CGA Professional Development & Ethics 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A grant administrator discovers their organization received duplicate payment for the same expense from two different federal awards. The most appropriate immediate action is to:
- Quietly offset the overpayment against future allowable costs
- Report the error to the awarding agency and return the funds (Correct answer)
- Wait until the next audit to address the discrepancy
- Transfer one charge to an unrestricted account
Correct answer: Report the error to the awarding agency and return the funds
Duplicate payments must be reported to the awarding agency and excess funds returned promptly to avoid audit findings and potential fraud liability.
Question 2: Which professional credential is specifically designed for individuals managing federal grants and cooperative agreements?
- Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
- Certified Grant Administrator (CGA) (Correct answer)
- Certified Financial Planner (CFP)
- Certified Internal Auditor (CIA)
Correct answer: Certified Grant Administrator (CGA)
The CGA credential is the primary certification for professionals responsible for administering federal grants and cooperative agreements.
Question 3: Under the Standards for Excellence in Nonprofit Management, which principle most directly addresses a grant manager's obligation to avoid personal financial benefit from grant funds?
- Transparency
- Accountability
- Conflict of interest avoidance (Correct answer)
- Stewardship
Correct answer: Conflict of interest avoidance
Conflict of interest policies prohibit grant personnel from using their position to gain personal financial advantage from grant-funded activities.
Question 4: A program officer from a federal awarding agency offers to take a grant administrator to dinner to discuss the renewal application. The grant administrator should:
- Accept if the dinner cost is under $25
- Decline and suggest a formal meeting instead (Correct answer)
- Accept and report it as a nominal gift
- Accept only if the program officer pays personally
Correct answer: Decline and suggest a formal meeting instead
Grant administrators should decline gifts or entertainment from awarding agency officials to avoid any appearance of improper influence on funding decisions.
Question 5: Continuing education requirements for CGA credential holders primarily serve to:
- Increase the revenue of certification bodies
- Ensure practitioners remain current with evolving regulations and best practices (Correct answer)
- Create barriers to entry in the grant management field
- Fulfill IRS reporting requirements for nonprofits
Correct answer: Ensure practitioners remain current with evolving regulations and best practices
Continuing education requirements keep grant administrators current with changes in federal regulations, 2 CFR Part 200 updates, and evolving professional standards.
Question 6: When a grant administrator identifies a potential violation of grant terms by a subrecipient, ethical practice requires:
- Ignoring minor violations to maintain the subrecipient relationship
- Documenting the finding and following the organization's monitoring procedures (Correct answer)
- Immediately terminating the subrecipient agreement without notice
- Adjusting financial records to conceal the discrepancy
Correct answer: Documenting the finding and following the organization's monitoring procedures
Ethical grant management requires documenting subrecipient violations and following established monitoring and corrective action procedures.
Question 7: The concept of 'professional skepticism' in grant administration means:
- Distrusting all grant applicants by default
- Maintaining a questioning mind when reviewing financial documentation and representations (Correct answer)
- Refusing to approve any costs without original receipts
- Assuming all subrecipients are committing fraud
Correct answer: Maintaining a questioning mind when reviewing financial documentation and representations
Professional skepticism means maintaining a questioning and critical mindset when evaluating documentation without assuming dishonesty.
CGA Professional Development & Ethics 2
A grant administrator discovers their organization received duplicate payment for the same expense from two different federal awards.
The most appropriate immediate action is to: