>>.

•Under Available Activities, check to make sure all of the activities for that Responsible Organization are appearing, then add the activities by clicking Assign Activities>>.

Program Income Accounts: Set UP

This slide shows what the screen for a new PI Account would look like just before saving. The Responsible Organization and its Activities have been moved into this account. The set up of this process is very similar to assigning and certifying users.

Program Income Accounts: Search/Edit

Grantees can search and edit PI Accounts as shown in the image on this slide.

Program Income Accounts: Review

This is an example of a grantee that has set up PI Accounts according to their responsible organizations. (Fin Report 05d)

This is a new report available in the DRGR Reports Module that will list all of the PI accounts set up by a grantee and the account’s associated budgets, PI disbursed, and PI balance.

If the grantee has not set up any PI accounts, and all PI is in the General Account, this report might not be available to them.

Program Income: Prior to Update

•Program Income recorded prior to the update was automatically turned into receipts based on the QPR and Activity in which it was entered.

•Activity Budgets and Obligations may have been automatically increased if PI was previously receipted through those activities.

•By using the Search/Edit Receipt function, grantees can modify previously recorded PI to be associated with another Activity.

(That Activity’s budget might first need to be increased)

Program Income Review (FinRept05b)

9. Create a Program Income Account & Estimate PI Budgets
10. Create a PI Receipt

Time for more Case Studies!

Program Income Review

- •Activity budgets and obligations include estimated PI.
- •Reinforces compliance with the FIFO requirements.
- •Grantees can set up PI Accounts to allow their organizations to retain PI.
- •PI is recorded in Drawdown module instead of QPR.
- •Revolving Loan Funds (RLF) can be created at the Project Level.

Create/Approve Vouchers

Funds Drawn at Activity Level: Must have Request Drawdown role

Two Step Process for a Grantee

•Step 1: Create the voucher

- –Must have Draw Requester Role
- –Determine Program Funds v Program Income Funds
- –Select Activities to draw from

•Step 2: Approve Voucher
- –Must have Draw Approval role to approve
- –Approve / Reject entire voucher
- –Approve / Reject on line item basis
- –Provide comments

Drawing down funds against the line of credit requires the creation and approval of a voucher in DRGR. These are two separate steps: 1) Creating the Voucher, and 2) Approving the Voucher.

Each voucher is composed of at least one line item. A line item represents funds going to a specific activity. A voucher may include more than one line item.

It is best to think of a voucher as a single request “packet.” It “asks” LOCCS to reimburse $X against the line of credit for a grant, for costs associated with a specific activity(ies). The voucher may also communicate that certain costs are being paid for with program income received by the grantee.

Remember that the user must have the appropriate permission to either create or approve vouchers and that the same user may not have both permissions.

To create a voucher, you must know which activities you are drawing against and the funding source (program funds or program income).

Vouchers may be approved or rejected at the voucher or line item level. Approvers may also provide comments.

Remember the math rules of DRGR (see slide 104-105).

Create/Approve Vouchers: Roles

	View a Voucher Line Item	Approve/Reject a Voucher Line Item	Revise a Voucher Line Item	Cancel Voucher Line Item	Revoke Approval of a Voucher Line Item
ALL	X
Draw Requester	X		X	X
Draw Approve	X	X			X

This slide depicts which user roles (permissions) can perform a particular function within the drawdown module.

•Any user can search for a voucher and view its status. What you can do with a voucher also depends on your role in the DRGR system.
•For most functions associated with a voucher, you will have to search for the voucher first and then click “Maintain” for options on what you can do with it.

Create/Approve Vouchers: Daily Draw Thresholds

HUD may place limits on the daily draw amount in DRGR. If the drawdown pushes the grantee over the daily threshold limit, the voucher will not be processed automatically and it will be given an “Approved Pending HQ” status. These draw thresholds are daily limits per draw, so once a grantee has gone over their threshold for the day, all vouchers submitted after the threshold has been exceeded will be held pending HQ approval.

In cases in which the daily limit is exceeded, the grantee must submit back up documentation to their CPD/NSP field representative. It is always best to anticipate when you may submit a draw that will be over the daily draw threshold. You can then submit documentation to the Field Office in advance of creating the voucher.

In most cases, the system will notify the CPD/NSP field representative assigned to the grant by email that there is a draw that must be reviewed. Grantees should not, however, rely on the system to notify the Field Office when such vouchers are created.

HUD’s goal is to ensure that all draw requests are turned around with 72 hours. To meet this goal, CPD representatives and grantees should be in close communication about the creation and approval of these vouchers.

The CPD/NSP field representative will be looking for the following in the voucher documentation:

•Evidence of the grantee’s internal controls in approving the draw — this usually means two signatures/initials/electronic confirmations;
•Basic math — the draw documentation adds up to the amount requested; and
•The draw documentation is for the same activity shown on the DRGR voucher.

Once the CPD/NSP representative confirms the above information, they can send the confirmation to HQ, which should include the voucher number(s), amount of the draw, and the grant number. Once HQ receives the confirmation from the field, they will approve the draw. Jim Yerdon and Ryan Flanery are approving threshold draws for NSP, so representatives should send this information to them at [email protected] and [email protected].

Create/Approve Vouchers:
Block Draws

•Draws can be blocked

- –at the grant and activity level by HUD (see next slide) or
- –at the activity level by the Grantee Admin
•Communicate with FO if draw is blocked by HUD
•Check for Restricted Balance projects

There are several ways to block draws from occurring – either by the FO or by the grantee.

•For HUD staff, draws may be blocked at the grant level or per activity.
•For grantees, draws may be blocked per activity by the Grantee Administrator.

A grantee should call their FO Rep to discuss if, at the grant level or per activity, draws are blocked. Additionally, if any funds are in the restricted balance project, check with the FO.

Blocked Draws – Grant Level

Here is the screen that shows if a grant is blocked for draws. You can navigate here by clicking on your Grant Number from the Action Plan screen.

Blocked Draws – Activity Level

Per each Activity, a grantee or HUD may block draws.

Create Voucher

Build the voucher in four steps:

1. Select Activities

1a. Search for Activities

1b. Select Fund Type

2. Enter Drawdown Amount per line items

3. Confirm Voucher

4. Verify voucher is confirmed

There are four major steps to create a voucher in DRGR.

Remember: Only users with Draw Requester rights can create a voucher.

•Necessary Role: Request Drawdown

To create a voucher, click “Create Voucher” from the links at the left-hand bar.

The page above, “Create Voucher – Page 1 of 4 (Select Activities),” is the first of the four voucher creation pages. In this page, you will select the voucher submission date and the activities to be included in the voucher. The submission date defaults to the current date.

Click the ‘Add More Activities’ button.

Step 1a: Search for Activities

•Search by Grant number, Activity Type, or just select Search to view all possible Activities

After selecting ‘Create Voucher’ on the links at the left-hand bar, a blank voucher appears. The Draw Requestor must add activities to this voucher (which is creating the line items).

Step 1b: Select Fund Type

The “Search for Activities to Create Voucher” page is now displayed. This page allows you to locate and add the activities to include in the voucher. You may enter one or more search criteria.

Note that entering the grantee activity number is the quickest way to search. You may, however, have several activities of a certain type or under a specific responsible organization for which you want to create a single voucher. In that case, you may want to search accordingly.

Click on the “Search” button.

The Search page will now show search results in a table below the search criteria. Each table row represents an activity. Note that the results may be presented on more than one page. Click on the links below the results table to see more results. Results can be narrowed by modifying or adding search criteria and clicking on the “Search” button again.

To change the sort order of the results, click on a column heading.

To include an item in the voucher, indicate if grant program funds and/or program income will be used and click on the “Add Selected Activities to Voucher” button to add to the voucher. This will add line items to the voucher and return to “Page 1” of the “Create voucher” pages where you can see the voucher.

From “Page 1” you can continue to search for and add more activities by clicking the “Add More Activities” button.

TIP: To remove an activity from the table, check the box in the Select column next to the activity to be removed, and then click the “Remove Voucher Item” button.

When all activities have been added to the voucher, click the “Continue” button.

Step 2: Enter Drawdown Amount per line items

On Page 1 and 2 of Create Vouchers, grantee enters the Draw Amount per fund type and per activity.

These screens confirm the fund type and submit the amounts entered for each Activity.

On Page 2 enter the actual drawdown amount.

If the you click on the Amount Available link, it will provide information as to how it arrived at this amount.

NOTE: DRGR may show $0 available in PF on activities within a PI account until all PI is used. The amount shown as available on PI will be the lower of the two following amounts:

The TOTAL FUNDS available for the activity (PI +PF) based on total activity obligation minus total drawn (PI+PF); or

The amount of PI available at the PI account level.

DRGR may not let grantees proceed to the next step in creating a voucher (page 3 of 4) if the grantees try to force PF draws without spending all PI within an account first.

Step 3: Confirm Voucher

On Page 3 of Create Vouchers, confirm the amount entered for each Activity.

Step 4: Confirm Voucher-Printing

On Page 4 of Create Vouchers, you should see an alert at the top of the screen letting you know that the voucher has been successfully submitted. The User does not have to actively do anything on this page, however, if this page does not appear, the user has NOT successfully submitted a voucher.

It sometimes helps to print this screen for financial records.

As of DRGR Release 7.3, users can PDF a copy of the vouchers created for their records and add comments about the vouchers.

Step 4: Verify Voucher is Confirmed

This is an example of the voucher summary PDF now available to grantees for their records.

Create Voucher: PF Draw Math Rules

The Total Available Amount is calculated at the Activity level.

DRGR may show $0 available in PF on activities within a PI account on a voucher until all PI is used.

Create Voucher: PI Draw Math Rules

PI FUNDS

As of 7.3, PI draws is subtracted from the Total Activity Budget.

The Available Amount is calculated at the Activity level against the Total Activity Budget (which is the sum of program funds and PI).

The amount shown as available on PI on the voucher will be the lower of the two following amounts:

- •The TOTAL FUNDS available for the activity (PI +PF) based on total activity obligation minus total drawn (PI+PF); or
- •The amount of PI available at the PI account level.

Available Amount: Draw Calculation

In this slide, two activities have both Program Funds and Program Income selected. To see how the system calculated the Amount Available to draw, click on the linked numbers and it should take you to a screen similar to the one on the next slide. Using this function will help to understand how the system arrived at this amount available.

Available Amount: Draw Calculation

Available Amount: Example

This slides provides another detailed example of how to use the Calculated Amount Available screen to help a grantee understand these amounts better.

It is important to note here that although the chart shows $731,832.66 in PI available in this PI Account, only $132,566.55 is left in the Activity Budget to draw down.

Program Income Account	Program Income – PI Account Level	Program Funds – Activity Level	Program Income – Activity Level	All Funds – Activity Level
A – Budgeted	- - -	- - -	- - -	$5,800,000
B – Obligated	- - -	- - -	- - -	$2,500,000
C – Receipts	$350,000		$45,000	- - -
D – Drawn	$210,000	$1,750,000	$120,000	$1,870,000
E - Available	$140,000	$490,000	$165,000	$630,000

Available Amount: Example #2

Available Amount: Example #3

This is an example of the PI Account list by Responsible Organization and Activity using a modified version of a report pulled from DRGR’s Reports module. The role up at the bottom shows how much PI, if any, is available to draw for each resp. org. according to the PI account they are assigned to.

Financial Report 05d will provide a list of all established PI accounts and Financial Report 05b will show Activity budgets, obligated, disbursed, and PI received and spent.

Available Amount: Error Message

Program Income: Common Issues

ICFI2012-02-08T14:41:42.267000000

Modify to look like Day 2 Common Problems.

Done

1. PI: Common Issues

ICFI2012-02-08T14:41:42.267000000

Modify to look like Day 2 Common Problems.

Done

2. PI: Common Issues

ICFI2012-02-08T14:41:42.267000000

Modify to look like Day 2 Common Problems.

Done

3. PI: Common Issues

ICFI2012-02-08T14:41:42.267000000

Modify to look like Day 2 Common Problems.

Done

4. PI: Common Issues

ICFI2012-02-08T14:41:53.300000000

Modify to look like Day 2 COmmon problems.

Done

Creating Vouchers

Let’s create a voucher.

Drawdown Module Review

Day 1

•Obligations
•Create Draw

Day 2

•Approve Draw
•Draw Corrections

To briefly review some of the key points made in the section:

Work with your field office to ensure all obligations meet the NSP definition of “obligation.”

All funds are obligated and drawn at the activity level.

Be aware of the daily draw threshold and be ready to provide additional data to HUD for approval.

Drawdown: Additional Functions

•Approve Voucher
•View Voucher Line Item
•Voucher Corrections

- –Cancel
- –Revoke
- –Revise

There are additional functions that at Drawdown Module may perform that will be outlined in the next slides.

Approve Voucher

After the Voucher has been created and ‘Saved’

1.Find the voucher

- –All users can Search for Voucher
- –Search by Status

2. Approve Voucher

- –Must have Draw Approval role to approve
- –Approve / Reject entire voucher
- –Approve / Reject on line item basis
- –Provide comments

•The first step to approving a voucher is finding it. Once the voucher is saved to the system, any user can search for the voucher. Only a user with Approve Drawdown privileges can mark the draw as Approved.
•Use the “Search voucher” link in the drawdown module. To find vouchers that need to be approved, search for all vouchers with a status of “Open.”
•Click on the “Maintain” link for a voucher to approve it.

Approve Voucher

Approve Voucher Line Items

For those with Approve Drawdown permission, the Action column on the Maintain Voucher screen will have the actions “Approve” and “Reject” to select.

•Approvers have the option of approving the entire draw voucher or approving on a line item basis.
•Click “(ALL)” to select all line items.
•Approvers also have the option of inserting comments on the voucher. An approver can include comments regardless of approving or rejecting the voucher.
•The approver can also view the voucher details by clicking on “View.”
•Only Approved draws will be processed by the system and result in funds being sent to the grantee.

View a Voucher Line Item

•Here is the View Voucher page. This will provide a lot of information, including:

- oDRGR and LOCCS status of the voucher
- oThe date when status was last updated
- oWhen payment was made
- oWho created the voucher

•If funds have not been received within a week’s time, grantees should get in touch with their HUD CPD representative or the DRGR Help Desk.
•All users may view a voucher line item by searching for a voucher and then choosing the line item to view.

View a Voucher Line Item (FinRept04)

Grantees may also view a voucher line item by using the Reports functionality.

This report provides details per each line item. Columns will only display if such action has been taken (e.g. ‘Cancelled – Grant Funds’).

Voucher Corrections

•Corrected on a line item basis

•Voucher Status will determine which function to use. Three options:

- –Revoke Approval
- –Cancelling a Voucher Line Item
- –Revising A Voucher Line Item

If a voucher is incorrect, it may be corrected in several ways. The method depends on the status of the voucher.

•If the status is Approved (meaning it was marked as approved but not yet sent to LOCCS), the Draw Approver who initially approved it can revoke the approval.

- oYou can revoke the approval as long as the line item has not yet been submitted to LOCCS (this occurs at the end of the day) and has a status of Approved.
- oOnce revoked, the line item’s status will move back to Open and the line item will not be processed by LOCCS. This gives the grantee additional time to decide what to do.
- oIf you want to rescind the approval of a line item after it has been submitted to LOCCS, you must contact HUD HQ for manual intervention.

•If a voucher line item was created in error, a grantee can cancel it. A line item can be cancelled only if it has a status of Open (has not been approved), Approved, Approved Pending HQ, or Approved by HQ. Only a grantee with Request Drawdown role can cancel a voucher line item. The user cancelling the voucher line item does not have to be the same user as the one who created it. This line item will appear on the voucher with a status of Cancelled

•If this status is Complete, this means the request has already been processed by LOCCS and the funds have been sent to the grantee. At this point, the grantee must revise the voucher or return the funds to the U.S. Treasury.

Voucher Corrections: Cancel Voucher Line Items

•Necessary Role: Request Drawdown

Only line items with a status of Open, Approved, Approved Pending HQ, or Approved by HQ can be cancelled.

Voucher Corrections: Revising A Voucher

•Grantee may need to revise an original voucher for numerous reasons:

- –Original costs incurred are not for the correct Activity
- –Error in accounting and costs need to be moved to another Activity
- –HUD deemed costs ineligible

•Grantee has two options:

- –Revise original voucher in DRGR AND off set next draw
- –Wire funds back to LOCCS

- - •This option is used sparingly. Contact your CPD rep before wiring funds back. And, once a the wired funds is processed by HUD’s CFO staff (out of Ft. Worth), there will show a negative draw on the grant and the grantee must assign the negative draw to the desired Activity.
  - •When funds are returned to DRGR through wires or offsetting draws, users can now categorize these as collections and recaptures when assigning funds to new activities through the revisions.

Revising a voucher line item is necessary when a disbursement needs to be moved from one activity to another. There are a number of reasons why you may need to revise a voucher line item:

•The activity ID you selected when you created the voucher is incorrect.
•Excessive Draw: You drew too many dollars for one activity when you created the voucher and now need to move a portion of the dollars to another activity within the same program and of the same fund type.
•Funds for a draw were issued incorrectly and the recipient returned the funds to the U.S. Treasury. When funds are returned to the U.S. Treasury, DRGR does not process them against an activity. Instead, it credits them to a generic adjustment activity under the project.

Revising a voucher in DRGR is relatively simple. A grantee, however, must do its due diligence that the next draw is offset correctly and their internal systems and paperwork correspond to any changes in DRGR.

Voucher Corrections: Revising A Voucher Line Item

•Roles

- –To revise: Draw Requester
- –To approve the revisions: Draw Approver
•Conditions
- –Both activities funded from same grant
- –Destination activity has sufficient balance (budget and obligation)
- –Destination activity cannot be cancelled
- –Neither activity is blocked.
•Total amount of voucher does not change: only the amount charged to each activity changes

When revising a voucher line item, you can transfer all or a portion of the original drawdown amount to a different activity. However, a line item can be revised only in two situations:

•The line item has a status of Open (not yet approved). If the line item is still open, the grantee may prefer to simply cancel and redo the draw correctly rather than revise it.
•The line item has a status of Completed status (paid by Treasury).

The following conditions also apply:

•Both activities must be part of the same grant.
•The destination activity (the activity receiving the draw credit) must have enough money obligated to allow the drawdown.
•The activity to which the drawdown is being shifted must not be a cancelled activity.
•Neither activity is blocked.

All of the information will remain on the same voucher. However, the system may create new line items on the voucher to reflect the changes:

•If all of the money is moved to a different activity, DRGR creates one new voucher line item. This new line item is for the activity to which the drawdown funds are being transferred.
•If only part of the money is moved to a different activity, DRGR creates two new voucher line items. One of the new line items is for the activity receiving the transferred drawdown. The second line item created will have the balance of funds that stayed with the original activity.
•The original line item remains on the voucher but its status is changed to Revised. It can no longer be worked with unless the new voucher line items are not approved.

Revised vouchers must be APPROVED by the grantee approver.

Voucher Corrections: Verifying sufficient balance (Fin Rept07b)

When revising a voucher line item, you will need to verify there are sufficient funds to complete the revision. If the revision will increase the total disbursements above the obligation amount for the activity receiving the draw, then the revision will be blocked.

For example, you cannot move all the disbursements from 11-381a LH25 into 11-381a LMMI because 11-381 LMMI does not have sufficient budget nor obligations to accept the transfer of draws. The draw revision would be blocked.

Voucher Corrections

This slide provides an example of a grantee making multiple voucher revisions. This is a new function included in Release 7.3.

After searching for the Voucher and Line Item and selecting Revise next to the appropriate Line Item, the screen shot above appears show the voucher.

Review the DRGR and LOCCS information to confirm that it has been approved. Also review the Line Item data to verify it is the correct voucher/line item you want revised.

Then, in the “Move Funds to Another Activity” Box,

1.Designate the new activity; and

1.Enter dollar amount to revise. (you may just want a portion of the voucher)
2.Enter Recalculate Balance

4. If want to add additional activities, select “Add Activity” and do Step 2 and 3 again.

5. Designate the reason fro revision in the dropdown menu.

By ‘Saving’ this action, a Draw Approver can know take action.

To revise a voucher so that the amount is applied to more than one activity, you will need to revise the revised voucher.

Approving Vouchers

Let’s approve a voucher.

Voucher Process Review

This chart represents the voucher process from both the voucher creation and voucher approval sides. Note the tasks for each user permission type by step in the process. Only at the obligation step do the two users overlap permissions.

Drawdown Module Review

•Approve Draw
•Draw Corrections

To briefly review some of the key points made in the section:

Work with your field office to ensure all obligations meet the NSP definition of “obligation.”

All funds are obligated and drawn at the activity level.

Be aware of the daily draw threshold and be ready to provide additional data to HUD for approval.

There are multiple ways to correct drawdowns. The method to correct the data depends on the voucher’s status.

Drawdown Module Review

•Drawdown Process

- –Obligate Funds
- –Create Draw Voucher
- –Approve Draw Voucher
- –Over Threshold?

- - •Yes – Send additional info to HUD for approval
  - •No – wire transfer in 2-3 days

•Additional Functions
- –Draw Corrections
  - •Revise
  - •Reject
  - •Cancel
- –Program Income

•The request for funds is called a “drawdown” request, thus the name of the module.
•Each drawdown request becomes a “voucher,” or a record of the drawdown request against the grant line of credit.
•In order to draw down grant funds and receive reimbursement from the U.S. Treasury, you must complete several tasks within DRGR. These are summarized below. Detailed instructions on completing each of these tasks will be provided later in this section. It is assumed that a grantee has already set-up their Action Plan and submitted and received approval on the original submission.

- oObligate grant funds to an activity from a project.
- oCreate the voucher.
- oApprove the voucher.

•Note that if a voucher line item exceeds a drawdown threshold, it is forwarded to HUD for approval before being submitted to LOCCS.

DRGR will then automatically “send” the voucher to the federal Line of Credit Control System, also called “LOCCS.”

- oThis is the system used to directly reimburse grant funds to grantees.
- oIt is an interface with the U.S. Treasury.
- oLOCCS will receive and process the item overnight.
- oFunds will be wired to you two to three days from when the voucher is processed.

•Please remember that the ability to perform these tasks is restricted by the user permissions granted to the individual DRGR user.
•DRGR also allows draws to be revoked, cancelled, and revised, and for program income to be reported as received and applied.

Admin Module

Yesterday, instructions for activating a new user and (re)certifying a user were detailed.

This ‘Admin Module’ section reviews the Monitoring, Audit, and Technical Assistance functionality.

Admin Module Overview

•Purpose

- –Control user access to grants (via Grantee Admin user)
- –Helps grantees keep track of their oversight activities (optional)

- - •Document monitoring, audit, and technical assistance activities
  - •Record findings, concerns
- –Keeps HUD informed of grantee monitoring and TA actions (optional)

•HUD FO role:
- –Can review grantee’s activities
- –NOT for HUD staff to report on HUD’s monitoring activities

Note: the first bullet under PURPOSE was discussed yesterday when detailing a Grantee Admin users role and responsibility.

The purpose of the Admin Module is three-fold:

•We previously discussed the Admin Module when covering activating and certifying Users in the system (for the Grantee Administrator). The focus of this section will be on Monitoring, Audit, and TA functionality.

•As of version 6.5, the Admin Module provides screens for grantee users to report on oversight actions they carry out as part of meeting their responsibilities for day-to-day management of their grant programs. In DRGR, these are called monitoring, audit, and technical assistance (TA) events. These screens are not for HUD staff to report on monitoring activities – they are for grantees to report on their monitoring activities. The information entered here will be for HUD staff and grantees only. At this point, it is optional for a grantee to enter information here.

•It is important to remember that this module is not a monitoring system in itself. It is only for reporting very basic summary level information about the number of visits and reports related to a grantee’s oversight of the activities funded under their grants in the DRGR system. In general, the information requested on visits is limited to the dates of visits and reports as well as very high-level categories of compliance issues reviewed such as national objective, eligible activities, financial management, environmental review, etc.

Any DRGR user can view this information, but relatively little is part of public documents.

This slide shows how the Admin Module is a two-tier hierarchy system.

1. 1.Events/Reports;
2. 2.Findings/Concerns/TA Topics

•For the first level, grantees enter in the start and end dates of monitoring, audits and/or TA visits as well as the date of reports. Grantees can also identify which activities have been reviewed or assisted as well as the major categories of topics covered in reviews or assistance. In monitoring and audits events, findings and/or concerns may be reported as resolved during the report process or left open.

There are four different types of events to report on:

- •Monitoring is the formal review for compliance of subrecipients and other partner organizations.

- •Audits are the formal review of financial management systems for subrecipients.

- •Technical Assistance is training and assistance provided to subrecipients and other partner organizations to ensure compliance with all of the applicable federal regulations.

- •Monitoring/Technical Assistance is a combination of the two activities.

•For the second level, grantees should identify any findings and concerns made, as well as their status and corrective actions. Based on the type of event chosen, a grantee may enter a Finding, Concern, and/or Topic. For technical assistance, grantees can identify the basic categories of topics covered.

At the 1st Level (Event), a grantee must choose from a drop down menu of Program Requirement categories. These are categories that a grantee may choose from to demonstrate the type of work reviewed during that Event. These categories are unique to each appropriation.

At the 2nd Level (Finding, Concern and/or Topic), only categories selected at the 1st Level for review during a visit will show as options when users are selecting findings, concerns, and audit or TA topics.

These categories are based on CPD monitoring handbook exhibits.

1st Level: Add/Edit Event

•What: Event Type

- –Monitoring
- –Audit
- –Technical Assistance
- –Monitoring/Technical Assistance
•Funding Type: Grant #
•Who: Responsible Org
•Where: Onsite or Remote
•When: Start, End, and Report Date
•Result:
- –Finding or Concern
- –TA or Audit Topic

•Any grantee DRGR user with more than VIEW ONLY rights can add monitoring, audit, and TA events by selecting the ADMIN module from the main navigation bar and then selecting the link to ADD MONITORING/AUDIT/TA from the left navigation frame after the admin module is active.

One caveat: If an Audit does not have a start and/or end date for the engagement, then a grantee may enter the period of time covered by the audit.

