What you get
- A reporting calendar listing every report on every award, with lead times.
- Federal Financial Reports (SF-425) reconciled to your general ledger before filing.
- Research progress reports and performance progress reports written against the approved aims or objectives.
- Foundation narrative and financial reports in each funder's own format.
- Final reports for closeout, plus copies and receipts kept for audit.
Grant reporting services prepare the financial and performance reports a funded award requires, on the funder's schedule and in its format. We write and assemble federal reports such as the Federal Financial Report and research or performance progress reports, and foundation narrative and financial reports, reconciling every financial figure to your accounting records before anything is filed.
This is narrower than full grant management, which covers the whole compliance system around an award. Reporting suits organizations whose finance team runs the award well day to day but lacks time to produce reports.
Reports we prepare
Federal Financial Report (SF-425). Expenditures, unliquidated obligations, cost share, program income and indirect costs against the approved budget, filed through the agency's system on the schedule in your award terms.
Research Performance Progress Report. For research awards from NIH, NSF and other agencies: accomplishments against the approved aims, products, participants, impact, changes and problems, and plans for the next period. NSF collects the same content through its project reports in Research.gov. Our explainer on progress reports and Federal Financial Reports covers what each section asks for.
Performance Progress Report (SF-PPR) and program-specific reports. For non-research awards: progress against the objectives and performance measures in your approved application, often with program data in the agency's own template.
Foundation reports. Narrative and financial reports in each funder's format. Many foundations ask for outcome data against what the proposal promised, which can only be reported if it has been collected, so we agree what to collect at the start of the period.
Final and closeout reports. Final financial and performance reports, usually due within 120 days after a federal award ends, and the equivalent for foundations.
How we prepare a report
Calendar first. Every award, every report, every due date, with preparation starting weeks ahead. Most reporting failures are calendar failures.
Reconcile before filing. Financial figures are tied to your general ledger before submission. If spending has drifted from the approved budget, you find out from us while you can still request a revision, not from the agency after filing.
Read the variances. A report showing 40 percent of the budget spent two-thirds of the way through the award says something about the program. We point it out with the report.
Write against what was approved. Progress reports are measured against the aims, objectives and measures in the funded application. We report against those, and explain changes rather than leaving reviewers to find them.
Keep the record. Submission confirmations and copies of everything filed, organized so they survive staff turnover and an audit. Federal recipients generally must keep records for three years after the final report.
What happens when reports are late
Federal agencies can withhold payments, move a recipient to reimbursement only, add specific conditions to the award, or in serious cases suspend or terminate it. Late and corrected reports are also visible when you apply again. The cost of a missed report usually far exceeds the cost of preparing it.
Paying for reporting support
Reporting support is a post-award administrative cost. Depending on your indirect cost rate agreement and the award terms, it may be covered through indirect costs or, where it is specifically identifiable to one award and permitted by the terms, charged directly. Check the specific award before budgeting it, and where it is allowable, build it into the budget at the proposal stage. The Uniform Guidance basics explain the cost principles involved.
What you provide
Award documents and the reporting schedule, general ledger detail for the award, and program data from the people running it. We do not keep your books; your finance team owns the ledger and we reconcile to it. We also cannot report outcomes that were never measured; where data is missing, we say so and help set up collection for the remaining periods. Work starts when the engagement begins, after payment, so allow lead time before a due date.
For what agencies require and when, see grant reporting requirements and the wider post-award workload. Organizations heading into their first federal award often start with a grant readiness assessment.
