HUD funding: Three compliance

must-dos

for affordable housing owners

Read this if your organization, business, or institution is receiving financial assistance as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Updated: August 5, 2020

Many for-profit and not-for-profit organizations are receiving financial assistance as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. While there has been some guidance, there are still many unanswered questions. One unanswered question has been whether or not any of this financial assistance will be subject to the Single Audit Act. Good news―there’s finally some guidance:

• For organizations receiving financial assistance through the Small Business Administration (SBA) Payroll Protection Program (PPP), the SBA made the determination that financial assistance is not subject to the Single Audit.
• The other common type of financial assistance through the SBA is the Emergency Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. The SBA has made the determination that as these are direct loans with the federal government, they will be subject to the Single Audit. 

It is unlikely there will be guidance within the 2020 Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Compliance Supplement related to testing the EIDL program, as the Compliance Supplement anticipated in June 2020 will not have any specific information relative to COVID-19. The OMB announced they will likely be issuing an addendum to the June supplement information specific to COVID-19 by September 2020.

Small- and medium-sized for-profit organizations, and now not-for-profit organizations, are able to access funds through the Main Street Lending Program, which is comprised of the Main Street New Loan Facility, the Main Street Priority Loan Facility, the Main Street Expanded Loan Facility, the Nonprofit Organization New Loan Facility, and the Nonprofit Organization Expanded Loan Facility. We do not currently know how, or if, the Single Audit Act will apply to these loans. Term sheets and frequently asked questions can be accessed on the Federal Reserve web page for the Main Street Lending Program.

Not-for-profits have also received additional financial assistance to help during the COVID-19 pandemic, through Medicare and Medicaid, and through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF). While no definitive guidance has been received, HEERF funds, which are distributed through the Department of Education’s Education Stabilization Fund, have been assigned numbers in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, which seems to indicate they will be subject to audit. We are currently awaiting guidance if these programs will be subject to the Single Audit Act and will update this blog as that information becomes available.

Healthcare providers are able to access Provider Relief Funds (PRF) through the US Department of Health & Human Services. PRF help with healthcare-related expenses or lost revenue attributable to COVID-19. Guidance on what qualifies as a healthcare-related expense or lost revenue is still in process, and regular updates are posted on the FAQs of the US Department of Health & Human Services website. According to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), PRF funds will be subject to the Single Audit Act requirements. It is important to note that while an organization may have received funds exceeding the threshold, it is the expenditure of these funds that counts toward the Single Audit threshold.

If you have questions about accounting for, or reporting on, funds that you have received as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, please contact a member of our Single Audit Team. We’re here to help.

Editor's note: Read this if you are a leader in higher education.

The Department of Education has released guidance to colleges and universities on how the CARES Act grants to institutions, under the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF), may be used. The guidance comes in the form of answers to frequently asked questions, which we recommend institutions read before accepting the funds. Some key answers included in the document:

1. A school has to participate in the HEERF funding to be used for grants to students to get the institutional share.
2. Schools can use these funds to cover the costs of refunds for room and board provided as a result of campus closure.
3. These funds can be used to make additional emergency financial aid grants to students impacted by campus closure.

We urge schools to retain supporting documentation of the proper use of these funds to allow for a compliance audit, should that be required. 

Questions?
Please contact Renee Bishop, Sarah Belliveau, or Mark LaPrade. We’re here to help.

Read this if your organization, business, or institution has leases and you’ve been eagerly awaiting and planning for the implementation of the new lease standards.

Ready? Set? Not yet. As we have prepared for and experienced delays related to Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Accounting Standards Codification Topic 842, Leases, we thought the time had finally come for implementation. With the challenges that COVID-19 has brought to everyone, the FASB recognizes the significant impact COVID-19 has brought to commercial businesses and not-for-profits and is proposing a one-year delay in implementation, as described in this article posted to the Journal of Accountancy: FASB effective date delay proposals to include private company lease accounting.

But what about lease concessions? We all recognize many lessors are making concessions due to the pandemic. Under current guidance in Topics 840 and 842, changes to lease contracts that were not included in the original lease are generally accounted for as lease modifications and, therefore, a separate contract. This would require remeasurement of the new lease contract and related right-of-use asset. FASB recognized this issue and has published a FASB Staff Questions and Answers (Q&A) Document,  Topic 842 and Topic 840: Accounting for Lease Concessions Related to the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Under this new guidance, if lease concessions are made relating to COVID-19, entities do not need to analyze each contract to determine if a new contract has been entered into, and will have the option to apply, or not to apply, the lease modification provisions of Topics 840 and 842.

Implementation of the lease accounting standard will most likely be delayed for Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) entities as well. On April 15, 2020, the GASB issued an exposure draft that would delay most GASB statements and implementation guides due to be implemented for fiscal years 2019 and later. Most notably, this includes Statement 84, Fiduciary Activities, and Statement 87, Leases. Comments on the proposal will be accepted through April 30, and the board plans to consider a final statement for issuance on May 8. More information may be found in this article from the Journal of Accountancy: GASB proposes postponing effective dates due to pandemic.

