Budget Revisions
The victim services grant management system, Iowa GVS allows grantees to overspend budget categories by less than 10%. GVS will not allow budget category deviations greater than 10%. When attempted, the system will trigger an alert and stop the claim from being submitted.
Budget categories are payroll, benefits, in state travel, out of state travel, contractual services, utilities, advertising, etc.
All budget revisions requests must be submitted via Iowa GVS; however, if there is a claim in any status other than paid or cancelled, the system will stop the request. Download the GVS amendment/revision instructions.
When grantees request an amendment or a revision to their grants, they must initiate an amendment or revision by navigating to Status Options and selecting Initiate Amendment/Revision.
Once the grantee initiates an amendment or a revision, they will receive this message in a pop up box:
Please complete the 'Amendment/Revision Request' form. Upon completion don't forget to submit your amendment/revision request by selecting the 'Submit Amendment/Revision' status option in the left hand navigation.
Grantee then clicks on Amendment Request link in the navigation panel under Amendments/Revisions. If have been other amendments, another navigation panel will open and the grantee selects the one in process.
On the Amendment Request page, select budget revision.
Budget Revision – Grantees are directed to download the budget revision template. The budget template is an Excel document which the grantees use to request budget revisions. To make the budget revision template work, grantees must enable editing and save the file to their computer. Then they click on the editing tab, select replace and enter = into the find what and the replace with fields, choose replace all. Close the dialog box. Enter changes into the Budget Changes column and provide a justification for the changes. Justifications must include detailed information about the change.
Cancel or Submit: The grantee can cancel the revision request at any time. The grantee submits the request by clicking on the Submit Amendment/Revision Request on the navigation panel. This will forward the request to the assigned grant coordinator for review.
Budget Revision Reminders:
1) Do not submit a budget revision for the sole purpose of moving funds to client assistance. The system will allow you to overspend client assistance by more than 10%. Furthermore, you do not need your grant coordinator's permission to shift funds to client assistance.
2) Do not submit a budget revision to correct or make year end adjustments unless you will be moving more than 10% from a major budget category.
3) Do not submit a budget revision if you are moving line item expenses within a major budget category. For example, payroll is a major budget category. Unless you are changing the payroll total by more than 10% you can underspend and overspend salaries as much as you want unless you overspend payroll in total by more than 10%. Here's a reminder about non direct hours: Federal funds CANNOT be used for fundraising; VOCA funds cannot be used for administration. A limited amount of STOP, FVPSA and SASP can be used for administration. A limited amount of FVPSA dollars can be used for prevention. In general, no more than 10% of the equivalent of a full-time employee can be charged to fundraising and prevention. Most of the expenses charged to this line must be paid for with state funds. See the grant manual to review allowable expense at: https://www.iowaattorneygeneral.gov/manual/chapter-25-cvad-fund-sources.
3) Do not submit a budget revision to move funds from one funding source to another. For example do not submit a request to move funds from state to FVPSA, etc.
4) You can over spend a major line item by up to 10%. Do not submit a request to move less than 10% into a category.
5) If you are moving funds into major categories that can be broken down in detail, such as benefits, utilities, contracted services, etc. provide us with the details. Refer to your detailed budget from your application. For example: do not ask to move funds from benefits - tell us to move funds from FICA, insurance, etc. Likewise when moving funds into a category - tell us why and which line item.
It is likely we will cancel your budget revision request if a budget revision is not needed. If this happens, please do not re-submit your request until you talk to your grant coordinator.
If the grant coordinator needs additional information to process the request, she will follow up by either contacting the grantee or sending the request back to the grantee and requesting additional information.
Budget revision justifications must be included so it is clear why budget changes are necessary. Justifications help determine if budget revisions are appropriate and if the changes will impact the approved goals/objectives. It is possible a budget change will also require a modification to the scope of work. They are necessary for audit purposes.
Please note the budget revision request can be denied if the expense is not allowable or is unreasonable. The grantee should submit a budget revision request prior to purchasing expenses associated with the change in budget. Failure to do so may result in an expense not being reimbursed.
The budget revision request will be reviewed within 10 business days and the subrecipient will be notified regarding approval or denial.
Budget revision requests will not be accepted within the last 30 days of the grant contract period, except in extenuating circumstances as determined by the VSS Grant Administrator.
