October 29th, 2010
Please click on the question to review the answer.
General
Q.
What is the Transparency Act?
A. The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA or Transparency Act - P.L.109-282, as
amended by section 6202(a) of P.L. 110-252) requires the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to maintain a
single, searchable website that contains information on all Federal spending awards. That site is www.USAspending.gov.
Q.
What is required to be reported as part of the Transparency Act?
A. FFATA prescribes specific pieces of information to be reported:
1. The following data about sub-awards greater than $25K
- Name of entity receiving award
- Amount of award
- Funding agency
- NAICS code for contracts / CFDA program number for grants
- Program source
- Award title descriptive of the purpose of the funding action
- Location of the entity (including congressional district)
- Place of performance (including congressional district)
- Unique identifier of the entity and its parent; and
- Total compensation and names of top five executives (same thresholds as for primes)
2. The Total Compensation and Names of the top five executives if:
- More than 80% of annual gross revenues from the Federal government, and those revenues are greater than $25M
annually and
- Compensation information is not already available through reporting to the SEC.
Classified information is exempt from the prime and sub-award reporting
requirement as are contracts with individuals.
Definitions for data elements may be found beginning October 1, 2010 at the
data dictionaries maintained on www.USAspending.gov.
Q.
What is a sub-award?
A. The Office of Management & Budget issued guidance identifying the
requirement to report first-tier sub-awards on April 6, 2010 and that guidance may be found at the OMB Open
Government site at https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/open. That guidance defines a sub-award as generally
referring to a monetary award made as a result of a Federal award to a grant recipient or contractor to a
sub-recipient or sub-contractor respectively.
Q.
Why is sub-award information being collected?
A. The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (Transparency
Act) requires OMB to "ensure the existence and operation of a single searchable website" for Federal awards. The
Transparency Act's definition of "Federal awards" included not only prime awards for grants, cooperative
agreements, loans, and contracts, but also included sub-grants and sub-contracts. The guidance issued today will
begin the process by which we will be able to further implement the Transparency Act and enhance the
transparency of federal spending.
Q.
Federal agencies already report prime award(ee) information to www.USAspending.gov.. Are there new reporting
requirements for Federal agencies under FFATA?
A. No. There are no new Federal agency reporting requirements, beyond
those already required by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Memorandum M-09-19 for grant making
agencies. OMB M-09-19 strongly encourages Federal agencies to ensure the accuracy and data quality of the prime
award information they report. For Federal agencies awarding contracts, the reporting requirements are governed
by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 4.14--Reporting Executive Compensation and First-Tier
Subcontract Awards.
Q.
Who will be required to report executive compensation and sub-award
information associated with these Federal contracts and grants?
A. A prime grant awardee will be required to report its sub-grants and a
prime contract awardee will be required to report its sub-contracts.
Q.
Who is considered a Prime Awardee?
A. Both Prime Contractors and Grants Recipients are considered "Prime
Awardees" when registering in FSRS.
Q.
How will these prime awardees report this information?
A. Prime awardees will report using the FFATA Sub-award Reporting System
(FSRS). The tool will pre-populate, to the maximum extent possible, recipient information from existing Federal
agency databases, such as the System for Award Management (SAM), to reduce the burden associated with this new
FFATA reporting. All Federal contractors and prime grant recipients are required to register in SAM.
User guides, FAQs, and an on-line demonstration are currently available at the
FSRS website (www.fsrs.gov) for the contract sub-award
reporting capability. Grant sub-award reporting user guides, FAQs, and an on-line demonstration will be
incorporated into FSRS on October 29, 2010.
OMB is planning to issue additional guidance to agencies to provide more
instructions for financial assistance reporting requirements.
Q.
How much time does a prime awardee have to report executive
compensation or sub-award information?
A. The prime recipient will have until the end of the month plus one
additional month after an award or sub-award is obligated to fulfill the reporting requirement. For example, if
a sub-award was made on October 15, 2010, the prime recipient has until November 30, 2010 to report the
sub-award information.
Q.
For ARRA-funded Federal contracts and/or grants covered under this
FFATA sub-award reporting requirement, will reporting be required to both FederalReporting.gov and FSRS?
A. For ARRA-funded Federal contracts that are subject to FFATA
reporting, the prime recipient will be required to report the ARRA-funded Federal contracts to both
FederalReporting.gov and FSRS if the contract so requires.
For ARRA-funded Federal grants that are subject to FFATA reporting, the prime
recipient will not be required to report the ARRA-funded Federal grants to both FederalReporting.gov and FSRS.
ARRA-funded grants will continue to be reported to FedReporting.gov only and non-ARRA funded grants will be
reported to FSRS only.
Q.
What guidance or other documents implement these FFATA reporting
requirements?
A. The Office of Management & Budget has issued guidance related to Open
Government and Transparency to include an April 6, 2010 memo requiring the reporting of first-tier sub-awards.
The guidance may be found at the OMB Open Government site at https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/open.
The Office of Management & Budget issued guidance containing specific
instructions on the sub-award reporting on August 27, 2010. The guidance may be found at the OMB Open Government
site at https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/open.
On July 8, 2010, an interim FAR Rule with request for comments was published
that contains information on the FFATA reporting requirements for Federal contracts. Comments were due by
September 7, 2010.
PRA information collections regarding sub-award and executive compensation
reporting requirements for grants and SAM registration for prime grantees was published on July 23, 2010.
Q.
What SAM information can the awardee change in their profile? Will the
user also have to make these changes in SAM as well?
A. The awardee cannot change any SAM information within FSRS. They will need to make the changes in SAM,
then the data in FSRS will update based on the SAM feed.
Q.
What if the Recipient location/project place of performance is outside
of the United States? Do the required address fields, including Zip Code+4 field, turn off or otherwise
accommodate data entry for non-domestic addresses?