1st Level: Add/Edit Event

2nd Level: Add/Edit Finding

•Finding ID & Title
•Description of Finding, including regulatory citation
•Activities
•Program Requirement
•Corrective Action
•Amount Requested
•Amount Recovered
•Status: Open or Closed
•Follow Up Action

The list on this slide shows all the data points that need to be entered for each finding.

2nd Level: Add/Edit Finding

2nd Level: Findings - Corrective Action

•No Action Required

•Corrective Actions

- –Reprogram Funds
- –Reimburse
- –Change Payment
- –End/Alter
- –Future Grant
- –Other

Sanctions

- –Hearing
- –Reduce/Suspend/ De-obligate Funds
- –Reduce future grant
- –Terminate grant
- –Other

This slide shows the different options available from the Corrective Action Categories dropdown.

2nd Level: Add/Edit Concern

•ID & Title
•Activities
•Program Requirement
•Description
•Recommended Action
•Status: Open or Closed

As there are with adding a Finding, there are DRGR pages to Add/Edit a Concern. Listed above is the specific information that should to be reported.

Each field is defined the same as the Finding fields.

2nd Level: Add/Edit Concern

2nd Level: Add/Edit Audit Topic

•Audit Topic ID & Title
•Description of Audit, including regulatory citation
•Activities
•Program Requirement Category
•Corrective Action
•Amount Requested
•Amount Recovered
•Status: Open or Closed
•Follow Up Action

Similar to Findings, the Audit Topic may apply to all activities for an activity, or users can go through the Select Activities button to identify specific activities.

2nd Level: Add/Edit Audit Topic

This is a continuation of the Audit Topic entry on the previous slide.

2nd Level: Add/Edit TA Topic

•TA Topic ID & Title
•Description of TA, including regulatory citation
•Activities
•Include additional Organizations Assisted
•Program Requirement Category
•Rationale
•TA Topic Provider
•Conclusion

Similar to the other Events, Technical Assistance (TA) can further define the work by adding a TA Topic.

Define who did the actual work for the TA Topic, the description of the work that was done, and any conclusions.

Search Events

This screen allows grantees to search for events already entered into the system. The user can search by as many or as few fields as they choose. The Monitoring/TA Event Type will provide a dropdown list of the different event types, such as Monitoring, Audit, Technical Assistance, etc.

Public View: Summary (QPR)

•Most of the detailed information on monitoring, audits, and technical assistance can be viewed by grantee and HUD DRGR users, but is not viewable by the general public. Since information in the QPR may be exported and posted for viewing by the public, only summary information on the number of visits and/or reports is displayed in the View QPR screen and the results of downloading QPRs for printing. If a grantee has not entered any information in the Admin Module regarding the events, then this section will not appear in a QPR.
•Microstrategy reports summarizing more detailed lists of events and findings will be available for HUD and grantee users. In general, these will be organized by event type, organization, and/or compliance categories.

Monitoring, Audit, and Technical Assistance

Let’s work on a case study for the Admin Module.

Admin Module Review

•Module helps grantees demonstrate and detail oversight efforts

•Tracks grantees, not HUD’s, oversight efforts

•Not a monitoring system – only captures summary data.

•Only summary info available on QPR; more detail available in Admin module

This module will help grantees demonstrate how they are preventing fraud, waste, and abuse.

These screens are not for HUD staff to report on monitoring activities — they are for grantees to report on their monitoring activities. The information entered here will be for HUD staff and grantees only.

It is important to remember that this module is not a monitoring system in itself. It is only for reporting very basic summary-level information about the number of visits and reports related to a grantee’s oversight of the activities funded under their grants in the DRGR system.

DRGR Reports

This section will review the reports module by detailing the standard and public reports in addition to learning how to modifying and saving reports.

Reports

•Purpose:

- –Reports provide a relatively quick and easy way of accessing the most up-to-date information in DRGR related to user accounts, obligations and drawdowns, report status, etc.

•HUD FO:
- –Examine financial information and user account info
- –Determine AP/QPR review status.
•Grantee:
- –Examine financial information and user account info
- –Determine AP/QPR status.

Which reports you can access will vary based on

the type of account you have. It is a purely OPTIONAL module.

The reports available in the Reports Module can be useful for a number of reasons.

•Quickly check the status of financial information and documents (Action Plans and QPRs).
•Troubleshoot common issues (e.g., user role issues) quickly and without the need to call for assistance.
•Create and save reports based on the information most useful to you.
•Use the Subscribe function to receive reports on a regular basis.

Note: Reports are a snapshot of that moment’s data in DRGR. If you want to see trends over time, there may be a report for that.

Unlike any other module in DRGR, a grantee may choose never to utilize this module. However, as it is extremely helpful in troubleshooting issues for a grantee, we will review the functionality and provide examples.

103

Accessing Reports

104

Navigating to the folder containing the canned reports available in DRGR can be a bit tricky. The graphic above will help guide you through the process. The final folder will say “Grantee User Reports” or “Field Office User Reports” — depending on your role in the system.

104

Public vs. Standard Reports

104

•Public Report: Interactive charts and graphs showing progress by grants, activity category or grantee projects. Contain any shared reports that can be accessed by all users

•Standard Reports: Data files like spreadsheets used for tracking and quality control often containing data at the activity level. More commonly used by grantees.

There are two main categories of reports: Public and Standard.

105

Standard Reports

•Administrative Reports

- –User information
- –Action Plan/QPR status
•Financial Reports
- –Budgets
- –Disbursements
- –Cumulative financial data
•Performance Reports
- –Beneficiary measures

105

There are three types of Standard Reports in DRGR: Administrative, Financial and Performance. These are canned reports HUD has created for you.

As well, there are reports that pull cumulative information and others that pull information by quarter. Cumulative total reports assist a grantee in identify macro problems . The quarter reports may assist a granted in identifying a recurring pattern for an issue.

106

Standard Reports: Admin

106

Admin Rept01a: GRANT - DRGR Grant Status and CPD Contact		Admin Rept02a: ACTPLN - Grant and DRGR Action Plan Review Status
This report shows grant status, including drawdown and obligation blocks. It also includes CPD contact for each grant. If info needs to be updated, please send to DRGR_Help mailbox.		This report shows whether grant is blocked from drawdowns as well as the date of the last DRGR AP approval and the current status of the DRGR AP.
Admin Rept02b: ACTPLN - Activity Status with Start and End Dates		Admin Rept03a: QPR - Report Status
Performance data in this report is aggregated measure types so the numbers are not meaningful in themselves. It is only include as an indicator of whether accomplishments were entered or not.		This report will only show the status of QPRs that have been added by grant. Grantees must add each QPR as they are due.
Admin Rept03b: QPR - Exec Summary Progress Narrative		Admin Rept04a Modified: USERS - Grantee DRGR Users Account Status
This report shows the overall progress narrative at the grant level by QPR		This is a fully prompted report that can be used as a template for building other reports.
Admin Rept04a: USERS - Grantee DRGR Users Account Status		Admin Rept04b Modified: USERS - Grantee Users with System Role and Certification Status
This is a master list of all grantee DRGR user accounts.		This is a fully prompted report that can be used as a template for building other reports.
Admin Rept04b: USERS - Grantee DRGR Users with System Role and Certification Status		Admin Rept04c: USERS - Grantee DRGR Users Access by Grant
This report shows system role and recertification status for grantee users. Grantee admin users must be recertified by CPD representatives and other grantee users are certified by grantee admin users. Recertifications are required every 6 months.		This report will only show users assigned to grants by grantee system administrators. This step must be done when new grantee user accounts or grants are added to DRGR.
Admin Rept05a: ADMIN - Responsible Organization List		Admin Rept05b: ADMIN- Oversight Events - Event Level
This organization is a master list of responsible organizations and associated data by grantee.		This is a fully prompted report that can be used as a template for building other reports.
Admin Rept05c: ADMIN- Oversight Events - Topic Level
This is a fully prompted report that can be used as a template for building other reports.

This and the following two slides will highlight some of the most commonly used reports for each section.

•The first report circled will show the grantee which individuals in their organization have access and the status of their access to each grant if there are multiple grants.
•The second, Admin Report 05, will provide a list of all Responsible Organizations that have been entered into DRGR and are associated with the grantee.

This slide shows the results page of Admin Report 04b. This report will tell you who needs to be certified or recertified and what their system roles are.

•Mr. Sanchez has an Active account, but needs to be recertified in order to access DRGR.
•Ms. Morris is the Drawdown Approver user.

