Q: I received my Notice of Grant Award (NGA) from the awarding agency, but when I go into the PMS/Smartlink payment system, the award is not there.

A: Occasionally, an awarding agency may send a recipient an NGA before the actual award has been entered into the Payment Management System. If, after checking your PMS/Smartlink account and finding that your award is not available, contact the person listed on your NGA. If you are not able get in touch with the awarding agency, you can call your PMS Account Liaison to inform them that your new grant award is not available in the PMS system. Please have your PAN and the grant award number located on the NGA ready for your PMS Account Liaison

Q: I have awards on my account, but I don’t know what they are. Can you please identify them?

A: The Division of Payment Management does not receive the paper work regarding the grants you were awarded; you can contact your awarding agency to find out that information. If you are not able to get in touch with your awarding agency, you may contact your PMS Account Liaison.

Q: Our organization makes our request for funds based on input from another office. What should I do if I’m later notified the request was for the wrong amount because I was provided the inaccurate information?

A: Your PMS Account Liaison should be contacted immediately so the payment request can be cancelled. Your Liaison’s name and telephone number can be found on the first page of your PSC 272, Federal Cash Transactions Report [PDF, 41 KB] . Alternatively, you can contact your bank and simply refuse the payment for the entire requested amount. The bank will return the funds using the same method by which the funds were received. A third option is to return the funds through ACH Direct Deposit or Remittance Express (REX).

Q: I have just been awarded a grant for the first time and I have received a PSC 272 , Federal Cash Transactions Report. Why do I have to submit this report if I haven’t requested any of my new grant funds?

A: For new grants, the grantee is required to submit the PSC 272 report beginning with the ending of the first quarter in which funds are drawn and for every quarter thereafter throughout the life of the grant. However, if your grant is into the second quarter or later in its budget period, you are advised to submit the PSC 272 to report the prior quarter's disbursements even though you had not as yet drawn any funds to reimburse your disbursements. This enables DPM and your awarding office to accurately evaluate your cash management situation, which could be very important to you, particularly in the third and fourth quarters of the budget period.

Q: I was attempting to file my Federal Cash Transaction Report (PSC 272 ) electronically when I noticed that the report information was from last quarter. I know I filed electronically and on time last quarter. How can I get access to the current quarter’s information?

A: The situation you described occurs only if you access our system prematurely. The previous quarter’s data will remain online until the new data is uploaded. The electronically transmitted PSC 272 data and paper reports are normally processed on the 2nd weekend after the end of a quarter. After that, the data file is verified and loaded into the Electronic PSC 272 server. To find out when the PSC 272 report is ready, you may check our Web Site at http://www.dpm.psc.gov/, or call your PMS Account Liaison.

Q: When I received my most recent Federal Cash Transaction Report (PSC 272 ), it did not look like my previous report posted to your system. Consequently, my current report’s Cash on Hand Beginning Balance is incorrect. How can I correct this problem?

A: When I received my most recent Federal Cash Transaction Report (PSC 272 ), it did not look like my previous report posted to your system. Consequently, my current report’s Cash on Hand Beginning Balance is incorrect. How can I correct this problem?

Q: I don’t have to worry about "Expired Year" documents anymore since Expired Year was over on September 30, 1998. Right?

A: Wrong. Expired Year is a variable year that changes each fiscal year (FY). For those grants with appropriations covered under Expired Year legislation, Congress mandates that, "On September 30th of the 5th FY after the period of availability for obligation of a fixed year appropriation account ends, the account shall be closed and any remaining balances (whether obligated or unobligated) in the account shall be canceled and thereafter shall not be available for obligation or expenditure for any purpose." 31 U.S.C. § 1552 (a). For example, FY 1997 was the Expired Year for FY 2002 and FY 1999 is the Expired Year for FY 2004. This means that if you have any FY 1999 awards or prior that still appear on your PSC 272, you and the grant awarding agency only have until September 30, 2004, to finalize reporting and close the award. After the FY 1999 award expires on September 30, 2004, corrections or cash requests will not be permitted. If you have any questions, call your Account Liaison.