A. FSRS is able to accept foreign recipient locations and/or project
place of performance. When completing an editable location field, the prime awardee selects "Non-US" from the
State drop down menu. When Non-US is selected for State, then a non-United States country must be selected and
the zip code field and the Congressional District become optional.
Q.
Will there be any language support for Foreign Grantees?
A. No. Foreign language support is not part of the system requirements.
Q.
You said data was coming over from FPDS for contracts and from
USAspending for grants. Which FPDS dollar value field is being used to determine the proper reporting threshold
for contracts, and which dollar value field from the FAADS Plus reporting format are being used to determine the
proper reporting threshold for Grants?
A. FSRS uses the "Award Amount" (formerly "Total Dollars Obligated")
field value from FPDS to determine if prime contract data meets the FFATA reporting threshold. FSRS uses an
aggregated award amount calculated by Federal Award Identifier Number (FAIN) in USAspending represented as the
Total Fed Funding Amount (Sum of Federal funding amount of base and all modifications).
Q.
Under compensation, if the organization is a state entity or
university, who do they enter into the system as the top five executives?
A. The Transparency Act requires a prime awardee to provide, for their Unique Entity ID (SAM) and the Unique Entity ID (SAM) of their sub-awardee(s), the names and total compensation of the five most highly compensated officers of the entity if the entity in the preceding fiscal year received 80 percent or more of its annual gross revenues in Federal awards; and $25,000,000 or more in annual gross revenues from Federal awards; and the public does not have access to this information about the compensation of the senior executives of the entity through periodic reports filed under section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. §§ 78m(a), 78o(d)) or section 6104 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. See FFATA § 2(b)(1).
Q.
Does the system automatically update or do you need to exit the system
to see if it has been updated?
A. As you save, or save and continue, while creating a FFATA sub-award
report, FSRS saves your information. If you reopen a FFATA sub-award report to edit previously entered data,
FSRS saves the updated information upon either the save, or save and continue command.
Q.
Does the agency have a requirement to ensure FFATA sub-award reports
have been submitted by the prime for grants the agency has awarded?
A. No. There are no new Federal agency reporting requirements, beyond
those already required by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Memorandum M-09-19. However, Federal
agencies are strongly encouraged to ensure the accuracy and data quality of the award information they report.
Q.
What system do you use to confirm Congressional District? USPS?
House.gov?
A. FSRS uses https://www.zip-codes.com/ as the source of the Congressional District look-up table. The
data set includes the 111th Congressional District alignment to the Zip+4 value
Q.
How will primary recipients report on funds given to individuals,
without violating the Privacy Act?
A. Federal awards given to individuals are not subject to the
Transparency Act's reporting requirements as discussed in the August 27, 2010 OMB guidance,
Open Government Directive - Federal Spending Transparency and Sub-award and Compensation Data Reporting
which states "For grants, both mandatory and discretionary grants, equal to or over $30,000, and awarded
on or after October 1, 2010 must be reported by the prime awardee.
The following are not subject to the Transparency Act's reporting
requirements:
- Grants, whether existing or new as of October 1, 2010, that are funded by the Recovery Act. Rather, such
awards will continue to report those awards and related sub-awards through FederalReporting.gov;
- Transfers of title between Federal agencies of Federally owned property;
- Federal inter-agency transfers of award funds;
- Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRDAs), as defined under 15 U.S.C. 3710a;
- Federal awards to individuals who apply for or receive Federal awards as natural persons (i.e., unrelated to
any business or non-profit organization he or she may own or operate in his or her name);
- Federal awards to entities that had a gross income, from all sources, of less than $300,000 in the
entities' previous tax year; and
- Federal awards, if the required reporting would disclose classified information."
Q.
Do these regulations apply only to U.S. primary recipients, or do they
also apply to nondomestic primary recipients? What about U.S. primary recipients with non-domestic
sub-recipients?
A. Yes. With some limited exceptions, the reporting requirements apply
to all prime awardees of Federal grants, including foreign prime recipients and foreign sub-awardees. FSRS is
able to accept Non- US recipient locations and Non-US principal place of performance. Please contact your
awarding agency with any specific questions regarding applicability.
Q.
Do these regulations apply if the sub-recipient is a state, local, or
tribal government?
Q.
What rules apply for contracts awarded under grants?
A. At present, the reporting requirements pertain to sub-grants awarded underneath a prime Federal grant.
To facilitate transparency of Federal funds awarded through grants, OMB will consider future additional
guidance related to the collection of sub-award data. These may include capturing information about:
procurements under grants, grant awardees' costs other than sub-awards and procurements, and sub-awards under
other types of Federal financial assistance awards.
Q.
Under what circumstances must a primary recipient report its own
executive compensation?
A. The Transparency Act requires a prime awardee to provide, for their Unique Entity ID (SAM) and the Unique Entity ID (SAM) of their sub-awardee(s), the names and total compensation of the five most highly compensated officers of the entity if the entity in the preceding fiscal year received 80 percent or more of its annual gross revenues in Federal awards; and $25,000,000 or more in annual gross revenues from Federal awards; and the public does not have access to this information about the compensation of the senior executives of the entity through periodic reports filed under section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. §§ 78m(a), 78o(d)) or section 6104 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. See FFATA § 2(b)(1).
Q.
What do the codes in the status bar mean?
A. The status codes are DRT (Draft), SUB (Submitted) and RPN
(Re-opened). There is a legend in the lower right of the screen.
Q.
Do cooperative agreements have to be entered?
A. Yes. OMB's August 27, 2010 guidance outlines the requirements for
Federal Agencies and prime contractors and prime grant and cooperative agreement awardees (collectively "prime
awardees") for reporting sub-award and executive compensation data pursuant to the Federal Funding
Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 and associated 2008 amendments (the "Transparency Act" or "FFATA" ).
In FSRS, use of the term "grants" includes both grants and cooperative agreements.
Q.
Will all federal agency contracts/grants be available in this system?
