Accounting Support

LCBHS grant funds are restricted program/project-specific dollars and should be tracked separately from other funds in your accounting software. You should not co-mingle these funds with general operating dollars. 

Restricted grant dollars carry specific obligations or instructions relating to the use of the funds and LCBHS funds are restricted to supporting the behavioral health needs of people living in Larimer County as well as the items outlined in your grant agreement. 

Spreadsheets are NOT an appropriate way to track these funds. 

System-generated reports from your accounting system are required:

1. Financial Report P&L Example
2. Financial Report P&L Transaction Support Example

If you, your accounting software, fiscal sponsor, or contracted CPA/accounting firm cannot provide these system-generate financial reports, please contact us at bhsgrants@co.larimer.co.us to discuss a plan for financial reporting. 

Accounting for these is important because we require two types of financial reports in with the final grant report:

1. Profit & Loss (Revenue and Expense summary) for the grant (not the entire organization)
2. Transaction Level Detail Report to provide detail behind the P&L summary

Expense Guidance

Ideally, expenses related to this program project should be directly charged to the grant fund for easier reporting. We realize this may not be possible for each organization, but is best practice for managing restricted program/project grant dollars. 

In general, expenses must be allowable, necessary, reasonable, allocable, adequately documented, and incurred during the approved period of performance for the grant award.

• Allowable - A cost is “allowable” if it is necessary and reasonable for the BHS grant award’s period of performance.
• Necessary - A cost is “necessary” if it meets a program objective.
• Reasonable - A cost is “reasonable” if it meets the “prudent person” standard.
• Allocable - A cost is “allocable” if the goods or services involved are assignable to the BHS grant award in accordance with the relative benefits received. In other words, if you charge 100 percent of an expenditure to a BHS grant, you should ensure that the BHS grant receives the entire benefit of the expenditure.
• Adequately Documented - A cost is “adequately documented” if you can show the expense in the required financial documentation (i.e. a Profit & Loss statement and/or General Ledger Transaction detail).

Additionally, you may view our list of exclusions for expenses that are not covered by grant funding.

Expenditure Flexibility:  Changes to individual line items (increases and decreases) that are greater than 25% of that line item and greater than $1,000 must be requested in writing to Larimer County Behavioral Health Services Program Manager and approved in writing in advance of expenditure.