Start from the statutory use
Pick the eligible use closest to the project's scope, then the expenditure category. The category sets the reporting: project demographic distribution (PDD), evidence-based interventions (EBI), programmatic data, and for water, sewer and broadband, infrastructure detail.
The project request form
A project request sets the project up in the financial system before any money moves. The reporting answers fill in from the category picked above.
When funds pass to another entity
The agreement exhibit: federal award identification
The control the guide sits inside
The planning guide was one exhibit to a written policy and implementation guidance, the recipient's key control for complying with SLFRF. Its framework:
Purpose
What SLFRF is, the recipient's responsibility for compliant use and documentation, and the guidance's scope: SLFRF only, not ARPA funds received through other federal programs.
Governance
The appropriation trail from the governing body's approvals, the initial funding allocations aligned to the statutory uses, reprogrammed funds, and each internal and external stakeholder's role.
Planning and early implementation
A finance, grants and budget management team meeting weekly, widened to program staff and project managers; grants management leads drawdowns and Treasury reporting, with portal access limited to trained staff.
Key control updates
The authorities the guidance tracks: the statute, the Interim and Final Rules and their FAQs, Treasury's compliance and reporting guidance, the Uniform Guidance, and the recipient's own grant policies.
Program administration
Administrative decisions (the revenue loss calculation, a dedicated fund, project fields for expenditure categories), this planning guide and the request form, a continuous training program, quarterly reporting, and subrecipient monitoring.
The guidance it was built on
As listed in the guide in 2021. Treasury has since moved or replaced some of these.