Also, will awardees be submitting this information on a macro level view across Federal programs? For example,
if one awardee has 28 grants/contracts, will they be program centric or Federal agency centric?
A. FSRS interfaces with the Federal Procurement Data System-Next Generation (FPDS-NG) for Agency-reported contract award information and with USAspending for Agency-reported grant award information. FSRS takes an 'awardee-centric' approach allowing the prime awardee to manage (using their Awardee Worklist) and report against multiple contracts and/or grants awarded to their registered Unique Entity ID (SAM). The awardee can sort and filter their worklist by type (i.e. contract or grant), by awarding agency, and by other filter terms. They will be able to see, by award number, the FFATA sub-award reports filed against that particular contract and/or grant.
Q.
Who is required to file a FFATA report in FSRS?
A. The FFATA Sub-award Reporting System (FSRS) will collect data from
Federal prime awardees on sub-awards they make: a prime grant awardee will be required to report on its
sub-grants and a prime contract awardee will be required to report on its sub-contracts.
CONTRACTS
In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation clause 52.204-10 (Reporting Executive Compensation and
First-Tier Sub-contract Awards), Prime Contractors awarded a federal contract or order are required to file a
FFATA sub-award report by the end of the month following the month in which the prime contractor awards any
sub-contract greater than $30,000. This reporting requirement will be phased-in (see below):
Phase 1: Reporting sub-contracts under federally-awarded contracts and orders valued greater than or
equal to $20,000,000, reporting started July 8, 2010.
Phase 2: Reporting sub-contracts under federally-awarded contracts and orders valued greater than or
equal to $550,000, reporting started October 1, 2010.
Phase 3: Reporting sub-contracts under federally-awarded contracts and orders valued greater than or
equal to $30,000, reporting starts March 1, 2011.
Phase 4: Reporting sub-contracts under federally-awarded contracts and orders valued greater than or
equal to $30,000, reporting starts October 1, 2015.
Although the requirement to report sub-awards is being phased-in at certain dollar levels, if you would like to
start reporting prior to the start date for your sub-contracts, the system is available to you for
reporting.
GRANTS
In accordance with 2 CFR Chapter 1, Part 170 REPORTING SUB-AWARD AND EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION INFORMATION, Prime
Awardees awarded a federal grant are required to file a FFATA sub-award report by the end of the month following
the month in which the prime awardee awards any sub-grant equal to or greater than $30,000. The reporting
requirements are as follows:
- This requirement is for both mandatory and discretionary grants awarded on or after October 1, 2010.
- All sub-award information must be reported by the prime awardee.
- For those new Federal grants as of October 1, 2010, if the initial award is equal to or over $30,000,
reporting of sub-award and executive compensation data is required.
- If the initial award is below $30,000 but subsequent grant modifications result in a total award equal to or
over $30,000, the award will be subject to the reporting requirements, as of the date the award exceeds
$30,000.
- If the initial award equals or exceeds $30,000 but funding is subsequently de-obligated such that the total
award amount falls below $30,000, the award continues to be subject to the reporting requirements of the
Transparency Act and this Guidance.
Q.
How should auditors test compliance pursuant to Part 3L, Reporting,
steps 10 and 11 (pp. 3-L-16), of the March 2011 Single Audit Compliance Supplement regarding subaward reporting
under Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA or the Transparency Act)?
A: In the event that applicable subawards were not properly reported by
a recipient pursuant to FFATA, auditors should evaluate compliance with these requirements based on whether a
recipient demonstrated a "good faith" effort to comply. Demonstration of a "good faith"
effort by a recipient should be evidenced by proper documentation such as: emails or phone logs of communication
between a recipient and the awarding agency or the General Services Administration; or computer screen shots
that illustrate recipient attempts to upload information into the FFATA Subaward Reporting System (FSRS).
Auditors are not required to report audit findings when there is evidence a recipient demonstrated a "good
faith" effort. However, auditors are still required to report audit findings for non-compliance with the
FFATA reporting requirements that are not supported by a recipient's demonstrated "good faith"
effort. Completed audits which reported audit findings or modifications of opinion based solely on Part 3L,
steps 10 and 11 do not need to be amended.
The auditor is not required to consider audit findings or modifications of
audit opinions based solely on Part 3L, steps 10 and 11 when performing the risk based approach under OMB
Circular A-133 if the auditor can determine that the recipient previously demonstrated a "good faith"
effort to comply. For example, a material non-compliance, material weakness in internal control over compliance,
or a modified opinion based solely on Part 3L, steps 10 and 11 in a previously issued audit report would not
preclude a program from being low risk or an entity from qualifying as a low risk auditee in the two subsequent
year audits if the auditor determines the recipient demonstrated a "good faith" effort.
This modified audit guidance is being provided due to the newness of the FFATA
reporting requirements and implementation challenges that recipients have had with the new FFATA reporting
process. However, it is important for recipients to note that they are still required to comply with FFATA
requirements and the requirements will continue to be subject to audit in FY 2012. Auditors performing 2011
single audits are strongly encouraged to remind those charged with governance of the recipient of the entity's
responsibilities under FFATA.
Q.
How do I de-obligate an Award Amount in FSRS?
A: USAspending.gov will track changes as a cumulative amount however you
cannot enter negative amounts in order to de-obligate amounts from subawards, and submitting a new report the
next month with the amount minus the de-obligated amount is the incorrect reporting process. Any corrections
should always be made in the existing submitted report.
The correct process is to reopen the submitted report with the incorrect data
and process an Overwrite (batch upload or web services process) of the report with all of the correct data for
that reporting period or manually correct the reopened report.
Each report that is created in the system is assigned an ID which tracks the
report through the system, upon submission that ID is transferred with all of the report data to
USAspending.gov. By submitting a overwrite of the original report you effectively can correct any data changes
that need to be made for that specific report.
