Head Start Fiscal Integrity Institute 2024
- Start: March 14, 2024 7:30 am
- End: March 15, 2024 4:45 pm
The ever-popular Annual Head Start Fiscal Integrity Institute returns to Dallas in 2024! Make sure that your Head Start or Early Head Start program understands fiscal management requirements by attending this special Institute in the heart of Texas on March 14-15, 2024.
Head Start fiscal management requirements continue to evolve, and the 2024 Head Start Fiscal Integrity Institute will have a special focus on recent changes and the new post-pandemic operating environment. At the heart of this year’s conference will be the Office of Management and Budget’s update to the Uniform Grants Guidance and the effect of that update on the fiscal and general grants management rules for Head Start and Early Head Start agencies. When you attend, you will also learn about cost sharing and matching requirements, recordkeeping best practices, and successful Single Audit preparation. Our “deep dive” topic for 2024 will be the cost principles, which will complement our session explaining indirect cost fundamentals. In addition, the conference will feature a special session examining ethical challenges faced by grants management professionals. After attending this exclusive two-day training, you will have the information to keep your agency in compliance with current Head Start fiscal integrity requirements and expectations. Register today to join your Head Start and Early Head Start colleagues in Dallas, Texas, for the Annual Head Start Fiscal Integrity Institute on March 14 through 15, 2024.
TOPICS
The Annual Head Start Fiscal Integrity Institute has an updated agenda for 2024 that focuses on recent changes to grants management requirements for Head Start and Early Head Start programs. By attending this special training, you will learn how to meet current fiscal integrity requirements while also avoiding the most common Head Start fiscal management findings. During two full-days in Dallas, you will explore the following topics:
- Important fiscal integrity requirements for Head Start and Early Head Start.
- Updates to the Uniform Grants Guidance and application to Head Start.
- Implementing and maintaining an adequate financial management system.
- Issues meeting cost sharing or matching requirements.
- Head Start recordkeeping requirements and best practices.
- Recognizing and overcoming ethical challenges as a grants professional.
- Distinguishing between direct and indirect costs.
- Fundamentals of maximizing indirect cost recovery.
- Properly charging costs to Head Start and Early Head Start.
- Preventing and detecting fraud within your program.
- Preparing your agency for successful Single Audit Act audits.
- Common fiscal management red flags and how to avoid them.
- Answers to frequently asked questions about Head Start financial management.
However, these are just some of the topics that you will learn about during the Head Start Fiscal Integrity Institute 2024. In addition to the planned agenda, our presenters will also be happy to answer your individual fiscal management questions. You will have the opportunity to ask questions throughout both days of the conference.
AGENDA
The Annual Head Start Fiscal Integrity Institute will be held in Dallas, Texas, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Campbell Centre from March 14-15, 2024. (Given these dates, the Institute has a special cancellation deadline, which is 5:00 pm EST on February 16, 2024. Please review our cancellation policy for more details.) The planned agenda for each day is as follows:
Day One (Thursday, March 14, 2024)
Complete your onsite check-in for the conference and enjoy a light breakfast before starting the conference.
This session will present an overview of fiscal management requirements for Head Start and Early Head Start agencies drawn from the HHS version of the Uniform Grants Guidance. The Uniform Grants Guidance forms the basis for managing Federal award and has been adopted by the Department of Health and Human Services as 45 C.F.R. pt. 75 (Part 75). Recently, the Office of Management and Budget announced a comprehensive revision of the Uniform Guidance, only the second full update in the history of the UGG. HHS (and by extension the Office of Head Start) is expected to implement the updated version of the Uniform Guidance following the OMB's revisions. This session will focus on those updates and what they mean for Head Start and Early Head Start programs. After attending this session, you will be able to identify and outline the most important fiscal management requirements for Head Start agencies.
Enjoy a fifteen (15) minute morning coffee break between sessions.
Many Federal programs require cost sharing. Head Start is one and has long required that Head Start and Early Head Start agencies contribute a 20% non-Federal share or match. However, meeting cost sharing requirements or matching can be a challenge. Join Johna Rodgers, GPC, as she explains how program can overcome these challenges and become master "match makers." After attending this session, participants will be able to identify acceptable sources for matching funds and will be able to list at least two ways programs can effectively track non-Federal share.