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Standard Reports: Financial (Fin)

Fin Rept01a: ACTPLN- Grant Budgets by National Objective - Activity Level		Fin Rept01b: ACTPLN - DRGR Grant Activity Budgets by Project
This report can be used to create a master list of activities for each grant.		This report shows activities and their budgets by project. NOTE: Since this is an activity level report, project budgets will repeat on each activity row within the project.
Fin Rept01c: DRAWS- Budget and Disbursements by National Objective - Grant Level		Fin Rept02a: DRAWS- Voucher Status by Line Item and QPR Begin Date- Grant Funds
This is a summary report at the grant level. It will only show amounts budgeted and disbursed from activities entered into DRGR.		This report shows the status, approval dates, and LOCCS submit date for each voucher line item using GRANT FUNDS by project, activity, and responsible organization. The report now includes a dropdown for QPR BEGIN DATE and GRANT PROGRAM.
Fin Rept02b: DRAWS- Voucher Status by Line Item - Program Income		Fin Rept02c: Voucher Revision Report - Grant Funds NP
This report shows the status and approval dates for each voucher line item using program income by project, activity, and responsible organization.		This report shows the amount of funds distributed across activities on REVISED voucher line items for activities with grant funds. It includes creation and approval users/dates.
Fin Rept03: DRAWS - Voucher Status by Line Item - Grant Funds		Fin Rept04: DRAWS - Voucher Line Item Status by Project - Grant Funds
This is a report showing the status and action dates of voucher line items (note: draws before Jan.1, 2009 are simulated from QPRs). SORTED BY VOUCHER AND VOUCHER ITEM #		This is a report showing the status and action dates of voucher line items (note: draws before Jan.1, 2009 are simulated from QPRs) SORTED BY PROJECT and ACTIVITY #
Fin Rept05a: CUM - Program Income - Grant Level		Fin Rept05b: CUM - Program Income - Activity Level
This is a report showing data at the grant level program income disbursements recorded in the drawdown module and program income received across all QPRs (regardless of QPR status)		This report shows data at the activity-level: a) grant funds budgeted, b) grant fund obligations and approved grant and program income disbursements recorded in the drawdown module and c) program income received across all QPRs

Standard Reports: Financial (Fin)

Fin Rept05c: Receipts by Project and Activity		Fin Rept05d: Program Income Account Summary
This report shows Receipts in the Drawdown module recorded for Program Income and RLFs. (Note: Receipts before Dec.3, 2011 are simulated PI Received amounts recorded in QPRs from before that date)		This report shows the sum of activity budgets, obligations, program income received, and program income disbursed within each PI account. It does not include any activities not assigned to a PI account.
Fin Rept06: CUM - Fin Data - Grant Level		Fin Rept06b: CUM - NSP Financial Summ - Grant Level - LH25
This report shows grant-level financial data entered or calculated by quarter. It includes grant funds and program income. Grant obligations entered from Jan 09 are updated amounts rather than incremental.		This report shows a grant-level snapshot of financial activity for activities benefiting households below 50% AMI
Fin Rept07: CUM - Grant Funds Fin Summ - Project Level		Fin Rept07b: CUM - Cumulative Data - Activity Level by Resp Org, Act Type and Nat Obj
This is a report showing data at the project level from the latest DRGR Action Plan and across all QPRs (regardless of QPR status) SORTED BY STATE, GRANT # and PROJECT #.		This is a report showing financial data at the activity level from the latest DRGR Action Plan, from the drawdown module as of the date the report is pulled, and across all QPRs regardless of QPR status. W/ RESP ORG, ACT TYPE AND NAT OBJ.
Fin Rept07c: QPR - Fin Data by Activity and Quarter		Fin Rept08a: CUM - Grant Funds Budget and Cumulative Data - Activity Level by Resp Org, Act Type and Nat Obj
This report shows activity-level financial data entered or calculated by quarter. This can be used to troubleshoot data entry errors across quarters. Report updated to include project # and title. QPRs only show if financial activity during quarter.		This is a report showing data at the activity level from the latest DRGR Action Plan and across all QPRs (regardless of QPR status) W/ RESP ORG, ACT TYPE AND NAT OBJ
Fin Rept08b: CUM - Grant Funds Financial Summ - Activity Level by Project		Fin Rept09a: QPR - Fin Data by Quarter - Grant Level
This is a report showing data at the activity level from the latest DRGR Action Plan and across all QPRs (regardless of QPR status) SORTED BY PROJECT AND ACTIVITY #		This report shows grant-level financial data entered or calculated by quarter. Obligations entered since Jan 09 are updated amounts rather than incremental.
Fin Rept09b: QPR - Fin Data by Activity and Quarter
This report shows activity-level financial data entered or calculated by quarter. This can be used to troubleshoot data entry errors across quarters. Obligations entered from Jan 09 are updated amounts rather than incremental.

Standard Reports: Financial
(Fin Rept05b)

Standard Reports: Performance (Perf)

Perf Rept01: CUM - Projected vs Cum Totals for Performance Measure Sorted by Activity Number		Perf Rept02a: CUM - Projected vs Cum Totals for Performance Measure Sorted by Resp Org and Activity Type
This reports shows data from the latest DRGR Action Plan and all QPRs (regardless of QPR status) Note: Do not add performance measures across activity types		This reports shows data from the latest DRGR Action Plan and all QPRs (regardless of QPR status) Note: Do not add performance measures across activity types
Perf Rept02b: CUM - Projected vs Cum Totals for Performance Measure Sorted by Resp Org and Activity Type - NSP Only		Perf Rept02c: QPR - Actual Accomplishments by Quarter
This reports shows data from the latest DRGR Action Plan and all QPRs (regardless of QPR status) Note: Do not add performance measures across activity types		This reports shows data from each QPRs (regardless of QPR status) and can be used to troubleshoot data entry problems. Note: Do not add performance measures across activity types
Perf Rept02d: QPR - Actual Accomplishments by Quarter HH and HU Only		Perf Rept03: QPR - Addresses by Activity and Responsible Organization
This reports shows household and housing unit data from each QPR (regardless of QPR status) and can be used to troubleshoot data entry problems. Note: Do not add performance measures across activity types		This report is intended to show addresses across activities and QPRs. Each QPR normally only shows addresses entered in that report.
Perf Rept04a: ACTPLN - Beneficiary and Hsg Measure Types Selected - Activity Level		Perf Rept04b: ACTNPLN - Area Benefit Type Selected- Census vs Survey - Activity Level
This report shows the types of beneficiary measures selected for an activity: Direct vs. Area; Census vs. Survey; Households vs. Persons; Housing Units; SF and/or MF		If Area Benefit is selected as the Benefit Type, this report lists activities by whether CENSUS data has been manually selected in DRGR or summary data has been entered using the SURVEY method
Perf Rept05: ACTPLN - Area Benefit Census Method - Low Mod Calculations and CTBGs - Activity Level		Perf Rept06: QPR - Direct Benefit Activities - Beneficiary Statistics by Household Type
If an activity has been designated as area benefit- census method, this report shows the summary calculation and a list of the census counties, places, tracts and block groups for each activity.		For direct benefit activities, this report shows the distribution of households and/or persons by race/ethnicity and Hispanic status
Perf Rept09: ACTPLN - DREF Activity Budgets and Descriptions
This report shows activities under Ike only grants which have performance measures entered for DREF

Standard Reports: Performance (Perf Rept01)

Modifying Reports

Common modifications users perform:

•Move and Sort Columns
•Grouping Columns
•Adding Filters

Three ways to modify reports:

1.Use the ribbon (below)
2.Drag objects
3.Right click over the object for different options

Grantees can modify the reports for their own uses. Common modifications a user may utilize that we’ll go over in the next slides are:

•Move and Sort Columns
•Grouping Columns
•Adding Filters

There are three ways to modify reports in the current slide:

1.Use the ribbon (pictured above)
2.Drag objects (later slides)
3.Right-click the object for different options (later slides)

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Modifying Reports: Moving Columns

Modifying Reports: Sorting Columns

Modifying Reports: Sorting Columns

Modifying Reports: Creating a Filter

Modifying Reports: Creating a Filter

Modifying Reports: Grouping Columns (Example: Activity #)

Modifying Reports: Grouping Columns (Example: Activity #)

Modifying Reports: Grouping Columns (Example: Organization)

Modifying Reports: Grouping Columns (Example: Organization)

Modifying Reports: Grid and/or Graph

Saving Reports: ‘My Reports’

Saving Reports: History List

Subscribing to Reports

2.Click on link under report title

3.Select ADD SUBSCRIPTION

4.Specify frequency for the report

Exporting Reports

•When to Export

- –When selecting the report (only access to one grant)

- –After modifying the report

Exporting Reports to Excel

The above screen should appear after selecting the Export to Excel function. This will allow you to determine how the export appears, (with filters, as an HTML document, etc.).

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Accessing Public Reports

We have just finished reviewing all Standard Reports. The Public Reports folder will contain any shared reports for all users.

There are two types of Public Reports:

•Financial update dashboards: Bar chart showing budgeted vs. balance by grant, project, or activity category
•Quarterly Expenditure Analysis: Graph showing quarterly disbursements by grant, project, or activity category

Public Reports: Financial Update Dashboards

This slide shows an example of Financial Update Dashboards. This report provides tables detailing the amount of funds by (1) grant, (2) project, or (3) activity category that have been disbursed in DRGR. The bar charts below the table illustrate these disbursements and the amount of funds remaining by each of these groupings.