The Overwrite process should only be used in the instance of needing to correct
already submitted data. This is why the Reopen to Edit function is provided so that changes can be made to the
report either manually or via batch upload/web services so that anything that has been submitted under the
report can be properly resubmitted and it will correct the data displayed on the USAspending.gov website for
that specific Grant or Contract.
'
Q.
What is the correct reporting process?
A: The reporting process is supposed to be one report per reporting
period (month/year) per grant or contract.'Reporting should be completed on a monthly basis utilizing a single
report per reporting period (month/year). Reopening and resubmitting the same report to update for monthly
changes over the life of the contract or grant is incorrect and can create issues with your amounts being
reported and it will make it more difficult to keep track of the reported awards.
So, for example you have Contract A, and Subawardess A, B, C, D, and E. In your
report for January 2014 for Contract A you submitted each of the Subawardee records for your 5 subawards. In
March 2014, you need to correct Subawardee B's amount in FSRS and USAspending.gov for the amount awarded in
January 2014. The correct process would be to Reopen the report and correct data manually, or in the case of
where you have say 500 subawards in a single reporting period (month/year) and have multiple corrections to make
for that reporting period, then you can do so manually or via batch upload or web services and resubmit the
reopened report to correct the data for January 2014.
'
The Amount of the Subaward for each month should be reported correctly, you
should not modify the amount in March 2014 just because there was a decrease in January 2014 that needs to be
offset. The January 2014 report should be corrected appropriately and the correct amount for the subaward in
March 2014 is reported as it is awarded.
'
So if you repeatedly de-obligate the award made in January 2014 for a specific
subawardee then you need to continually modify the January 2014 report to correct the subaward amounts.
'
FSRS is setup for monthly reporting, there should be one report per month/year
for the life of the contract or grant. So, you effectively should have 12 reports a year. This may change based
on reporting requirements in your contract/grant however the end result would be the same, the amounts per
subawardee are cumulative of all submitted reports but the data should be submitted to FSRS appropriately based
on the subawards made each month to each subawardee.
Password Requirements
Q.
What are the password requirements?
A. The following rules apply to FSRS passwords:
The password must be 10-14 characters in length.
The password must contain two each of the following:
Upper/lower case letters, numbers, and special characters.
An example of an acceptable password is: AAbb1234!@
Unique Entity ID (SAM)
Q.
What is a Unique Entity ID (SAM)?
A. A Unique Entity ID (SAM) number is a unique, alpha-numeric 12-character identifier issued and maintained by Sam.gov that verifies the existence of a business entity globally.
Starting Monday, April 4, 2022, the new Unique Entity ID from SAM.gov will be the official governmentwide identifier used for federal awards. Sub-awardees (i.e., subcontractors and grant subrecipients) MUST get a Unique Entity ID (SAM) at SAM.gov. Without a Unique Entity ID (SAM), primes will not be able to find their sub-awardees in FSRS.gov to report a subaward after April 4, 2022.
Click here to read more detailed information.
Q.
Are all sub-awardees required to have a Unique Entity ID (SAM)?
A. Yes, the Transparency Act requires information disclosure concerning entities receiving Federal financial assistance through Federal awards such as Federal contracts, sub-contracts, grants, and subgrants. See 31 U.S.C. 6101 note. One of the data elements required is the unique identifier of the entity receiving the award and the parent entity of the recipient, should the entity be owned by another entity. The Unique identifier used is the entity's Unique Entity ID (SAM). See OMB M-09-19 at 11. For prime and sub-grant recipients, OMB has issued interim final guidance requiring such recipients to obtain a valid Unique Entity ID (SAM). See 2 CFR Part 25.
Agency Coordinator (AC)
Q.
What is an Agency Coordinator?
A. An Agency Coordinator (AC) is a Federal government user who has full
access to FSRS for their agency hierarchy level and below. ACs can manage the agency contacts, approve new
agency contact registrations, review FFATA reports submitted by prime awardees against awards given by their
agency, and run certain reports on data from their registered level and below.
Point of Contact (POC)
Q.
What is a Point of Contact?
A. Points of Contact (POCs) are Federal government users who have full
access to FSRS for their assigned agency hierarchy level and below. POCs can manage the agency contacts, approve
new agency contact registrations, review FFATA reports submitted by prime awardees against awards given by their
agency, and run certain reports on data from their registered level and below.
Awardee
REGISTRATION
Q.
I am a contractor/grantee, how do I register on FSRS?
A. Step 1: Go to www.FSRS.gov.
Step 2: Click on the 'Awardees' link.
Step 3: Click the 'Register' button on the right-hand side of the page under new awardees: register.
Step 4: Follow the on-screen directions to register for a new account. You will receive an email message in
which you will need to validate to activate your account.
Q.
How do I get help registering for an awardee user account?
A. Step 1: Access the FSRS online home page (www.FSRS.gov.).
Step 2: Click on 'Awardees' in the 'Log-In or Register Now' box on the home page.
Step 3: Click 'Registration Instructions for Awardees' under the returning awardees: login fields.
Q.
I am registered in eSRS (for contractors only, not applicable to
grantees). Do I have to register again to access FSRS?
A. No, you do not need to re-register if you have an existing account in
eSRS. You can use the same login credentials to log in to FSRS. Once you are logged into either system, you can
switch to the other system by clicking on the 'Log-in to'' link at the top right of the screen on any page.
Q.
I do not have a Unique Entity ID (SAM), why won't FSRS allow me to register without one?
A. You must provide a Unique Entity ID (SAM) in order to be able to register in FSRS as a awardee user. If your company or organization does not have a Unique Entity ID (SAM), you will need to obtain one from SAM.gov. Click here to read more detailed information. After you have completed your SAM registration, you will now be able to register in FSRS as an awardee user.
Q.
Can I register under more than one Unique Entity ID (SAM), with only one email address?
