26 pieces so far. Newest first. Use your browser’s find-on-page — it’s faster than any search box I could build you.
OIG Findings/September 4, 2026
When education awards are tied to weak time records or unsupported service-term changes, the cost lands late and hard. A commission can catch most of it before exit with a tighter review sequence.
Performance Measurement/September 2, 2026
Surveys, logs, and tests can become Federal award records. Federal rules do not require you to keep every draft or form configuration — they require retention of the records and supporting documentation that substantiate what you reported. ([2 CFR § 200.334](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/section-200.334))
2 CFR 200 Basics/August 18, 2026
Salary costs get vulnerable when payroll support, payroll charges, and the role described in your award materials stop lining up. The fix starts with a clean match between supported work, the amount charged, and the staffing picture your award says you funded.
2 CFR 200 Basics/August 17, 2026
If you run an AmeriCorps grant, 2 CFR part 200 shapes much of your daily compliance work. This guide translates the rule into program language and shows how it fits with AmeriCorps regulations and award terms.
2 CFR 200 Basics/August 14, 2026
If you're starting late and carrying the grant mostly alone, you don't need a perfect launch. You need the right compliance pieces in the right order so member files, timekeeping, financial controls, and data collection can hold up.
Member Timesheets/August 12, 2026
The first question is about time and duties. If a member or staff person engages in a prohibited activity while charging time to the AmeriCorps program, accumulating service or training hours, or otherwise performing activities supported by the AmeriCorps program or AmeriCorps, your program should review the record promptly under its written procedures, award terms, and any applicable AmeriCorps or pass-through instructions. Private-citizen participation in the listed activities has its own conditions too, including a logo instruction in the regulation.
Member Files/August 12, 2026
The cleanest member file is the one you build before the first enrollment rush hits. Set up the file once, in the right order, so eligibility, applicable criminal history check records, and core member documents line up all year.
Subgrantee Monitoring/August 7, 2026
A clean expenditure report can still hide weak support. Your job as a monitor is to tie each line to the accounting records, payroll or activity records, and match support, then follow every variance until it makes sense.
Member Files/August 6, 2026
Duplication and displacement problems usually don't begin in the field. They begin on paper. Your position descriptions, host site agreements, and site visit records are often the clearest way to show how an AmeriCorps role was designed and monitored.
2 CFR 200 Basics/August 6, 2026
When the Uniform Guidance leaves room for interpretation, your AmeriCorps award documents often decide the operational answer. The control isn't knowing every rule by memory. It's keeping the executed award, its incorporated terms, and any modifications in front of every person who approves spending.
Financial Reporting/August 6, 2026
When a grant is ending, people are often tired + moving fast as they race to get the next program year off the ground. That's exactly when weak approvals, missing records, and rushed final reports can turn into findings.
OIG Findings/August 6, 2026
When your office is tiny, internal controls can sound like a luxury meant for bigger shops. They aren't. They're the repeatable habits that catch mistakes early, document review, and protect your AmeriCorps grant later.
Financial Reporting/August 6, 2026
Most questioned costs don't start with fraud. They start with hurry, assumptions, and a missing piece of paper. A practical review starts with four questions: is the cost necessary, reasonable, allocable, and documented well enough to prove it. Then you confirm the rest of the allowability rules and your award terms.
Financial Reporting/August 6, 2026
Match problems usually start months before review. The fix is a repeatable routine: confirm the award allows the contribution to count, document value with support that stands on its own, and reconcile reported match before it becomes a questioned cost.
OIG Findings/August 5, 2026
Closeout is where old mistakes stop hiding. Before the final package leaves your desk, make sure your cash, reports, and supporting records tell the same story.
Financial Reporting/August 5, 2026
Program income shows up as a training fee, a host-site payment, a sale of materials. Classifying it is only step one — your FY2026 AmeriCorps award terms, not the federal default, tell you what to do next.
Member Timesheets/August 5, 2026
You may not be worried about a fraudster. You are worried about exhausted staff, late timesheets, and records that get cleaned up after the fact. That's exactly why this matters.
2 CFR 200 Basics/August 1, 2026
The Uniform Guidance paragraph on personnel documentation is short, dense, and underneath many salary-and-wage findings. Here's what it requires now.
OIG Findings/July 31, 2026
Published AmeriCorps OIG reports often point to the same kinds of compliance breakdowns. Here's where the patterns tend to show up, why good organizations still get caught there, and the control that helps.
Subgrantee Monitoring/July 30, 2026
If you pass federal funds through to subrecipients, you've oversight duties you can't delegate away. Here's how to document risk, choose monitoring steps, and separate internal monitoring labels from Single Audit requirements.
Financial Reporting/July 29, 2026
The SF-425 is short, but it exposes any gap between your reported expenditures, your books, and your cash draws. Here's how to close that gap first.
Progress Reporting/July 28, 2026
The fastest way to lose a program officer's trust is a narrative that claims more than the data shows. Here's how to write one that holds up.
Financial Reporting/July 27, 2026
Match failures rarely come from missing dollars alone. They come from records that can't carry the weight months later.
Member Files/July 24, 2026
A baseline checklist for AmeriCorps State and National member files: eligibility, the National Service Criminal History Check, the member agreement, evaluations, service records, exit documentation, and retention.
Member Timesheets/July 23, 2026
Once a signed timesheet exists, it's part of your grant record. Here's how to correct it without hiding the history, and what to do when the problem is bigger than one line item.
Member Timesheets/July 21, 2026
For AmeriCorps State and National, a member timesheet is evidence about service hours, hour categories, and approvals under the rules that apply to your award. It isn't the same thing as payroll support for staff salaries.
Categories: OIG Findings · Performance Measurement · 2 CFR 200 Basics · Member Timesheets · Member Files · Subgrantee Monitoring · Financial Reporting · Progress Reporting