In effect, the bar charts help users see the relative amount of funding across these groupings and how much progress has been made by each individual group.

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Public Reports: Quarterly Disbursements Analysis

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While this report provides a snapshot of progress, the Quarterly Expenditure Analysis reports also break down these disbursements across quarters using data from the Quarterly Progress Reports (QPRs). This allows users to examine spending trends by grants, projects, or activity categories across the life of the grants.

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Public Reports: How to Save

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To save a Public Report, right-click and select “Save Picture As…” from the list that appears.

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Pull and Modifying Reports

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Let’s modify a report.

Reports Review

•Do you know…

…how to access reports?

…how to modify reports?

…how to export reports?

…the difference between Shared Reports and My Reports?

Review the questions above to make sure you understand what has been covered in the Reports Module.

The Basics: DRGR Modules

You should now have a strong grasp of each of the 5 DRGR modules.

Telling Your NSP Story

(Read through bullets)

This section will assist you in understanding:

•what HUD reviews,
•how HUD interacts with you as a grantee within the system, and
•what story you are telling HUD through DRGR about your NSP progress.

Action Plan Checklist

•Purpose: Provides a record of

changes/approvals of the AP

•FO plays a key role: Approval process per each modification

- –Ongoing updates to AP
- –Summary of changes proves helpful
•Usually reviewed in Print View format with additional reports pulled.
•Only reviewed if the AP status is: “Submitted – Await for Review.”

The Action Plan is the starting point of all reporting in DRGR. Proper setup of the Action Plan is key to reporting accurately in DRGR. The Action Plan Checklist is a tool HUD utilizes that assists Field Office reps in reviewing Action Plan submissions.

Field office staff play a key role in the Action Plan process, so it is important to understand the back-and-forth aspect of the Action Plan in DRGR.

- •Every time the grantee makes changes to the Action Plan and submits it for review, the Field Office staff person assigned to that grant must review it and either reject or approve it.
- •It is important for the review to occur in a timely manner because the grantee will be limited to performing certain functions, like submitting a QPR, when the Action Plan is in the review stage.
- •Given the fluid nature of the NSP programs and ongoing updates to DRGR, most grantees will need to make multiple changes to their Action Plan data and will submit the Action Plan for review more than once.
- •As a Field Office staff, you may want keep an open dialogue with your grantee(s) regarding what the changes are per submission. You will not be able to see that readily (i.e., there are no track changes). Therefore, you may request a summary of the changes when they submit an Action Plan for review.

Many FO reps will utilize the Print View format in addition to some of the standard reports. Additionally, the Print View format is posted on the NSP Resource Exchange. It is your responsibility to understand this format and how you are presented to the public. The link to download a print version will appear in the module menu when you select an action plan. When you click on the link, the system will generate a PDF of the action plan that you can save to your PC or simply print out.

A FO rep can only review and approve the AP if it is the following status: “Submitted – Await for Review.”

There is a “Action Plan Review Checklist_NSP3” that walks through several key questions a FO rep reviews. Check out the handouts that accompany these slides.

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Action Plan Checklist

•Suitable User Roles
•Narratives in line with Substantial Amendment
•Projects & Activity Budget Set-Up

- –No ‘Bucket’ or ‘Restricted Balance’ Project/Activity
- –Set-aside Requirement
- –Sum of the Project budgets = Grant Amount
- –Sum of the Activity budgets = Project Amount
- –Budget Caps: Admin & Demo

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It is essential for a grantee to understand what details the FO is reviewing when approving an Action Plan. As this is the “record on file,” the Action Plan provides the outline of the story that a grantee is telling regarding its NSP funding.

For User Roles, HUD will verify a voucher creator (drawdown requester) and voucher approver (drawdown approver) are both on hand in the grantee’s system.

Starting at the grantee narrative level, you want to make sure that the narrative provided in DRGR is substantially equivalent to the information in the published Action Plan/Substantial Amendment. The narrative sections will be slightly tweaked based on the appropriation.

Key items to review for Activity budgets include:

1. - •A grant should not have a budget or activity associated with the Bucket Project or the Restricted Balance project.
  - •A grant must have accurately identified enough funds for the Set-aside requirement.
  - •The sum of the project budgets equals the grant amount. If it does not, the narratives should explain how the outstanding balance will be identified in future Action Plan Amendments.
  - •The sum of the activity budgets equals the project amount. If it does not, the narratives should explain how the outstanding balance will be identified in future Action Plan Amendments.
  - •A grantee must adhere to the budget caps set by the Notices – including Admin and Demo (NSP2/3).

There is a “Action Plan Review Checklist_NSP3” that walks through several key questions a FO rep reviews. Check out the handouts that accompany these slides.

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Action Plan Checklist

•Activity Programmatic Data

- –Activities are broken out by national objective, responsible organization, multifamily complex *, or activity type
- –Check for “too many” activities
- –National objectives: Are they correct/compatible with activity types? Do the proposed accomplishments support the designated National Objective?
- –Are the location descriptions in the Areas of Greatest Need as determined by the Substantial Amendment?
- –Proposed beneficiary and accomplishment data entered: including correct Benefit Type

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Above all else, the grantee’s NSP story is told at the Activity level. One of the main ways to help grantees avoid problems down the road and tell their story accurately is to ensure they have their activities structured correctly. Grantees will have to draw funds and report benefits at the activity level. If the activities are set up incorrectly, the grantee may have to fix the activity setup, and they may need to make draw revisions and corrections on the QPR as well.

•The correct setup will have activities broken out based on 4 characteristics.

•Some grantees may have tried to parse their program into too many activities, which may cause them problems down the road. For example, they may have set up a separate activity for program delivery. Or they may have set up a separate activity for disposition. In most cases, these types of costs should be lumped into the overall activity or end use of the assisted property.
•Reviewers should pay special attention to activities where the national objective selected is incompatible with the selected activity type. For example, Land Banking — as a future activity with beneficiaries that cannot be determined at this time — cannot count toward the 25% requirement; land banking should always be classified under the LMMI category. Reviewers should evaluate whether a grantee has identified accomplishments that do not support the National Objective identified in the Activity. For example, an Activity is designated for the 25% requirement but proposes to assist 10 moderate-income households.
•There are two sections of the Action Plan that request narrative information at the Activity level: Location Description and Activity Description. Reviewers should verify that a grantee indicates, at a minimum, that the Activity will be located in the Areas of Greatest Need. If a grantee details more specifics on the location (e.g., gives specific census tracks or the address of the multifamily complex), then a reviewer should verify that the location is within the Area of Greatest Need as identified in the Substantial Amendment. It is not essential to have addresses in the Action Plan as many grantees will not know this exact detail until a later date.
•The most current version of DRGR now has accomplishments that may not have been in the system when the grantee last submitted its Action Plan. Reviewers should check to ensure that each activity has the required accomplishments listed as goals and that the grantee has accurately determined if the Activity is a Direct Benefit or an Area Benefit and then, housing units (SF/MF) and household (owner/renter). Additionally, if a NSP2 or NSP3 grantee, there is at least one defining green characteristic required for reporting.

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Approving/Rejecting Action Plans

•There are two options to view a grantee’s Action Plan. The first is through DRGR and requires two steps,

1. A.Search for Action Plan then select “View Action Plan”
2. B.For PDF select “Download Print Version”

Public Information: Action Plan

•This slide shows the first of two ways to access an Action Plan. After locating the Action Plan you wish to view,

1. 1.Select “View Action Plan” to see a summary
2. 2.With this summary view a link should appear along the left side that says, “Download Print Version” and this link will generate a PDF version of the Action Plan.

•The second option is to search the NSP Resource Exchange, http://hudnsphelp.info.

Public Information: Action Plan

QPR Checklist

•Purpose: Provides a record of issue areas and approvals of the QPRs
•FO Role

- –Approval or rejection of the QPR in a timely manner
- –Share comments with grantees (if desired)

- •Usually reviewed in Print View format
- •Only reviewed if the QPR status is: “Submitted – Await for Review.”
•Four Sections of the Review

1. A.Overall Progress Review
2. B.Activity Progress Review
3. C.NSP Specific Review

Items

1. D.Further Guidance

Refer the participants to the QPR Checklist in their materials. The Checklist is for NSP1. NSP3 checklist has yet to come out.

Like the Action Plan, the QPR is filled-out and submitted by the grantee and reviewed and approved (or rejected) by a CPD rep. It is the tool for identifying progress towards statutory requirements such as national objectives being met and progress toward expenditure milestones (and, important to note that the Action Plan gives the grantee the template to submit the QPR).

The main role for a CPD Rep is to approve or reject the QPR in a timely manner. They may wish to share comments as well.

And, similar to the Action Plan, it is usually reviewed in the Print View format. It should also be posted on a public website in this format for viewing as well.

A FO rep can only review and approve the AP if it is the following status: “Submitted – Await for Review.”

The checklist is divided into four sections (Give class a chance to skim the handout). We will just walk through some of the highlights.