A. No. FSRS uses your e-mail address as your account identification. Each user account (i.e. e-mail address) can only be associated with one Unique Entity ID (SAM). Therefore, if you need user accounts associated with multiple Unique Entity ID (SAM)s, you will need to register using multiple (different) e-mail addresses.
Q.
Can my company register under one (1) email to be used by the entire
organization?
A. Yes. Although we do not recommend it, if an organization has a centralized reporting structure where multiple people need access to the same account to coordinate and submit FFATA sub-award reports, a company/organization may register in FSRS under one (1) e-mail address associated to their prime awardee Unique Entity ID (SAM) to be used by their entire organization, if they so choose.
Q.
My company/organization name, Unique Entity ID (SAM), contract/grant value, or agency is not correct
Contract A. Contract A. This data is transferred from FPDS-NG and is not editable in FSRS. You will need to update your Unique Entity ID (SAM) and company name at SAM.gov. Once you correct the data in SAM, you must then contact your Contracting Officer. The Contracting Officer will be able to correct this in FPDS-NG, and the data will be automatically corrected in FSRS.
Grant A. The company/organization name and Unique Entity ID (SAM) data is transferred from and is not editable in FSRS. You will need to update your Unique Entity ID (SAM) and company name at SAM.gov. Once you correct the data in SAM, you must then contact your Grants Management Officer. The grant award value and agency data is pre-populated from the awarding agency's FAADS+ file submission. Your Grants Management Officer will be able to correct this in FAADS+, and the data will be automatically corrected in FSRS.
Q.
If my Unique Entity ID (SAM) information is incorrect, how can I fix it?
A. Review the materials posted at the Federal Service Desk. Search for Knowledge Articles such as:
- How do I change my Legal Business Name, Physical Address, or Ownership Information?
- How long does it take to get my information corrected?
Q.
What Happens if I enter the incorrect Unique Entity ID (SAM) in FSRS?
A. If you mistakenly register under the incorrect Unique Entity ID (SAM):
- Click 'Awardees' on the left navigation bar under Awardees
- Click the 'Search Filters' link to expand the search fields. Enter the awardees email address in the keywords field and click 'apply search'.
- Click the 'Edit' icon to the left of the awardees entry.
- Type in the new Unique Entity ID (SAM) in the [keyword] field
- Click 'go' to locate the new company
- Select the correct Unique Entity ID (SAM) from the dropdown box and save the changes.
PASSWORD
Q.
How do I recover my lost password?
A. You can select 'forgot password' from the log in screen, and a new
log in will be emailed to you. Here are a few hints for using the temporary password:
The system will allow you to request multiple passwords. If you attempt to log-in using the first password sent
instead of the last/most recent password sent, the system will not recognize the password. If you copy and paste
the password, be careful not to include spaces. Also, verify that you have entered the correct email address in
the log in field.
ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT
Q.
How can I delete an account for someone who no longer works for my
company/organization?
A. Awardees are not able to delete accounts. Contact the Federal Service
Desk at www.fsd.gov to have the account disabled.
Q.
Can I register under more than one Unique Entity ID (SAM), with only one email address?
A. No. FSRS uses your e-mail address as your account identification. Each user account (i.e. e-mail address) can only be associated with one Unique Entity ID (SAM). Therefore, if you need user accounts associated with multiple Unique Entity ID (SAM)s, you will need to register using multiple (different) e-mail addresses.
Q.
Can my company register under one (1) email to be used by the entire
organization?
A. Yes. Although we do not recommend it, if an organization has a centralized reporting structure where multiple people need access to the same account to coordinate and submit FFATA sub-award reports, a company/organization may register in FSRS under one (1) e-mail address associated to their prime awardee Unique Entity ID (SAM) to be used by their entire organization, if they so choose.
Q.
I have changed my email address, how do I change that on my
account?
A. The email cannot be changed on your existing account, because it will
impact all of your reports. Please create a new account using the new email address. Once you have completed
this, contact the Federal Service Desk at www.fsd.gov and use
the 'Ask A Question' or 'Live Chat' feature to request that all of the reports associated with the old email
address be migrated to your new email account.
Q.
The person who used to do our reports is no longer with our company.
What will happen to all of our data and will we be able to access any previous data?
A. If the person is no longer with your company, the data can be
migrated to another user's account. Contact the Federal Service Desk at www.fsd.gov and use the 'Ask A Question' or 'Live Chat' feature to request that they
migrate the data.
SYSTEM ACCESS
Q.
I am unable to log into the FSRS system and have not clicked on the
link in the registration notification email that I received.
A. After submitting your FSRS registration information, open your email
to look for the FSRS registration notice. In the email, click on the provided FSRS link to confirm your
information and to continue the registration process. You may now log in to your account.
Note: If you are unable to locate the registration notice in your inbox, please check your trash and/or
spam folders in your email account.
Q.
I am unable to log into the FSRS system, because I have changed my
email address.
A. The email cannot be changed on your existing account, because it will
impact all of your reports. Please create a new account using the new email address. Once you have completed
this, contact the Federal Service Desk at www.fsd.gov and use
the 'Ask A Question' or 'Live Chat' feature to request that all of the reports associated with the old email
address be migrated to your new email account.
FILING REQUIREMENTS
Q.
I'm a sub-contractor/sub-awardee; do I need to file a FFATA report in
FSRS?
A. Sub-contractors/Sub-awardees cannot file a FFATA sub-award report in
FSRS. Only the prime awardee is required (and able) to report sub-award actions in the FSRS reporting module.
REPORTING
Q.
Can Awardees who are registered under the same Unique Entity ID (SAM) see each others' reports?
A. NO, they will have the ability to see that the report has been
submitted within the 'FFATA Reports' list (there will be a dash in the left column), but they will not be able
to review or edit the reports submitted by other individuals within their company.
Q.
I am a Prime Awardee and I am unable to change the Unique Entity ID (SAM) that appears on my prime award (i.e. contract or grant award) when entering data within the FFATA report.
