FEDERAL FUNDING ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANSPARENCY ACT OF 2006    (FFATA)

The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) was signed on September 26, 2006. The intent is to empower every American with the ability to hold the government accountable for each spending decision. The result is to reduce wasteful spending in the government. The FFATA legislation requires information on federal awards (federal financial assistance and expenditures) to be publicly available. 

The FFATA Subaward Reporting System (FSRS) is the reporting tool Federal prime awardees (i.e., prime contractors and prime grants recipients) use to capture and report subaward and executive compensation data regarding their first-tier subawards to meet the FFATA reporting requirements. Prime contract awardees will report against sub-contracts awarded, and prime grant awardees will report against sub-grants awarded. The sub-award information entered in FSRS will then be displayed and associated with the prime award, furthering federal spending transparency.

REPORTING TIMELINE FOR PRIME CONTRACTORS

Prime Contractors awarded a Federal contract or order that is subject to Federal Acquisition Regulation clause 52.204-10 (Reporting Executive Compensation and First-Tier Subcontract Awards) are required to file an FFATA sub-award report by the end of the month following
the month in which the prime contractor awards any subcontract greater than $30,000. This reporting requirement will be phased in (see below):

Phase 1: Reporting subcontracts under federally-awarded contracts and orders valued greater than or equal to $20,000,000; reporting starts now.
Phase 2: Reporting subcontracts under federally-awarded contracts and orders valued greater than or equal to $550,000; reporting starts October 1, 2010.
Phase 3: Reporting subcontracts under federally-awarded contracts and orders valued greater than or equal to $25,000; reporting starts March 1, 2011.
Phase 4: Reporting subcontracts under federally-awarded contracts and orders valued greater than or equal to $30,000; reporting starts October 1, 2015.

REPORTING TIMELINE FOR PRIME GRANT RECIPIENTS

Prime Grant Recipients awarded a new Federal grant greater than or equal to $25,000 as of October 1, 2010, are subject to FFATA sub-award reporting requirements outlined in the Office of Management and Budgets guidance issued August 27, 2010. The prime awardee must file a FFATA sub-award report by the end of the month following the month in which the prime recipient awards any sub-grant greater than or equal to $25,000.