# Internal Control for Grants Course

Canonical URL: <https://training.sdfm.org/courses/internal-control-for-grants>

## Overview

This course translates internal control frameworks into grants practice, showing how to design, document, and test controls that support compliance and performance. Learners connect legal requirements to day-to-day activities across the assistance lifecycle.

By the end, participants will be able to define risk; explain legislative and administrative requirements for internal controls; describe the relationship between risk and controls; and prescribe best practices using case-based exercises.

Ideal for program/grants staff and pass-through entities who need to build or strengthen control systems tied to monitoring, reporting, and payment processes.

## What you'll learn

- Define risk in the context of grants management and oversight.
- Explain legislative and administrative requirements for internal controls.
- Describe how risk and internal controls are connected throughout the assistance lifecycle.
- Translate internal control frameworks into practical grants management activities.
- Design, document, and test controls that promote compliance and performance.
- Apply best practices for monitoring and oversight through case-based exercises.
- Link Green Book principles to grant management by ensuring control activities align with compliance requirements, allowable costs, and program objectives.

- Apply risk assessment to identify vulnerabilities in grant spending, reporting, and subrecipient monitoring.

- Document and monitor control activities (e.g., approvals, reconciliations, and segregation of duties) to strengthen accountability for grant funds.

- Use ongoing evaluation and corrective actions to address internal control deficiencies and demonstrate compliance with federal standards.

## Curriculum

#### Module 1: Understanding Internal Control in the Grants Environment

- Define internal control components and objectives.
- Connect GAO Green Book/COSO concepts to grants operations.
- Identify typical control activities across the lifecycle.

#### Module 2: Legal Requirements for Internal Control

- Explain statutory/administrative expectations for controls.
- Align policy to risk, compliance, and performance objectives.
- Translate requirements into agency/recipient procedures.

#### Module 3: Grants Management and Internal Control

- Design controls for procurement, payments, and reporting.
- Embed preventative and detective controls in processes.
- Document controls and responsibilities.

#### Module 4: Relationship Between Risk and Internal Controls

- Define risk criteria and appetite in the grants context.
- Use risk assessment to prioritize control activities.
- Monitor and adapt controls based on results.

#### Module 5: GAO Greenbook

- Link Green Book principles to grant management by ensuring control activities align with compliance requirements, allowable costs, and program objectives.
- Apply risk assessment to identify vulnerabilities in grant spending, reporting, and subrecipient monitoring.
- Document and monitor control activities (e.g., approvals, reconciliations, and segregation of duties) to strengthen accountability for grant funds.
- Use ongoing evaluation and corrective actions to address internal control deficiencies and demonstrate compliance with federal standards.

## Schedule
- Sep 8, 2026 – Sep 9, 2026 — Live Online
- Dec 1, 2026 – Dec 2, 2026 — Live Online

## Instructors

### Alan McCain — Curriculum Program Manager

Alan McCain is a retired combat veteran who served as both an Air Force enlisted member and a Navy officer. He brings over 30 years of experience spanning federal and commercial budgeting, auditing, programming, operations, global logistics support, supply chain and inventory management, as well as major IT acquisition.

 

He possesses extensive, hands-on budget and audit experience across Federal, State, and Local government operations, including work within the Executive Office of the President and the Departments of State, Defense, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, and Education, as well as the Office of the Mayor of Washington, D.C., among others.

 

Alan’s consulting background includes strategic planning and business development with the District of Columbia government, multiple federal agencies, Lockheed Martin, KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. He is a Certified Government/Defense Financial Manager (CGFM/DFM), holds a Teaching Certification from Harvard University’s Bok Center for Teaching and Learning, and earned an Executive MBA in International Business from The George Washington University.

## Pricing

**Tuition:** $1050