31 CFR § 205.20 - What is a clearance pattern?
---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t31/s205.20"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "31 CFR § 205.20 - What is a clearance pattern?"
title_number: 31
title_name: "Money and Finance: Treasury"
section_number: "205.20"
section_name: "What is a clearance pattern?"
chapter_name: "FISCAL SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY"
subchapter_number: "A"
subchapter_name: "BUREAU OF THE FISCAL SERVICE"
part_number: "205"
part_name: "RULES AND PROCEDURES FOR EFFICIENT FEDERAL-STATE FUNDS TRANSFERS"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-04-05"
last_updated: "2026-04-05"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "5 U.S.C. 301; 31 U.S.C. 321, 3332, 3335, 6501, 6503."
regulatory_source: "67 FR 31885, May 10, 2002, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "205"
---
# 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.