GENERAL - Proposed additions to the list of elements

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To meet the OMB goals of establishing a risk-based, data-driven approach to managing Federal grants, will require creating data standards for more financial terms. The CAP Group's Strategy 3, 'Manage Risks', identifies financial risk as a potential cause of poor grantee performance.

Academic research finds that financial ratios derived from statistics in audited financial statements can help predict financial distress events such as bankruptcy and bond defaults. In addition to academic studies, state oversight agencies and practitioner groups have identified a variety of metrics that can be used to monitor local government financial performance and provide warning signals of a fiscal crisis that might necessitate state intervention.

Following is a sample of academic and practitioner literature on fiscal monitoring:

Name	Author / Journal (if applicable)	Year
Evaluating Financial Condition: A Handbook for Local Government	Karl Nollenberger, et. al. for the International City/County Management Association (ICMA)	2003
Fiscal Stress Monitoring System Manual - New York State	New York State Comptroller	2017
Local Governments and Fiscal Distress - Ohio	Ohio State Auditor	2018
Local Government Fiscal Distress Monitoring - Virginia	Virginia Auditor of Public Accounts	2018
Local Fiscal Distress - Measurement and Prediction	Evgenia Gorina, et. al., Public Budgeting and Finance	2017
State Fiscal Rankings	Eileen Norcoss, et. al, Mercatus Center,	2018
A Methodology for Measuring the Financial Vulnerability of Charitable Nonprofit Organizations	Howard Tuckman and Cyril Chang, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly	1991
Determinants of the recovery of financially distressed nonprofits	Elizabeth Searing, Nonprofit Management and Leadership	2018

Fiscal metrics identified in this literature can be used by federal oversight agencies for grantee risk analysis. To make such monitoring possible, these financial statistics will have to be provided in the form of fielded data elements rather than as text embedded in a PDF single audit package.

We thus recommend that the following data elements be added to the Grants Management Data Standards:

For Government Grantees
Governmentwide Cash and Cash Equivalents
Governmentwide Unrestricted Net Position
Governmentwide Net Position
Governmentwide Long-Term Obligations
Governmentwide Net Pension Liability
Discount Rate Used to Compute Net Pension Liability
Governmentwide Net OPEB Liability
Discount Rate Used to Compute Net OPEB Liability
Governmentwide Charges for Services
Governmentwide Operating Grants and Contributions
Governmentwide Capital Grants and Contributions
Governmentwide General Revenues
Governmentwide Total Revenues
Governmentwide Total Expenses
General Fund Revenues
General Fund Expenditures
General Fund Non-Spendable Fund Balance
General Fund Restricted Fund Balance
General Fund Committed Fund Balance
General Fund Assigned Fund Balance
General Fund Unassigned Fund Balance
General Fund Balance
Intergovernmental Revenue
Total Governmental Fund Revenues
Total Governmental Fund Expenditures
Total Governmental Fund Non-Spendable Fund Balance
Total Governmental Fund Restricted Fund Balance
Total Governmental Fund Committed Fund Balance
Total Governmental Fund Assigned Fund Balance
Total Governmental Fund Unassigned Fund Balance
Total Governmental Fund Balance

For Non-Profit Grantees
Statement of Financial Position
Total Assets
Total Liabilities
Unrestricted Net Assets
Net Assets
Statement of Activities
Contribution Revenue
Grant Revenue
Program Service Revenue
Investment Income
Other Revenues
Total Revenues
Program Services Expenses
Supporting Services Expenses
Total Expenses
Change in Net Assets