Take a ninety (90) minute break to sample the Dallas lunch scene. Note: Attendees are "on your own" for lunch.
The boss has done it again, making a questionable decision that is likely to lead to tons of questions by the auditor—or the Inspector General. What to do, what to do?! Tell someone? Keep quiet? Ask the boss? The CFO? Bury your head in the sand or start a new career in food service? We’ll use a bit of humor to address the issues of everyday ethics and job security we face when decision-making turns ugly. Following this session, you will be able to identify ethical issues in managing Federal awards and the proper responses.
Enjoy a thirty (30) minute break between our afternoon sessions.
Solid recordkeeping is often the key to demonstrating compliance with grant requirements. Like many other Federal programs, both general and program-specific recordkeeping requirements apply to Head Start and Early Head Start agencies. Join attorney Brian Tipton as he explains the major recordkeeping, retention, and access rules for Head Start and Early Head Start. In addition to covering these fundamentals, this session will also discuss current recordkeeping best practices and considerations. After attending this workshop, you will be able to identify the recordkeeping rules for Head Start and Early Head Start.
The first day of the Annual Head Start Fiscal Integrity Institute will adjourn at 4:45 pm on March 14, 2024.
Complete your daily conference check-in while enjoying a light breakfast.
What are the "secrets" that auditors wish Federal grantees and subrecipients knew about having a successful single audit? Find out as Keith Hundley, CPA, explains the Single Audit Act process and shares tips for a successful audit from the auditor's perspective. You will learn about selecting the audit firm, preparing for the audit, conducting the audit, and responding to the audit. You will also learn about the most common audit findings so that your agency can avoid them. After attending this session, you will be able to outline the single audit process.
Enjoy a fifteen (15) minute coffee break between the morning sessions.
Learn about the fundamentals of indirect cost from accountant and auditor Keith Hundley during this lively discussion. Indirect cost is an important concept for Federal financial assistance, and understanding this concept is a major factor in the ability to properly budget and manage grant-funded programs. This session will explain the basic ideas and issues associated with indirect cost for grant-funded organizations. When you attend this session, you will learn about the rules for indirect cost as well as common problem areas that can result in noncompliance and potential cost disallowances. Following this session, you will be able to distinguish direct and indirect costs, identify different types of indirect cost rates, and outline the steps in preparing an indirect cost rate proposal.
Take a ninety (90) minute break to sample the Dallas lunch scene. Note: Attendees are "on your own" for lunch.
Can we charge this to Head Start? Better check the cost principles! Cost principles help establish the allowability of items that Head Start and Early Head Start programs charge to their awards. Failure to follow the cost principles can lead to costly disallowances and even endanger your funding. During this two-part, deep dive session, attorney Brain Tipton will explain both the general cost principles and the specific items of cost that govern particular expenses. After participating in this session, you will be able to outline the cost principles as well as identify allowable (and unallowable) costs for Head Start and Early Head Start programs.
Note: This is the first part of a two-part session.
Enjoy a thirty (30) minute break between our afternoon sessions.
Can we charge this to Head Start? Better check the cost principles! Cost principles help establish the allowability of items that Head Start and Early Head Start programs charge to their awards. Failure to follow the cost principles can lead to costly disallowances and even endanger your funding. During this two-part, deep dive session, attorney Brain Tipton will explain both the general cost principles and the specific items of cost that govern particular expenses. After participating in this session, you will be able to outline the cost principles as well as identify allowable (and unallowable) costs for Head Start and Early Head Start programs.
Note: This is the second part of a two-part session.
The Annual Head Start Fiscal Management Institute will adjourn at 4:45 pm on March 15, 2024.
At the Annual Head Start Fiscal Integrity Institute, you will learn about the major financial management requirements and expectations for Head Start and Early Head Start programs and how to keep your program in compliance. You will also learn about important changes to grants management rules and how these will affect your agency. After attending the Institute, you will be able to:
- List fiscal management requirements for Head Start and Early Head Start programs.
- Identify recent and proposed changes to grants management rules.