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QPR Checklist: Overall Progress

•Is the Overall Progress Narrative sufficient to explain the progress or lack of progress of this grant?
•Does it, when combined with the grant-level financial data, provide enough information to determine if sufficient progress is being made?

- –Statutory Timelines

- - •NSP1: Expend amount equal to or greater than allocation within 4 yrs
  - •NSP2 and NSP3:

- - - –Expend at least 50 percent of allocated funds within 2 years
    - –Expend 100 percent within 3 years of such date.
•Program income funds:
- –Do the narratives and/or accomplishment data imply program income has been generated by an Activity but none has been receipted?

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Key elements in reviewing the overall progress of a NSP include:

•The first thing anyone reviewing a NSP grant should do is become familiar with the overall progress of the grant, it needs to be sufficient to explain the work done in the past 3 months and include any nuances a reviewer would see in the data entered. In articulating the nuances of the program, a grantee may demonstrate the unique nature of a their program and the status of its progression.
•The review may be best done in concert with the grant-level financial data in order to understand progress toward statutory requirements regarding expenditures.
•All NSP1 grantees must expend on eligible NSP activities an amount equal to or greater than the initial allocation of NSP1 funds within four years of receipt of those funds — or HUD will recapture and reallocate the amount of funds not expended.
•NSP2 and NSP3 grantees must expend on eligible NSP activities an amount equal to or greater than the 50 percent of the initial allocation of NSP funds within two years of receipt of those funds and 100 percent of the initial allocation of NSP funds within three years of receipt of those funds — or HUD will recapture and reallocate the amount of funds not expended or provide for other corrective action(s) or sanction.

For program income, all funds must be reported in DRGR, even if the grantee has allowed the subrecipient to keep the program income and use it for additional NSP-eligible activities. As this is not a policy discussion on what is or isn’t program income nor on how to adhere to the First In, First Out program income policy, we will only discuss what to review in DRGR.

Three key questions that is asked during a review include the following:

- •Is there is a growing balance of program income received relative to program income drawn?
- •Is there a reason for this in activity descriptions and/or progress narratives?
- •Have funds been drawn but not reported as expenditures in the QPR?

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QPR Checklist: Activity Progress

•Accomplishments are entered after an end-use has been met.

- –There may be a lag between quarters when funds are drawn for an activity to when accomplishments are entered.
- –Grantees must estimate accomplishments in the Action Plan before they can report on them in the QPR.
•Additional review items:
- –Addresses entered have not been previously reported.
- –25% Set-Aside metrics are properly identified in the LH25 activities.
- –For activities that do not appear in the QPR, is their enough information over time to indicate the reason for the lack of demonstrated progress?

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•An accomplishment is achieved once an end use is met. For example, for most direct beneficiary activities, such as rehabilitation/reconstruction of residential structures, grantees enter accomplishments once an income-eligible household is qualified and occupying the unit.
•DRGR 7.0, released in September 2010, made significant changes to the tracking of accomplishments. Remember that grantees will only have an opportunity to report on accomplishments if they were proposed as part of the Action Plan. If the QPR does not include those measures, it may point to an issue with the Action Plan. DRGR 7.0 also gave grantees an opportunity to “back out” data incorrectly in prior QPRs by making “Prior Period Adjustments.” This includes allowing a grantee to enter negative numbers to correct prior period reporting errors. More detailed information can be found in a memo dated March 31, 2011, from Yolanda Chavez with subject line “Review of Accomplishments Entered Into DRGR.”
•Some key items to verify include:

- oAddresses that are entered are not being double-counted. The next slide contains a report that can assist with this review.
- oDirect beneficiary assisted for 25% set-aside activities are identified properly in the “low” columns for race/ethnicity data and renter/owner household data field.
- oA grantee is not required to report on each activity for every QPR.

- - oIf there was no draw against the activity, the system does not automatically include it in the QPR.
  - oIf there are several quarters that pass without information submitted on a particular QPR regarding an activity and the activity is not referenced in the Overall Narrative Progress section, request that the grantee include this activity and provide a narrative update.
  - oFor information at the activity level, the majority of fields are pulled from the Action Plan. Changes may need a rejection of the QPR the a resubmission of the Action Plan. A rep may want to consider approving the QPR but requiring that the issue be resolved in time for the next QPR submission.

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QPR Checklist: Activity Progress (PerfReport03: Addresses)

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This slide is an example of a report that lists addresses entered by the grantee into the QPR. It will be helpful to see if the grantee has entered an address more than once. This report is intended to show addresses across activities and QPRs. Each QPR normally only shows addresses entered in that report.

QPR Checklist: Activity Progress

•Program funds:

- –Are the draws on track to meet NSP deadline?
- –Does the sum of the project budgets = grant amount?
- –Are drawdowns and expenditures reasonably close?
- –Are the administration budget and obligations at or under 10% of the total grant amount?
- –Is the Expenditure line item ≥ Drawdown line item?

**Remember:

Program Fund Drawdown + PI Drawdown = Total Draws

In addition to Program Income funds, reviews must also encompass program funds.

For program funds, a rep may consider the following questions as guidelines in their review:

- •Are expenditures on track to meet NSP deadline?
- •Does the sum of the project budgets = grant amount?
- •Are drawdowns and expenditures reasonably close?
- •Are the administration budget and obligations at or under 10% of the total grant amount? If grantees report draws in excess of expenditures on an activity, then it would be the basis for checking with the grantee and/or monitoring to see if they are drawing in advance of need.

And, remember, that your story is not just the Activity Draws, but the combination of Program Income draws and Program Fund draws.

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QPR Checklist: Activity Progress (FinRept 7b)

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Program funds expended (or expenditures) are self-reported - how much a grantee paid out to a third party, etc. This figure has no DRGR system relationship to obligations. Expenditures are entered quarterly at the QPR - Activity Report level. Program funds drawn down (or drawdowns, or disbursements) are how much money went from treasury to grantee accounts - this is the data that relates to obligations per the drawdown module. This number is calculated automatically by the system based on grantee's vouchers. Grantees cannot draw in excess of their obligation minus their prior and pending draws.

If grantees report draws in excess of expenditures on an activity, then it would be the basis for checking with the grantee and/or monitoring to see if they are drawing in advance of need.

Approving/Rejecting the QPR

QPR Checklist: Late QPRs

•First late QPR:

- –Send an email to the grantee noting the late submission and the next QPR date.
•Second consecutive late QPR:
- –Make a finding of noncompliance and send a letter.
- –Corrective action should include a warning that fund access might be limited if future reports are late.
•Third consecutive late QPR: Contact Headquarters CPD for guidance.

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This additional information is detailed in the Further Guidance section of the QPR Checklist.

•If the grantee submitted a QPR late for the first time:

- oSend an email to the grantee noting the late submission and the next QPR date.
•If the grantee submits a second consecutive late QPR:
- oMake a finding of noncompliance and send a letter.
- oCorrective action should include a warning that fund access might be limited if future reports are late.
•For a third consecutive late QPR:
- oContact CPD Headquarters for guidance.

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Pull and Modify Reports: Round 2

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Let’s pull this report from the system.

This section will provide you with the opportunity to test what you’ve learn and understand some of the common issues that NSP DRGR users have encountered in the past years.

Pop Quiz

•Don’t Worry…No Grading!
•Please organize into teams of three or four.
•I will present you with a potential issue a grantee confronts. Please brainstorm and let the class know what measures you would take to solve it.

There may be multiple correct answers for any particular question – you must give me at least one correct response. You will receive multiple points if you provide more than one correct answer.

•Question 1: You have not received a large draw payment yet.

•Question 2: In the above scenario, where in the system could you go to troubleshoot that will help you determine the nature of the problem?

•Question3: You cannot submit a QPR.

•Question 4: Follow up to number 3, where in the system could you go to troubleshoot that will help you determine the nature of the problem?

•Question 5: You continually receive error messages when trying to save a Direct Benefit activity in the QPR.

•Question 6: Where does the City account for costs relating to failed acquisitions?

•Question 7: How many activities will you need to set up in the following scenario:

3 subrecipients for Acquisition/Rehab, and 1 subrecipient for Land Banking

1.The first sub is doing two Multi-Family acquisition-rehabilitation programs (building 1: 25 units, building 2: 10 units). Building #1 will have 10 units with an income target at 50% of AMI and 15 units with an income target at 51% to 80% AMI. Building 2 will have 10 units with an income target at 120% AMI or less.
2.The second sub is doing a single-family with an income target will be 50% of AMI or less. (8 units)
3.The third sub will have one MF and one SF Acq/Rehab program for 51% to 120% AMI.
4.The fourth sub will first acquire approximately 20 single-family homes for land banking, demolition these buildings, and then hold them for no more than 10 years with an undetermined end-use at this time.

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Common Issues

1.Administrative Issues

2.Moving Budgets and Draws

3.Accomplishments

This is not an NSP policy training. When it comes to discussions of policy, we’ll lean on the experience of the HUD staff in the room.

