Grants 101

GRANTS 101WHAT IS A GRANT?? PRESENTER: PETE HAGUE

PREAWARD

The pre-award process involves significant communication between

the funder and the applicant organization (Grantee) and includes

negotiation if significant adjustments are required prior to

award.

AwardIf an award is made what does this mean?

The NoA is the legal document issued to notify the grantee that an award has been made and that funds may be requested from the designated HHS payment system or office. An NoA is issued for the initial budget period.

The NoA includes all applicable terms of award either by reference or specific statements. It provides contact information for the assigned program officer and grants management specialist.

Accepting the Award

The Award is given to the grantee institution The grantee accepts the award on behalf of

the Principal Investigator/s and its associated terms and conditions and must adhere to the guidelines of the funder (Grantor).

The Grantee must comply with all Federal regulations

What does this mean for you?

Allowable Allocable Reasonable

The concepts of allowability, allocability, and reasonableness of costs address

directly the legitimacy of a cost charged against a specific sponsored research award. Determination of allowability, allocability, and reasonableness of a given expense is based on specific

guidelines of the sponsor and according to federal cost principles.

ALLOWABILITY

Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following

general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards

ALLOCABLE COSTS

A cost is allocable to a particular Federal award or other cost objective if

the goods or services involved are chargeable or assignable to that

Federal award or cost objective in accordance with relative benefits

received. 

REASONABLE COSTS

A cost is reasonable if, in its nature and amount, it does not exceed that which would be incurred by a prudent person under the circumstances prevailing at the time the decision was made to incur the cost.

Program Manage

mentReporting Closeout

PROGRAM MANAGEMENT Grantees are responsible for managing the

day-to-day operations of their grant. To fulfill their role as a steward of federal funds, awarding offices monitor grants to identify potential problems and areas where technical assistance might be necessary.

This active monitoring is accomplished through review of reports and correspondence from the grantee, audit reports, site visits, and other information available by the grantor.

MONITORING EXPENDITURES Applicant organizations are required to have financial

systems in place to monitor their grant expenditures. NIH monitors grantee expenditures under individual grants within each budget period and within the overall project period. 

The Grants Management Specialist (GMS) reviews grantee cash expenditure reports to determine whether they indicate a pattern of accelerated or delayed expenditures.

Expenditure patterns are of particular concern because they may indicate a deficiency in the grantee's financial management system or internal controls. 

REPORTING Grantees are to submit a variety of reports which are

due at specific times during the life cycle of a grant award. All reports must be accurate, complete, and submitted on time.

The NIH RPPR asks grantees about accomplishments towards the goal of the project, plans for the next year of the project, manuscripts and publications produced, personnel who have worked on the project, changes to level of effort of key personnel on the project, actual or planned challenges or delays in the projects and plans for resolving them, significant changes regarding human or animal subjects, inclusion enrollment reports for clinical studies, and more.

CLOSEOUT• Invention Reports - Final Invention Statement

• Financial Reporting (Institutional Requirement)

• Federal Financial Report (SF425) Cash Transaction Reports

• Federal Financial Report (SF425) Expenditure Data Reports

• Audit Requirements – For institutions that expend $500k or more