More information

Whether you are a FASB or GASB entity, you can expect a delay in the implementation of the lease standard. If you have questions, please contact a member of our financial statement audit team. For other COVID-19 related resources, please refer to BerryDunn’s COVID-19 Resources Page.

Editor's note: Read this if you are a leader in higher education.

The Department of Education (ED) has released the first round of guidance to colleges and universities, with more detail to begin issuing much-needed emergency funding grants to students from the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF), provided as part of the CARES Act.

The guidance clarifies a variety of questions about the portion of the funding to be used for emergency financial aid grants to students, most notably:

• These funds cannot be used to fund room and board refunds.
• These funds cannot be used to cover overdue student bills at the institution.
• Only students eligible to participate in Title IV programs may receive emergency financial aid grants. Students who have not filed a FAFSA but who are eligible to file a FAFSA may receive emergency financial aid grants.

A broader summary from NASFAA can be found here.

While not specifically addressed in this guidance, the HEERF has been provided a CFDA number which leads our team to believe there is a good likelihood these funds will be included in some fashion under the Uniform Guidance compliance audits. We urge schools to retain adequate documentation from their decision making process to allow for a compliance audit, should that be required. We anticipate additional guidance on the HEERF will be forthcoming as schools begin to award the grants to students.

Questions?
Please contact Renee Bishop, Sarah Belliveau, or Mark LaPrade. We’re here to help.

As resources are released to help higher education institutions navigate the rapidly changing landscape, we will add important links and information to this blog post:

Industry resources:
US Department of Education (ED)

• COVID-19 information and resources for schools and school personnel
• FAQs related to COVID-19
• Guidance for interruptions of study related to COVID-19

Guidance for colleges:

• How might colleges benefit from the coronavirus stimulus package?
• Update from ED on CARES Act grants to students

Guidance on leases:
FASB and GASB news: Postponement of the lease accounting standards

We are here to help
Please contact the BerryDunn higher education team if you have any questions, or would like to discuss your specific situation.

Editor's note: read this if you are a leader in higher education. 

The Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education posted an Electronic Announcement on April 3, 2020, to provide an update to the policy and operational guidance issued in March as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic national emergency. 

In addition to extending the March 5, 2020 guidance to apply to payment periods or terms beginning between March 5, 2020 and June 1, 2020, the Department has confirmed the temporary closure will not result in loss of institutional eligibility or participation. A few other changes to note:

• Leaves of absence due to COVID-19-related concerns or limitations (such as interruption of a travel-abroad program) can be requested after the date the leave has begun.
• Updates to the academic calendar requirements will allow institutions to offer courses on a schedule that would otherwise cause the program to be considered a non-standard term if it allows students to complete the term.
• Calculated expected family contribution amounts will exclude from income any grants or low-interest loans received by victims of an emergency from a federal or state entity as part of the needs analysis.

One trend that continues to permeate the Department’s guidance is for institutions to document, as contemporaneously as possible, actions taken as a result of COVID-19 (including professional judgment decisions, on a case-by-case basis). 

The Department will be issuing more guidance on the impact of the CARES Act on R2T4 calculations, satisfactory academic progress requirements, the extension of the single audit by the Office of Management and Budget, and the potential impact to future FISAP filings. We highly recommend you read the full announcement as it outlines a wide variety of important details. 

Questions? Please contact Renee Bishop, Sarah Belliveau, or Mark LaPrade. We’re here to help.

With the wind down of the Federal Perkins Loan Program and announcement that the Federal Capital Contribution (FCC) (the federal funds contributed to the loan program over time) will begin to be repaid, higher education institutions must now decide how to handle these outstanding loans. The Department of Education’s (DOE)’s plans to recover their FCC (or “distribution of assets”) in the coming 2018-19 year can be found here, with the Fiscal Operations Report and Application to Participate (FISAP) playing a crucial role in the close-out excess cash calculation. Colleges and universities are now faced with two options:

1. Continue servicing their loans, refunding future FCC excess cash as loans are repaid
2. Assigning loans back to the DOE (subject to certain requirements)

Colleges and universities have been evaluating these options since the decision was made to not renew the loan program. There are many considerations when deciding which path to choose:

• Continuing to service loans has the disadvantage of ongoing administrative costs. While there is potential an administrative cost allowance could be paid to institutions that continue to service loans in the future, legislation would need to be enacted for this to occur.
• In assigning loans back to the DOE, the institution will lose any Institutional Capital Contribution (ICC).  It is important to note the decision of whether or not to assign loans has not reached “now or never” status. You can assign loans your institution continues to service to the DOE in the future.

NACUBO recently published advisory guidance on the Perkins Loan Program close-out. This guidance provides a broader look at the close-out process, and explores the ramifications of how the two options above can impact alumni relations. The guidance also provides a useful cost/benefit calculation template and sample accounting entries for the close-out process.

Need help or have additional questions? Our experience with Perkins Loan liquidation/closeout can help as you plot a course through the Perkins wind down.