31 CFR 205.20: What is a clearance pattern?

States use clearance patterns to project when funds are paid out, given a known dollar amount and a known date of disbursement. A State must ensure that clearance patterns meet the following standards:

(a) A clearance pattern must be auditable.

(b) A clearance pattern must accurately represent the flow of Federal funds under the Federal assistance programs to which it is applied.

(c) A clearance pattern must include seasonal or other periodic variations in clearance activity.

(d) A clearance pattern must be based on at least three consecutive months of disbursement data, unless additional data is required to accurately represent the flow of Federal funds.

(e) If a State uses statistical sampling to develop a clearance pattern, the sample size must be sufficient to ensure a 96 percent confidence interval no more than plus or minus 0.25 weighted days above or below the estimated mean.

(f) A clearance pattern must extend, at a minimum, until 99 percent of the dollars in a disbursement have been paid out for Federal assistance program purposes.

(g) We and a State may agree to other procedures, such as estimates to project when funds are paid out when the dollar amount and/or the timing of disbursements are not known.