US Department of Justice

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services

 Fact Sheet www.cops.usdoj.gov

Budget Modifications for CPD Recipients

Under federal regulations, you are required to expend federal 

funds only as approved in your Financial Clearance Memorandum (FCM). The COPS Office realizes that agencies 

may need to reprogram award funds and has provided this 

fact sheet for CPD recipients to assist with the process. 

Recipients may reprogram up to a total of 10 percent of 

their total approved budget (over the course of the award) 

without submitting a formal budget modification. However, 

recipients should notify their COPS Office program manager (PM) prior to any reprogramming of funds regardless 

of whether a formal budget modification is needed. Once 

the reprogramming of funds exceeds 10 percent of the total 

approved budget, your agency must submit a formal budget 

modification requesting approval from the COPS Office 

for any additional budget modification requests. Effective 

June 20, 2018, any awards under $250,000 do not require 

formal budget modifications; however, the recipient should 

communicate reprogramming as needed with the COPS 

Office PM.

Reprogrammed funds must be allocated for items covered 

within the scope of the original award. Any funds that are 

being requested to account for a change in scope from the 

original funded project must first receive approval from the 

COPS Office to expand or change the scope. Be advised that 

reprogramming requests for unallowable costs will not be 

approved. The COPS Office will not approve any modification request that results in an increase of federal funds.

Starting with 2017 funding, if a budget modification 

involves making a new subaward to a State or local government entity, the recipient and its intended subrecepient are 

required to certify compliance with 8 U.S.C. § 1373 regarding prohibitions or restrictions on sending to, requesting or 

receiving from, maintaining, or exchanging information on 

citizenship or immigration status, including any prohibitions or restrictions imposed or established by a State or 

local government entity or official. For information about 

the applicable form and how to certify, please contact your 

COPS Office PM.

What to do if you need 

a budget modification

If your budget requires a modification, please follow 

these steps:

1. Contact your PM and discuss the modification and 

reasoning for the change in budget. This process 

may require back and forth discussion and further 

documentation.

2. Once your agency and the PM agree to the change, 

log in to “Account Access” in the upper right corner 

of the COPS Office website, www.cops.usdoj.gov.

3. Once in the system, find the appropriate award, 

and within the Action menu, select “Modify.”

4. You will see the Budget Summary page with the last 

approved budget amounts. The totals will be in readonly mode. Select “Modify” for each category (Civilian/

Nonsworn Officer Positions, Equipment/Technology, 

etc.) that requires a modification.

5. Each change will need to be entered in the system by 

either adding or modifying the amount. Every item 

that is modified must have an accompanying narrative 

explaining the modification. The narrative must include 

the following:

a. A brief description of each item and change that 

includes its purpose and how the item relates to the 

overall project

b. A calculation breakdown for each new item

6. After each section change, select “Save to Budget Summary” to save all work. Each time “Save to Budget 

Summary” is selected, you will be returned to the Budget 

Summary page.

7. After modifying all of the appropriate items and providing the required narrative, select “Validate” at the bottom 

of the Budget Summary page.
8. In the Budget Summary page, compare the current and 

modified data for each item. If there is an error, select 

“Cancel” to return to the Budget Summary page. If the 

modification is correct, select “Submit.”

9. Once your budget modification is submitted, inform 

your PM via e-mail. In addition, include any relevant 

documentation as needed for the modification. This 

documentation may include the following:

a. For any new personnel or consultants you plan to hire 

noncompetitively, a resume must be submitted to your 

PM for prior approval.

b. For consultant rates over $650 per day, a consultant 

rate justification must be submitted to your PM for 

prior approval (see the Consultant/Contractor Rate 

Information Fact Sheet).

c. Current Indirect Cost Rate Agreement.

d. Documentation for personnel and consultant costs.

e. When adding a new subaward to a State or local 

government entity, the recipient and its intended 

subrecipient must each complete and submit the 

applicable Certification of Compliance with the 

8 U.S.C. § 1373 form.

Once you have completed all of the above steps, the COPS 

Office will review the budget modification. It is important 

to note that throughout the COPS Office review, no other 

processes including extensions can be submitted. The budget 

modification typically takes 30 days to process.

Next steps

Your budget modification will go through two rounds 

of review at a minimum: by your PM and by a budget 

analyst (BA).

The PM will review the budget programmatically and 

may reach out to you for clarification, changes, or justification. Any changes required by your PM will result in the 

rejection of the modification. You will receive notification 

from the COPS Office, and you will be able to access the 

modification and make the necessary changes. The recipient 

will have to reenter the system, make the budget adjustments where necessary, and resubmit the saved changes. 

Once the budget modification has been programmatically 

approved, a BA is assigned. The BA will review the modification to ensure the budget is allowable and meets all 

regulations and policies. The BA will work with the PM 

for any points of clarification, changes, or justification. 

Any changes required by the BA will result in the rejection 

of the modification, and the recipient will have to resubmit. 

In the case of any rejection, an automatic notification 

will be sent out via e-mail, and the award’s status changes 

to the green “No action required” icon, from which you 

can initiate another request.

In the case of any approval, an automatic notification 

will be sent out via e-mail. 

Implementation of the modified award budget may 

begin following this written approval from the COPS 

Office. The modification approvals for active awards 

will be accompanied by a modified FCM reflecting the 

approved changes.

Other resources

Your PM can provide you with a budget detail worksheet 

to help keep track of your costs and modifications. This 

tool can be used to track all of your costs, and when you 

submit a budget modification, it can be useful to submit 

as supplemental documentation to your PM.

For additional information, please review the sole source 

justification, consultant/contractor rate information, and 

indirect cost rate fact sheets. These fact sheets are available 

at https://www.cops.usdoj.gov/Default.asp?Item=2541.

Finally, your Award Owner’s Manual, Award Document, 

Cooperative Agreement, FCM, and Terms and Conditions 

will provide more information on specific requirements 

and policies that are applicable to your award. Your 

Award Owner’s Manual will include a list of allowable 

and unallowable items.

Please contact your PM for further direction on any additional requirements that may be applied to your modification request or any other questions.

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Budget Modifications

July 2018