A. You cannot make changes to your Unique Entity ID (SAM) information in FSRS.
For Contractors: his information must be corrected/entered in
FPDS-NG. Contact your contracting officer for assistance.
For Grantees: This information must be corrected/entered by the awarding agency in their FAADS+ file. You may flag the Unique Entity ID (SAM) for investigation by your awarding agency. Contact your Grants Management Officer for further assistance.
Q.
I made a mistake on a submitted report and I need to make a correction.
How can I make the corrections?
A. Once a report is submitted, you must "Reopen" the report to make
changes.
Step 1: Go to www.FSRS.gov
Step 2: Click on "Awardee".
Step 3: Login to FSRS using your user ID and Password.
Step 4: Click "Create/Review Reports" and select "FFATA Reports".
Step 5: Locate the desired report using the 'Search Filters' option.
Step 6: Click the 'Edit' icon beside the report you wish to edit.
Step 7: If the report is Submitted, you will need to 'Reopen' the report to be able to make any changes. To do
so, select the 'Reopen to Edit Report' button from the 'Report History' box in the right sidebar. Make your
desired changes and resubmit.
Step 8: Please note, the system only maintains the most recent version of a sub-award report. This new report
will be transmitted to USAspending for display as the sub-award report for that award number and month.
Q.
I am trying to submit a report, but I keep receiving an error message
that says the report already exists.
A. You can only have one FSRS FFATA sub-award report per prime contract
or grant award number, including drafts, per Report Month (month/year).
For instance, if you have two drafts, you will have to delete the extra draft in order to submit the
report.
Use the following steps to delete the extra draft once you have logged into the system:
Step 1: Click on 'Create/Review Reports' on the top navigation bar
Step 2: Select the report type.
Step 3: Click on either the 'Drafts' or the 'All' sub-tab to view the Draft report.
Step 4: Click on the 'Delete' button to the right of the report you need to delete.
Q.
How do I report an address outside of the US?
A. FSRS is able to accept foreign recipient locations and/or project
place of performance. When completing an editable location field, the prime awardee selects 'Non-US' from the
State drop down menu. When Non-US is selected for State, then a non-United States country must be selected and
the zip code field and the Congressional District become optional.
Q.
Why can't I enter negative values in a report?
A. You cannot enter negative numbers in FSRS. You are required to enter
their actual sub-award amount. If a negative transaction is filed in FSRS it will be rejected. You can only
enter the actual sub-award amount in positive numbers. If you need additional information, please contact your
contracting officer/grants management officer.
Q.
What do the colors of the checks mean in the Progress section?
A. Green means completed
Red X means an error or not
finished
Gray means an optional field not completed
Q.
How do I edit an existing report?
A. Step 1: Go to www.FSRS.gov
Step 2: Click on "Awardee".
Step 3: Login to FSRS using your user ID and Password.
Step 4: Click 'Create/Review Reports' and select 'FFATA Reports'.
Step 5: Locate the desired report using the 'Search Filters' option.
Step 6: Click the 'Edit' icon beside the report you wish to edit.
Step 7: If the report is Submitted, you will need to 'Reopen' the report to be able to make any changes. To do
so, select 'Reopen to Edit Report' button from the 'Report History' box in the right sidebar. Make your
desired changes and resubmit.
Q.
Why am I unable to view or edit a report in the list?
A. If you see a ''' where the 'view' or 'edit' icon should be,
then this means you do not have ownership rights to view or edit the report. Another user within your
company/organization has created those reports and only that user can edit the report. If the user is no longer
with your company/organization, you can contact the helpdesk and request that the reports filed by them be
migrated to the new user with the responsibilities of filing the reports.
Q.
What is a Task Order?
A. 'Task order', for FSRS reporting, means a task, delivery, or call
order for supplies and/or services placed against an established contract, blanket purchase agreement (BPA), or
basic ordering agreement.
Q.
What is a Treasury Account Symbol (TAS)?
A. A Treasury Account Symbol (TAS) is the receipt, appropriation,
expenditure and other fund account symbols and titles as assigned by the Department of the Treasury used for
Governmentwide Accounting purposes. If you do not know the TAS for your contract, contact your Contracting
Officer.
Q.
On my FFATA report, the physical address is incorrect but the mailing
address is correct; how do I update it?
A. Address data is pulled from the contract information in SAM & your Unique Entity ID (SAM), therefore, any corrections will need to be made as follows:
Prime Contractor: Address data is pulled from FPDS-NG and can only be corrected by the contracting officer who entered the information. No address information can be changed in FSRS for Prime contractors. If a report has been previously submitted prior to the change, the updated information will not be reflected in that report. The customer will need to 'Copy' the report which will refresh the data populated from FPDS-NG and SAM. The user will then need to 'Reopen' the original report and delete it in order to submit the new report for the same Subcontract Award Date (month/year).
Prime Grant Recipient: Address data is pulled from SAM and can only be corrected by the Grants Management Officer who entered the information. No address information can be changed in FSRS for Prime Awardee. If a report has been previously submitted prior to the change, the updated information will not be reflected in that report. The customer will need to 'Copy' the report which will refresh the data populated from FAADS+ and SAM. The user will then need to 'Reopen' the original report and delete it in order to submit the new report for the same Subcontract Award Date (month/year).
Sub-contractors Data:The address is pulled from your Unique Entity ID (SAM) and therefore any corrections will need to be made with SAM prior to submitting your report. If a report has been previously submitted prior to the change, the updated information will not be reflected in that report. To update the information in a previously submitted report, the Prime Contractor/Recipient will need to 'Reopen' the report and edit the Sub-awardee Information step. Click the edit icon for the desired report, navigate to Step 5 'Sub-contractor Data' and click 'Delete This Sub-awardee' button for the Unique Entity ID (SAM) with the incorrect information. Then, click 'Add Another Sub-contractor' and enter the desired Unique Entity ID (SAM) and click 'Fetch Info from UEI (SAM)' which will pull data in real-time from SAM.
