List of Fiscal Practices Questions

Fiscal Practices questions are asked on the Program Model page of DYB, to be filled out by your lead fiscal staff or executive/program director.

YouthBuild Global requests all affiliated YouthBuild programs complete this practices section as carefully and honestly as possible. We are collecting this information to help improve our interactions with the field, to lift the collective fiscal capacity of the YouthBuild movement, and to ensure that YouthBuild Global grant making is aligned with programs most likely to succeed in our various funded initiatives.

If you have any questions about the content of the questions below, or YouthBuild Global's use of the data, please email FiscalDYB@youthbuild.org.

For information on how to edit the questions, visit Editing Fiscal Practices Checklist.

Program Finances

When did your last fiscal year end?

How much were your total liabilities?

How much were your total net assets?

How much cash did you have on hand at the end of your last fiscal year?

How much were your operating expenses for your last fiscal year?

How much is your line of credit?

How much of your line of credit was in use at the end of your last fiscal year?

Financial Performance

What percentage of your YouthBuild operating revenues were from your largest funder?

• 75% or more
• 56 - 74%
• 36 - 55%
• 35% or less

What was your largest funding source?

What percentage of your YouthBuild operating revenues were comprised of U.S. Federal funds?

Please list your U.S. federal funding sources.

Were your unrestricted net assets greater than zero?  Yes / No

Is your organization a real estate developer?  Yes / No

• If Yes, Did you have positive cash flow during the past 3 years?
  • Yes, all 3 years
  • Yes, 2 of 3 years
  • Yes, only 1 year
  • Loss in all 3 years
• If No, Did you break even or have a surplus during the past 3 years?
  • Yes, all 3 years
  • Yes, 2 of 3 years
  • Yes, only 1 year
  • Loss in all 3 years

Fiscal Background

Do you maintain a general ledger?  Yes / No

What accounting system do you use?

• Accounting Software
• Excel
• None
  • If Accounting Software, what is the name of the accounting software you use?

Are changes to the General Ledger traceable (i.e., if a transaction is changed is it possible to identify this)?  Yes / No

Do you process payroll internally or do you use an external service?

• Internally
• Externally

Are you subject to one of the following audits?

• A-133 (now Uniform Guidance) Single Audit?
• Other annual external financial audit
• Neither
  • If A-133, please submit your most recent A-133/Uniform Guidance audit report to FiscalDYB@youthbuild.org .
  • If Other annual external financial audit, please submit your most recent audit to FiscalDYB@youthbuild.org .

Have you had major findings on your audits within the last three years?  Yes / No

• If Yes, please explain the major findings in your most recent audit.

Has the organization or any of its current or former employees ever misused grant funds or been convicted of fraud?  Yes / No

• If Yes, how long ago was the misuse of funds or fraud conviction?
  • Within 2 years
  • 2 to 5 years ago
  • 5+ years ago
• What was the outcome of the investigation?

Has the organization or any of its current employees ever been subject to a U.S. Inspector General audit, investigation or other compliance-related audit?  Yes / No

• If Yes, how long ago did this take place and what was the outcome of the investigation?

Policies and Procedures

Do you have a formal, written policy for the following fiscal practices?

• Accounts Payable  Yes / No
• Payroll  Yes / No
• Travel  Yes / No
• Procurement  Yes / No
• Record retention  Yes / No
• Financial Management  Yes / No

Are you in compliance with U.S. federal procurement standards?  Yes / No

Do you check the U.S. federal SAM system prior to hiring vendors or consultants to ensure that there are no prohibitions against hiring them with U.S. federal funds?  Yes  /  No/Don't Know  /  N/A - No Federal Funds

Are you in compliance with anti-terrorism laws?  Yes / No / Don't Know

How are fiscal policies and procedures communicated to staff and how often are people retrained?

• Policies have been developed but no method of communicating them to staff
• Staff are given policies when hired, no further communication
• There is a handbook for staff to refer to, but they are not reminded of its existence or that they must abide by policies
• Policies are communicated to staff and they are retrained or reminded of them at least once a year

Do you have an organizational conflict of interest policy created or implemented?

• Not created
• Created, but not yet implemented
• Created and implemented

Security Systems

Do you secure all physical and electronic copies of all personal information and sensitive data including, but not limited to, social security numbers, birthdates, home addresses, telephone numbers, credit card numbers, etc.?  Yes / No

Is your accounting system and information password protected?  Yes / No

Do you secure your organizational financial records?  Yes / No

Accounting Practices

Does your Board of Directors approve budgets / monitor financial information at least annually?  Yes / No

Does at least one board member have a financial background?  Yes / No

How often are the balance sheet accounts reconciled?

• Monthly
• Quarterly
• Once a year
• Never

On average, how long after financial transactions are incurred are they posted to the accounting system?

• Immediately
• 30 days
• 60 days
• Longer

Do you officially close the books each month?  Yes / No

Does management track travel and other cash advances made to its employees and consultants?  Yes / No

Salary Charges

Are employees required to complete timesheets at least once a month?  Yes / No

Are employees required to indicate on their timesheets which funding sources or projects they worked on and the number of hours worked on them?  Yes / No

Are both employees and supervisors required to sign/approve the timesheets?  Yes / No

Is salary posted to the general ledger based upon the time allocation on the timesheets?  Yes / No

Match/Cost-share procedures

Do you track matching/cost-share funds?  Yes  /  No  / N/A

Do you have a method to ensure that match/cost share funds are not duplicated (i.e., that the same funds are not claimed as match/cost share for multiple grants)?  Yes  /  No  /  N/A

Is your match auditable at the expense line level?  Yes  /  No  /  N/A

Are revenues and expenditures for each grant separately identified and tracked within your accounting system?  Yes / No

• If Yes, please explain how revenues and expenditures are separately identified and tracked.

Financial Management and Staff

Please download and complete this separation of duties form. Email the completed form to FiscalDYB@youthbuild.org.

Have authorization and approval levels been established that require appropriate managerial approval for significant actions or financial transactions (e.g. dollar thresholds for dual signature policy, entering into contracts, etc.)?  Yes / No

Do you have a written cost allocation plan?  Yes / No

Please describe how you sustain sufficient cash flow to support a cost reimbursement grant.

How often do you review budgeted versus actual expenditures?

• At least monthly
• Quarterly
• End of Grant
• Never

On average how many years has your financial staff who will be supporting your YouthBuild program been employed at your organization?

• More than 5 years
• Between 2 and 5 years
• Less than 2 years

What percentage of your financial staff has formal training in accounting, or has a minimum of 3 years’ experience in the accounting field?

• 75 - 100%
• Between 50 and 74%
• Less than 50%

Article Keywords / Topics: Data Points, List of Questions