Background

In 2018, OGAC started collecting work plans of PEPFAR funded activities as part of its oversight responsibilities.  The objective of OGAC’s review of work plans is to ensure that planned activities of the implementing mechanisms (IM) are aligned with the strategic direction and programs agreed to in the annual country or regional operating plans (COP/ROP).  Work plans consist of program narratives, budgets, and budget narratives.  Starting in COP20, OGAC required work plan budgets to be submitted in a standard template known as the PEPFAR Budget and Projected Expenditure Template.  This was done to ensure consistency of financial information by using the same PEPFAR financial classification for COP budget formulation, budget execution and expenditure reporting. Expenditure reporting according to the PEPFAR financial classification was introduced for COP17/FY18.  COP budget development according to the PEPFAR financial classification was introduced during COP/ROP 19, and work plan budgets arrayed according to the PEPFAR financial classification was introduced during were introduced in COP20. COP21 and COP22’s work plan budget process is a continuation of this work plan budget process and does not substantially change the process that was implemented last year. 

Timeline

 
What’s New for COP22  

UEI Number 

On April 4, 2022, SAM.gov announced they will be retiring the Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) and using a new identification number, the Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number. Therefore, in COP22, the “Metadata and Error Checks” tab of the PEPFAR Budget and Projected Expenditure template will require you to input your newly assigned UEI number, rather than your DUNS. The template and DATIM system have new validations that will confirm that will replace existing validations for the DUNS number. If you have not received your UEI number yet, please access the SAM.gov website to retrieve it.   

Template Validations for Unlikely Combinations of Program Area and Cost Category 

To facilitate user data entry and review, the PEPFAR Budget and Projected Expenditure template now has color-coded validations for very unlikely combinations of program area and cost category. These validations were flagged in DATIM in previous Work Plan Budget cycles at time of upload, and this year, we have included them in the template on the Budget Template tab so that users can identify them sooner in the data entry process. A red-flagged cell in the Cost Category table in the spreadsheet represents an error- that is, it will not successfully upload into DATIM. A yellow-flagged cell in the Cost Category table in the spreadsheet represents a warning- that is, it will successfully upload into DATIM, but may require a narrative explanation.  

The following are error validations (that is, it will not upload to DATIM) that have been added to the template:  

• If the Program Area is Program Management (PM), and a cost is input for Pharmaceutical or Health Non-Pharmaceutical Supplies 
• If the Program Area is a Non-Service Delivery (ends with ‘NSD’), and a cost is input for Personnel or Contractual Salaries 
• If the Program Area is not Program Management (PM), and a cost is inputted for Indirect Charges 

The following are warning validations (that is, it will upload to DATIM, but may require narrative support) that have been added to the template: 

• If the Program Area is a Non-Service Delivery (ends with ‘NSD’) and a cost is input for Financial Support for Beneficiaries 
• If the Program Area is a Service Delivery (ends with ‘SD’) and a cost is input for Construction 
• If the Program Area is a Service Delivery (ends with ‘SD’) and a cost is input for Training 
• If the Program Area is a Service Delivery (ends with ‘SD’) and a cost is input for International Travel 
• If the Program Area is an Above Site Program (ASP) and a cost is input for Pharmaceutical or Health: Non-Pharmaceutical Supplies 
• If the Program Area is an HIV Testing Services (HTS) and a cost is input for Supplies: Pharmaceutical  

More information on the new validations included in this year’s Budget and Projected Expenditures Template will be provided in the Instructions for IP Users 

What is Not New for COP22?  

Later Submission Window 

In COP22, the initial window for the submission of PEPFAR Budget and Projected Expenditure templates will be aligned with COP21, so later and longer than it was in COP20, and will take place between July 18 and August 12, 2022.  This will allow implementing partners a full four weeks to submit their templates.  DATIM will reopen on September 1 for resubmission, known as the “cleaning window.”  The window will end on September 16, which is the last date for partners to submit in the COP22 cycle.  

Integration into the ERB App 

Due to the positive feedback from the expenditure reporting cycle for COP20, we've integrated PEPFAR Budget and Projected Expenditure into the ERB app. This app streamlines the user experience allowing them faster and easier access to the upload location, easier to read feedback, and a tighter integration with the approval workflow. Additionally, this app provides Agency and Global Agency users aggregate views of all the templates for the mechanisms they oversee. This app can be found in the upper right hand app drawer in DATIM and should be used to submit the budget template. 

Narratives to Explain Budget Variance 

In COP22, DATIM will continue to collect optional narratives from implementing partners, akin to COP21.  When uploading a template into DATIM, if DATIM identifies differences in the work plan budget template as compared to the FAST budget, it will request a narrative explanation.  These will be optional, but partners are encouraged to provide an explanation to allow reviewers to better understand differences between work plan budgets and COP budgets. 

No Separate Template for Indirect Costs/Program Management 

In COP20 there was a need to have two separate templates for work plan budgets: one standard template and one for mechanisms that needed to enter additional program management interventions and associated indirect costs.  As in COP21, there will only be one template and users will have the ability to enter multiple program management interventions and their associated indirect costs in any intervention in the template for COP22.  

PEPFAR Budget and Project Expenditure Template 

In COP 22, the PEPFAR Budget and Projected Expenditure Template (work plan budget template) will continue to mirror the expenditure reporting template, with 35 available interventions for data entry. The structure of the template is unchanged from COP21, and no new information or detail is requested in the template in COP22. As in COP21, the work plan budget template uses the mechanism’s intervention-level budget that was determined during the COP/ROP planning cycle as a starting point, and then collects cost category detail for each intervention.  Implementing partners should receive the COP22 budget for each of their mechanisms, arrayed by interventions, from their agency.  The partner will then provide the cost category detail for each intervention in the template.  This cost category detail was not defined during the COP/ROP planning cycle and will only be provided by the partners during the work plan budget template collection. 

The COP22 template will be posted to PEPFAR Zendesk on or around June 20, 2022 here: https://datim.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/6821056881812-COP22-PEPFAR-Budget-and-Projected-Expenditure-Template

Upload Via DATIM 

Just as in COP21, for the COP22 Work Plan Budget template collection, implementing partners will be uploading their work plan budget templates to the Data for Accountability, Transparency and Impact Monitoring (DATIM) system. Prior to the go live date on July 18th, DATIM User Administrators will be instructed on how to invite users to create accounts in DATIM for work plan budget template reporting.  The DATIM expenditure reporting data approval workflow is as follows: Implementing Partner > Agency Field / AORs/CORs > Agency HQ > Global. 

PEPFAR Financial Classifications 

The Work Plan Budget template uses the standardized PEPFAR financial classifications of program area, beneficiary and cost category.  In COP17, PEPFAR revised its financial classification structure to provide a more comprehensive, flexible, and transparent tracking of PEPFAR’s investment. The classification structure is common across budget formation, budget execution and expenditure reporting to allow for tracking of resource allocation against budgeted funding allocations. This allows PEPFAR to adhere to the basic principle that budgets and financial reporting should track the same structure. Definitions, examples, exclusions and other guidance is part of the PEPFAR Financial Classification Reference Guide posted on https://datim.zendesk.com. 

In COP20, PEPFAR made a minor modification to its financial classification structure to add additional detail to the cost categories related to healthcare workers.  Under the new structure, there will now be four cost categories related to healthcare workers.  These are:  

1. Personnel: Salaries- Health Care Workers- Clinical 
2. Personnel: Salaries- Health Care Workers- Ancillary,  
3. Contractual: Contracted Health Care Workers- Clinical and  
4. Contractual: Contracted Health Care Workers- Ancillary.   

These cost categories will continue to be used in COP22.  Definitions for each of the categories, as well as how they relate to the previous categories, can be found in the PEPFAR Financial Classification Reference Guide posted on https://datim.zendesk.com.