Q.
How can I fix an incorrect award amount?
A. For Contractor: We do not enter contract value
information in FSRS. It is sent downstream from FPDS-NG. If there was a correction in FPDS-NG after a report was
filed, the user needs to copy the report which will refresh the contract data from in real-time from FPDS-NG.
Then, the user must 'Reopen' the original report and delete it to be able to submit the updated report for the
same Subcontract Award Date (month/year).
For Recipients: We do not enter the grant dollar value information in FSRS. It is sent
downstream from FAADS+. If there was a correction in FAADS+ after a report was filed, the user needs to copy the
report which will refresh the grant data from in real-time from FAADS+. Then, the user must 'Reopen' the
original report and delete it to be able to submit the updated report for the same Subcontract Award Date
(month/year).
Q.
How do I de-obligate an Award Amount in FSRS?
A: USAspending.gov will track changes as a cumulative amount however you
cannot enter negative amounts in order to de-obligate amounts from subawards, and submitting a new report the
next month with the amount minus the de-obligated amount is the incorrect reporting process. Any corrections
should always be made in the existing submitted report.
The correct process is to reopen the submitted report with the incorrect data
and process an Overwrite (batch upload or web services process) of the report with all of the correct data for
that reporting period or manually correct the reopened report.
Each report that is created in the system is assigned an ID which tracks the
report through the system, upon submission that ID is transferred with all of the report data to
USAspending.gov. By submitting a overwrite of the original report you effectively can correct any data changes
that need to be made for that specific report.
The Overwrite process should only be used in the instance of needing to correct
already submitted data. This is why the Reopen to Edit function is provided so that changes can be made to the
report either manually or via batch upload/web services so that anything that has been submitted under the
report can be properly resubmitted and it will correct the data displayed on the USAspending.gov website for
that specific Grant or Contract.
Q.
What is the correct reporting process?
A: The reporting process is supposed to be one report per reporting
period (month/year) per grant or contract.'Reporting should be completed on a monthly basis utilizing a single
report per reporting period (month/year). Reopening and resubmitting the same report to update for monthly
changes over the life of the contract or grant is incorrect and can create issues with your amounts being
reported and it will make it more difficult to keep track of the reported awards.
So, for example you have Contract A, and Subawardess A, B, C, D, and E. In your
report for January 2014 for Contract A you submitted each of the Subawardee records for your 5 subawards. In
March 2014, you need to correct Subawardee B's amount in FSRS and USAspending.gov for the amount awarded in
January 2014. The correct process would be to Reopen the report and correct data manually, or in the case of
where you have say 500 subawards in a single reporting period (month/year) and have multiple corrections to make
for that reporting period, then you can do so manually or via batch upload or web services and resubmit the
reopened report to correct the data for January 2014.
'
The Amount of the Subaward for each month should be reported correctly, you
should not modify the amount in March 2014 just because there was a decrease in January 2014 that needs to be
offset. The January 2014 report should be corrected appropriately and the correct amount for the subaward in
March 2014 is reported as it is awarded.
'
So if you repeatedly de-obligate the award made in January 2014 for a specific
subawardee then you need to continually modify the January 2014 report to correct the subaward amounts.
'
FSRS is setup for monthly reporting, there should be one report per month/year
for the life of the contract or grant. So, you effectively should have 12 reports a year. This may change based
on reporting requirements in your contract/grant however the end result would be the same, the amounts per
subawardee are cumulative of all submitted reports but the data should be submitted to FSRS appropriately based
on the subawards made each month to each subawardee.
Q.
How do I complete the State and Country address information if my
organization is in a U.S. Territory?
All U.S. territories are now available in the State drop down field. Select the
appropriate territory in the State field drop down and then select United States in the Country field.
Q.
How do I complete the State and Country address information if my
subawardee is in a U.S. Territory?
All U.S. territories are now available in the State drop down field. Select the
appropriate territory in the State field drop down and then select United States in the Country field.
Q.
What is the Congressional District for a U.S. Territory?
REPORTS MIGRATION
Q.
How can I migrate reports from another contractor/recipient account
within my company/organization?
A. Awardees can only see reports or contracts/grants that match their Unique Entity ID (SAM), therefore, you cannot see or migrate any reports that are not under your Unique Entity ID (SAM) or across Unique Entity ID (SAM)s, and a request to migrate reports under your Unique Entity ID (SAM) must be in writing. Contact the Federal Service Desk at www.fsd.gov and use the 'Ask A Question' or 'Live Chat' feature.
Q.
My company purchased another company that was registered in FSRS. How
do I migrate these reports to my account?
A. The system doesn't allow the sub-award report data to be migrated across Unique Entity ID (SAM). We can only migrate sub-award report data amongst FSRS users within the same Unique Entity ID (SAM). If you have purchased a company/organization then your contracting officer/grants management officer needs to do a novation agreement. The data will be updated in the appropriate system (FPDS-NG/FAADS+) and transmitted to FSRS to allow the new owner to report. Additional questions should be directed to your contracting officer/grants management officer. Contact the Federal Service Desk at www.fsd.gov and use the 'Ask A Question' or 'Live Chat' feature.
AWARDEE WORKLIST
Q.
I can't add a contract/grant to my work list. I get a message that the
contract/grant is not found in the system. What am I supposed to do?
A. If you see the error message 'Award not in FSRS' and your
Contract/Grant does not appear, contact your contracting officer/grant management officer to ensure the
information has properly been entered into FPDS-NG or FAADS+ (whichever is applicable).
Q.
How do I add a contract number or FAIN to my worklist?
A. Contract in FSRS: If the contract can be found, add
it to the Worklist.