- Identify common Head Start fiscal integrity issues.
- Describe non-Federal share or matching requirements and how to meet them.
- Identify at least three common ethical issues and the proper responses to each.
- List the features of an adequate fiscal management system.
- Outline the Single Audit Act process for Head Start and Early Head Start agencies.
- Distinguish between direct and indirect costs.
- Identify allowable and unallowable items of cost for Head Start and Early Head Start.
AUDIENCE AND CONTINUING EDUCATION
This training is intended for all members of the Head Start and Early Head Start community. You will benefit from attending the Institute as an Executive Director, Fiscal Officer, Head Start or Early Head Start Director, Governing Board or Policy Council member, Procurement or Contracting Officer, or as a fiscal or program staff member. Attendees can earn up to 14 hours of Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credit in the field of specialized knowledge. (However, please remember that state boards of accountancy have the final authority on acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit.) The experience level for this training is overview. No advance preparation and no prerequisites are required for attendance.
SPEAKERS
Keith Hundley is a CPA and partner with Carr, Riggs & Ingram, LLC (CRI), and has a combined twenty years of experience in private industry and public accounting. Keith is a part of the firm’s governmental services and nonprofit practice recognized throughout the South for its knowledge of auditing standards and business practices. Keith specializes in providing audit, tax and consulting services to nonprofits, as well as federal, state and local governments. Keith regularly serves as a continuing education leader for CRI as well as a certified facilitator in the CRI Leadership Academy. Keith is an active member in the American Institute of Certified Accountants (AICPA) and the Alabama Society of Certified Public Accountants (ASCPA), and is a 2011 inductee to the Troy University Accounting Hall of Honor.
Johna Rodgers, GPC, serves as Principal Consultant and National Trainer of Johna Rodgers Consulting, LLC—a firm she launched almost ten years ago. She works with organizations of all types and sizes as she has for 25+ years. A federal grants specialist, Johna has secured over $200 million for schools, educational groups, and nonprofits. She is a nationally-recognized trainer and one of fewer than 50 Grant Professionals Association (GPA) Approved Trainers. She also serves as a trainer and technical assistance provider for the Kentucky Department of Education and develops training curricula for clients nationally. Johna works tirelessly to improve grants and the grants profession for employees/consultants and the public. She is a member of the GPA Board of Directors, currently serving as President. She is also an original Grant Professional Certified (GPC, 2008) and former Board Member of the Grant Professionals Certification Institute, which provides the nation’s only nationally certified credential in grants.
R. Brian Tipton, Esq., is a practicing attorney with more than two decades' worth of experience working with nonprofits, governmental units, and other grant-funded organizations across the United States. Currently, Brian is Managing Director with Tipton KPCL in metro Atlanta, where he heads the firm's tax-exempt and grant-funded solutions practice. He is a summa cum laude graduate of the Louisiana State University and the Cumberland School of Law of Samford University. Brian regularly represents Head Start agencies and other grant-funded entities of all types in the areas of regulatory compliance, audits, funding source disputes, administrative appeals, and litigation. Brian also consults with organizations on governance, human resources, programmatic, and corporate matters, and develops and presents training programs for nonprofits and grant-funded organizations.
The Head Start Fiscal Integrity Institute 2024 will be held at the DoubleTree by Hilton Campbell Centre in Dallas, Texas. Rooms are available for special conference rates starting at just $149 per night (plus tax). These special conference rates are available for March 13 through 15, 2024, and may be offered for additional nights before and after the conference subject to hotel availability. If you need to reserve a room for check-in before March 13 or check-out after March 15, please contact Chelsea Jones directly at 1-214-706-0105 for assistance. Otherwise, hotel reservations can be made by calling 1-800-HILTONS (1-800-445-8667). Please ask for the special group rate for “The Private Client Law Group” or use code “CDTPC1” to receive the discounted rates. However, the easiest way to make reservations is on-line by clicking here for the hotel reservations page. The hotel reservations cut-off date is February 21, 2024 (or until the block is full). Because of the limited number of rooms available, we advise making your reservations as soon as possible.
Please note that the cancellation deadline for the conference is 5:00 p.m. EST on February 16, 2024.