Written by Justo Torres, Director, Contracts and Grants.
If you are involved in a federal grant awarded to NC State, you should familiarize yourself with the Uniform Guidance (UG), which is a set of regulations from the U.S. federal government designed to simplify the administrative requirements for federal grants and cooperative agreements.
Issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in 2013 under 2 CFR Part 200, it replaced eight previous OMB circulars. The UG aims to create a more consistent, transparent and efficient process for managing federal funds across various sectors and institutions.
The primary goal of the UG is to reduce administrative burdens on non-federal entities, such as state and local governments, nonprofits and educational institutions, while ensuring accountability and protecting taxpayer funds. It provides clear rules for managing federal funds, ensuring they are used effectively and recipients comply with financial and program requirements.
Key Elements of the Uniform Guidance
- Administrative Requirements: Standards for managing federal awards, including financial systems, procurement and performance reporting, to ensure consistent tracking and reporting of funds.
- Cost Principles: Define allowable and unallowable costs, helping recipients use funds efficiently by clarifying which costs can be charged to federal programs.
- Audit Requirements: Entities spending over a certain threshold of federal funds must undergo Single Audits to ensure compliance and sound financial practices.
- Subrecipient Monitoring: Requires oversight of subrecipients to ensure they comply with federal regulations and maintain strong financial practices.
- Procurement Standards: Ensures fair, transparent and competitive procurement of goods and services funded by federal grants.
- Performance and Accountability: Requires systems to track performance and ensure federal funds are used to meet program goals.
Impact and Benefits
The UG simplifies the regulatory framework, creating clearer, uniform rules across federal agencies and reducing complexity. It also offers flexibility in certain areas while maintaining strong safeguards to ensure accountability. Overall, the UG helps ensure public funds are used efficiently and responsibly, while reducing unnecessary bureaucracy for non-federal entities receiving federal assistance.