Contract/Grants not in FSRS: If you see the error message 'Award not in FSRS' and your
Contract/Grant does not appear, contact your contracting officer/grant management officer to ensure the
information has properly been entered into FPDS-NG or FAADS+ (whichever is applicable).
FPDS
Q.
How do I contact FPDS-NG?
A. If you are having problems using FPDS or need other application
support, contact the FPDS Help Desk at https://www.fpds.gov/help/index.jsp
Contact Information:
Phone 703-390-5360
Email: fpdssupport@gce2000.com
Hours of Operation:
- Level 1 ' Hosting Infrastructure and Severity 1 application issues: 24x7x365.
- Level 2 ' Application Support: 7:00AM Eastern Time to 7:00PM Pacific Time government workdays.
- Level 3 ' Application Support: 7:00AM Eastern Time to 7:00PM Pacific Time government workdays.
VIEWING REPORTS
Q.
How can I sort within the columns?
A. When viewing FSRS Reports, you can sort these reports by any of the
column headers. To do this, simply click on the black arrow in the header of the column you wish to sort by. The
column will display in ascending order. If you click on the black arrow in the header of the column a second
time, the column will now display in descending order.
Government
REGISTRATION
Q.
How do I register in FSRS as a Federal Government user?
A. Step 1: Go to www.FSRS.gov.
Step 2: Click on "Federal Government"
Step 3: Click on the "Register" tab
Step 4: Complete the registration
Your user ID and password will be e-mailed to you confirming your registration.
Your registration must be approved by your agency's designated FSRS Agency Coordinator (AC) or Point of Contact
(POC).
Once your registration has been approved, you can access FSRS
Q.
What permission levels should I select when registering as a Federal
Government user?
A. Your FSRS Agency Coordinator (AC) or Point of Contacts (POCs), can
advise you which level to select.
Q.
What agency office and/or location should I register under, as a
Federal Government user?
A. Your FSRS Agency Coordinator (AC) or Point of Contacts (POCs), can
advise you which office and location to select.
Q.
Why can't I see my Federal Government user's pending
registration?
A. Because the Federal Government user has either:
- registered under an office/agency that you don't have approval rights for
- registered under an incorrect office/agency, or
- didn't click on the confirmation link sent via email.
Q.
I am a government user; how do I recover my lost password?
A. Step 1: Access the FSRS online home page (www.FSRS.gov).
Step 2: Click on "Government" in the "Log-In or Register Now" box on the home page.
Step 3: Next, click the "Forgot my password" tab.
Step 4: Enter your e-mail address
Step 5: Click 'Go'
NOTE: The password will be reset and a temporary password will be emailed to you.
Q.
Is it possible for agencies to be notified when information on an award
is 'flagged'?
A. Not in the October 29, 2010 release of the FSRS grants sub-award
reporting functionality. An alert or the ability to extract the flagged data is something GSA is looking at for
the next release. Initially, Federal agency representatives will need to log-in to FSRS.gov where they can
review FFATA sub-award reports filed against grants awarded by their agency (at their hierarchy level and
below). They will be able to review each report. If there are 'flagged' data elements in that report, they
will see an additional tab containing the data element and the explanation. This facilitates a structured
dialogue with the prime awardee following the agency's own instigative process.
Q.
How does the information flagged by the Prime Awardee get transmitted
back to the associated Agency?
A. Initially, Federal agency representatives will need to log-in to
FSRS.gov where they can review FFATA sub-award reports filed against grants awarded by their agency (at their
hierarchy level and below). They will be able to review each report. If there are 'flagged' data elements in
that report, they will see an additional tab containing the data element and the explanation. This facilitates a
structured dialogue with the prime awardee following the agency's own instigative process.
PASSWORD
Q.
How do I recover my lost password?
A. Step 1: Access the FSRS online home page (www.FSRS.gov).
Step 2: Click on "Government" in the 'Log-In or Register Now' box on the home page.
Step 3: Next, click the 'Forgot my password' tab.
Step 4: Enter your e-mail address
Step 5: Click 'Go'
NOTE: The password will be reset and a temporary password will be emailed to you.
VIEWING REPORTS
Q.
How to view a FSRS report submitted to your agency?
A. Log into FSRS
Click on 'Reports' or 'FFATA' under 'Reports' in the left navigation
This will bring you to the 'FFATA Reports' Section
Use the search filters to locate a specific report
You may enter any portion of the Federal Government Awardee's name who submitted the report in
'Keyword' to narrow your search; and
Click on 'Apply Search.'
This will display a list of existing FFATA Reports
To select and view a report click on the magnifying glass icon
Q.
I am a Federal Government user and I need to review a FFATA Report in
FSRS. Can you approve me?
A. Unfortunately, we cannot approve any Government user in FSRS, unless
there is not an Agency Coordinator (AC) or Point of Contact (POC) listed for your agency. Only the AC or POC can
approve a government user for their Agency. Please contact your AC or POC.
Q.
How can I view the reports submitted by my agency's prime
awardees?
A. Step 1. Login to FSRS under the 'Government User' link on the
homepage.
Step 2. Click 'Reports' on the left-navigation panel or 'FFATA' under the 'Reports' link.
Step 3. All FFATA Sub-award Reports will appear.
Step 4. If you want to select a different status, click on 'Search Filters' and select the desired status from
the 'Status' drop down.
Q.
I don't understand the reporting data fields in the FSRS FFATA
reports. Can you explain?
A. Please reference the data dictionary link in the Tips bar on the right-hand side of the screen. There
is one for the contracts community and one for the grants community.
Q.
How can I sort within the columns?
A. When viewing FSRS FFATA Reports, you can sort these reports by any of
the column headers. To do this, simply click on the black arrow in the header of the column you wish to sort by.
The column will display in ascending order. If you click on the black arrow in the header of the column a second
time, the column will now display in descending order.
Top
About FFATA
For Help: Federal Service Desk Privacy
Policy