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Across the different modules, these seem to be the most common issues that grantees will experience with DRGR.

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1. Administrative

•Problems:

- –Access to the system:

- - •Getting locked out of the system
  - •Access to Reports
  - •User Roles and Certification Status
•How to know if you have this problem:
- –Error message when attempting to log on to DRGR or, in particular, activating the Reports Module.
•How to solve it:
- –If timed-out message or cannot access the Reports module, wait for at least 30 minutes. If still locked-out, call the DRGR Help Desk at 1-800-998-9999, and coordination with your field office.
- –If locked-out of the system, check with the Grantee Administrator to verify you are Active and Certified on each grant you need access to (if you are a Grant Administrator, check with your CPD Rep).
  - •A quick way to check the status is to pull AdminReport 04b. If you need to change your user role, then submit to your CPD Rep the change along with your B#.

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Administrative issues can range from getting timed out of the system and locked out to failing to recertify users that need access. Most of these issues can be resolved with support from the DRGR help desk and/or paying attention to this training.

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1. Administrative

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This slide represents Admin Report 4b: a key report in troubleshooting most administrative issues a grantee encounters.

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2. Moving Budgets and Draws

- •Common Problems

- –Q1. How does a user revise a voucher line item?
- –Q2. How does a grantee get credit for funds spent on LH25 that were originally budgeted for LMMI?

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2. Moving Budgets and Draws

- •How to solve it:

Q1: In order to revise a voucher it must first be in a status of Open (not approved) or Completed (paid by Treasury).

1. - •If the voucher line item is Open, the user with the Draw Approver role will reject the amount allowing the Draw Requester to resubmit with correct funding.
  - •If the voucher has been completed, the Voucher Creator will modify the voucher per line item and move the funding to another Activity under the same grant (assuming budget and obligation amounts are enough for the modification). The modifications need to be approved by the user with the Approver Role.

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Please note that grantees can now revise multiple line items at one time if needed.

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2. Moving Budgets and Draws (Q2)

- •How to solve it:

- –Q2: If an activity was originally projected for LMMI, but ended up going towards LH25 and you would like to receive credit for this there are two options;

- 1. 1.If the entire amount that has been invoiced and budgeted for the activity can be changed to LH25, simply change the status on the first page of Add Activity (changes to Action Plan will trigger a resubmission of Action Plan for approval).
  2. 2.The second option may require moving the invoiced and funding amounts to an existing or completely new activity. For this, follow the directions outlined for question 1 and utilize the Reports module to build out what you would like to move before changing information in DRGR. Keep in mind that all Accomplishments will need to be moved as well.

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3. Accomplishments

•Common Potential Problems:

- –Q1: A Grantee does not see owner v renter or SF v MF (when reporting the actual measures in the QPR or when pulling reports)
- –Q2: Cumulative households, or housing units, appears to be over projected (as seen in the QPR or per reports pulled)
- –Q3: I continue to receive error messages when entering data in the QPR for a Direct Benefit Activity.

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3. Accomplishments

- •How to solve it:

Q1: A Grantee does not see owner v renter or SF v MF (when reporting the actual measures in the QPR or when pulling reports)

- –Grantee did not complete required elements in the Action Plan and must enter all beneficiary data in the Action Plan for every applicable Activity (make a note in QPR)

Q2: Cumulative households, or housing units, appears to be over projected (as seen in the QPR or per reports pulled)

- –Grantee may have entered total units completed to date in each quarter, rather than entering only the additional/incremental units completed that quarter. Grantee may need to manually correct data by entering negative numbers in certain data fields in the next QPR.

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The answers to the problems outlined in the slide include:

Q1. Keep in mind that only the projected accomplishments entered into the activity will appear in the QPR to be reported on.

- •All data entered should be for the quarter in which you are reporting, not the cumulative total.
- •Negative amounts can be entered to correct any data errors.

Q2. A grantee only enters accomplishment data that has met a National Objective (i.e., end use) DURING that quarter. If entered total units completed to date each quarter, the grantee will be demonstrating over projected accomplishments in DRGR. Since the release of version 7.0, DRGR will accommodate negative numbers in the accomplishment fields. This allows grantees to bring cumulative totals in each subcategory (e.g., households or housing units) to their correct amount. Utilize the “DRGR Accomplishments Correction Tool” provided for you in this training to assist with calculating the exact numbers to enter.

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4. Accomplishments

- •How to solve it:

Q3: I continue to receive error messages when entering data in the QPR for a Direct Benefit Activity.

- –When a grantee modifies certain accomplishment data fields in the Action Plan (for example, modifying the household field so that the Activity is serving owners where it was previously reported as serving renters), there may be an error in reporting in that quarter’s QPR if there is already data entered in prior quarters.
- –DRGR automatically checks totals across categories and subcategories and will identify discrepancies. To rectify the error messages and complete prior-period corrections, a grantee must first identify the cumulative totals entered in prior QPRs and then determine the category(ies) and subcategory(ies) to be updated.

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The answers to the problems outlined in the slide include (the following case study walks you through this common issue):

Q3. When a grantee modifies certain accomplishment data fields in the Action Plan (for example, modifying the household field so that the Activity is serving owners where it was previously reported as serving renters), there may be a ripple effect in that quarter’s QPR if there is already data entered in prior quarters. DRGR automatically checks totals across categories and subcategories and will identify discrepancies. These discrepancies will result in error messages.

Since the release of version 7.0, DRGR will accommodate negative numbers in the accomplishment fields. This allows grantees to bring cumulative totals in each subcategory (e.g., households or housing units) to their correct amount. A user must make prior-period corrections to save and submit the QPR.

First, DRGR checks the cumulative totals for total households from the race/ethnicity data fields and compares it to the cumulative totals by tenure and income level. If these do not match, DRGR will display error messages similar to the example below identifying the subcategory’s totals (i.e., owner households) that do not equal the category’s totals (i.e., households).

Cumulative sum of income levels for ‘Households - Total’ must be equal to cumulative sum of ‘Owner – Total’ <Number>

Second, DRGR checks cumulative totals, including data from all past QPRs, for total housing units. It compares that data to cumulative totals for the selected subcategory — either single-family or multifamily. It is important to note that users should select only one of these two categories for each activity. If the subcategory total and housing unit total do not match, DRGR will display error messages similar to the example below. These error messages will identify the subcategory’s totals (i.e., Single Family) that do not equal the category’s totals (i.e., Housing Units).

Cumulative sum for ‘Housing Units – Total’ must be equal to cumulative sum of ‘Single Family – Total <Number>

To rectify the error messages and complete prior-period corrections, a grantee must first identify the cumulative totals entered in prior QPRs and then determine the category(ies) and subcategory(ies) to be updated. There are two ways in DRGR to extract the actual accomplishments entered from all prior QPRs: a. Use the VIEW QPR screen to see current quarter vs. cumulative totals. b. Pull PerfReport 1 {Actuals v Projected} and PerfReport 6 {FHEO data}. For analysis of the data, utilize the “DRGR Accomplishments Correction Tool” provided for you in this training to assist with calculating the exact numbers to enter.

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Prior Period Corrections

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Let’s make some changes! Be careful, this is an advanced case study.

Who do I to talk to if…

•…I need a password reset or the DRGR system is down?

- –HITS Help Desk @ 1-888-297-8689.
- –TIP: Be ready to provide your user ID and PIN to the Help Desk staff. Please keep track of the service desk ticket # they provide you.

•…I need a session reset and/or other technical assistance?
- –DRGR Help Desk @ 1-800-998-9999, Option 3.
- –E-mail: [email protected]
- –DRGR question lookup system posted online at: https://lmco.custhelp.com

The HITS help desk should be contacted for any technical issues and password problems. Session resets should come through the HUD Help Desk ([email protected] or the 800 number). If you need a password reset, you’ll get a message that says you have exceeded the number of login attempts. If you have been idle for 30 minutes within the system and you are automatically logged out, you will likely be unable to log in again and will need to reset your password.

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Q&A: Who do I to talk to if…

•…I am a grantee and am missing information in LOCCS (TIN or Bank Routing Information).

- –Your HUD CPD Representatives!

•…I have more than a quick question or our NSP team needs some one-on-one, intensive Technical Assistance?

- –NSP Resource Exchange www.hud.gov/nspta
- –‘Request Assistance’ section

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A grantee should contact their CPD rep if there is missing information in LOCCS immediately.

If a grantee is seeking an answer, in writing, to a specific issue, they may enter it at the NSP Resource Exchange. A grantee may also request one-on-one technical assistance at this website.

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Additional Resources

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You can find information about any updates or major changes to the DRGR system on the DRGR website. For DRGR resources, the resource site listed above is best; NSP policy documents are all posted on the NSP Resource Exchange. For help with the system outside of password reset issues, please contact the Help Desk using the email above or by calling the 800 number listed on the previous slide.

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Question & Answers

Thanks for attending – please feel
free to share any feedback you have with us!

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