[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 154 (Friday, August 13, 2021)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 44573-44574]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-17363]



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 Rules and Regulations
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  Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 154 / Friday, August 13, 2021 / Rules 
and Regulations  

[[Page 44573]]



OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET

2 CFR Part 200


Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit 
Requirements

AGENCY: Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

ACTION: Guidance.

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SUMMARY: This document announces the availability of the 2021 
Compliance Supplement (2021 Supplement) for the Office of Management 
and Budget's uniform administrative requirements, cost principles, and 
audit requirements regulations. This document also offers interested 
parties an opportunity to comment on the 2021 Supplement.

DATES: The 2021 Supplement replaces the 2020 Supplement (issued in 
August 2020) and its Addendum (issued in December 2020). The Supplement 
applies to fiscal year audits beginning after June 30, 2020.

ADDRESSES: All comments to the 2021 Supplement must be in writing and 
received by August 30, 2021. Late comments will be considered to the 
extent practicable. Comments will be reviewed and addressed, when 
appropriate, in the 2022 Compliance Supplement. Electronic mail 
comments may be submitted to: http://www.regulations.gov. Please 
include ``2 CFR Part 200 Subpart F--Audit Requirements, Appendix XI--
Compliance Supplement--2021'' in the subject line and the full body of 
your comments in the text of the electronic message and as an 
attachment. Please include your name, title, organization, postal 
address, telephone number, and email address in the text of the 
message. Comments may also be sent to: [email protected].
    Please note that all public comments received are subject to the 
Freedom of Information Act and will be posted in their entirety, 
including any personal and/or business confidential information 
provided. Do not include any information you would not like to be made 
publically available.
    The 2021 Supplement is available online on the OMB home page at 
https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/office-federal-financial-management/.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Recipients and auditors should contact 
their cognizant or oversight agency for audit, or Federal awarding 
agency, as appropriate. The Federal agency contacts are listed in 
appendix III of the Supplement. Subrecipients should contact their 
pass-through entity. Federal agencies should contact Gil Tran at 
[email protected] or (202) 395-3052 or the OMB Grants team at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 2021 Supplement (2 CFR part 200, subpart 
F, appendix XI) adds five new programs, deletes four programs and 
provides updates on many other programs (including the 14 programs 
previously included in the 2020 Addendum to the Single Audit Compliance 
Supplement), where necessary. The 2021 Supplement is a continuation of 
efforts to maximize the value of grant funding by applying a risk-
based, data-driven framework that balances compliance requirements with 
demonstrating successful results. Consistent with the reduction in 
compliance areas in the 2019 Supplement, the 2021 Compliance Supplement 
allows for a maximum of six compliance areas and requires a review for 
performance reporting for 57 programs. OMB is continuing to work with 
Federal awarding agencies to further emphasize performance reviews and 
will make updates accordingly in future Supplements. The 2021 
Supplement also includes guidance related to the administrative 
flexibilities included in Appendix 3 of OMB memorandum M-21-20 (March 
19, 2021) and the revisions to 2 CFR--Grants and Agreements (published 
in August 12, 2020) in Part 8, Appendix VII of the Supplement. As part 
of the development of the audit guidance contained in the Supplement, 
OMB shared the draft language developed by the agencies with recipient 
and audit stakeholders, including the American Institute of Certified 
Public Accountants (AICPA), the National Association of State Auditors, 
Controllers and Treasurers (NASACT, the US Government Accountability 
Office (GAO), and agency Inspector General offices for comments. The 
comments were reviewed, adjudicated, and addressed by the relevant 
agencies and OMB. All necessary changes are reflected in the final 
published version. A summary of comments and OMB responses is shown 
below.
    Audit Extension--Commenters suggested clarifications on the Single 
Audit extension allowed in OMB M-21-20 to be included in the Supplement 
Part 8, Appendix VII. OMB concurred and added information related the 
audit extension.
    Performance Reporting Review--Commenters highlighted that there was 
a significant increase in the number of programs in the Supplement that 
require auditors to review the recipients' performance reporting 
requirements. Commenters suggested agencies add the key line items in 
the performance reports that the agencies request the auditors verify, 
in order to focus the auditors on the important areas for review. OMB 
concurred and worked with the relevant agencies to add the key line 
items on the performance reports in the ``Suggested Audit Procedures'' 
section.
    2 CFR Revisions (effective November 12, 2020)--Commenters requested 
that the Supplement contain two separate parts B for the Allowable 
Costs/Cost Principles--one for the applicable cost principles prior to 
2 CFR updates on November 12, 2020 and one for applicable cost 
principles after November 12, 2020. OMB disagreed but provided clear 
indication of the cost principles and areas that were revised in 
November 12, 2020. Additionally, the Supplement provides the link to 
CFO.gov Uniform Guidance (cfo.gov) which contains the relevant 
information related to the 2 CFR and its revisions, including the 
redlined version of the guidance, a crosswalk document, and the latest 
set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)--2CRF-
FrequentlyAskedQuestions_2021050321.pdf (cfo.gov).
    Assistance Listing (CFDA)--Commenters noted that the term 
``Assistance Listing'' is now used on the Federal Government website 
Sam.gov instead of the previous term of ``CFDA'' to describe a Federal 
program. OMB concurred and replaced ``CFDA'' with ``Assistance 
Listing'' for consistency.

[[Page 44574]]

    American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) Programs--The audit community, 
including GAO, requested that the agencies provide audit guidance 
expeditiously for the programs created under the ARP, since funds are 
material and many have complex compliance and reporting requirements. 
OMB is working with Federal awarding agencies to identify the new ARP 
programs with special compliance and reporting requirements. When 
completed by the agencies and reviewed by OMB, these audit guides will 
be published on the CFO.gov website.

Deidre A. Harrison,
Deputy Controller.
[FR Doc. 2021-17363 Filed 8-12-21; 8:45 am]
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