Grant compliance: what happens after you're awarded?

Days 1 to 30

Accept, read, and set up

• Read the award notice and the incorporated general terms in full, not just the cover letter with the dollar amount.
• Log every deadline: reports, drawdown windows, prior-approval triggers, and the period of performance start and end.
• Open a dedicated fund or class code in your accounting system so grant spending is separable from day one.
• Confirm the approved budget matches what you requested. Funders frequently award less or strip a line item.
• Name one accountable grant owner and one finance counterpart in writing.

Ongoing

Spend, document, and track

• Charge only allowable costs, and keep time and effort records for every staff member charged to the award.
• Track outputs and outcomes as you go, using the funder's exact definitions rather than your internal metrics.
• Request prior approval before any budget shift, scope change, key personnel change, or no-cost extension.
• Keep procurement documentation for contracted services, including how you selected the vendor.
• Reconcile grant expenses monthly. Annual reconciliation is how organizations discover unallowable spending too late to fix it.

Each reporting period

Report on time and accurately

• Submit financial and programmatic reports by the stated deadline, in the portal the funder specifies.
• Make sure the narrative and the financial report tell the same story. Divergence triggers monitoring.
• Explain variance honestly. An underspend with a clear reason is routine; an unexplained one raises questions.
• Retain a copy of every submitted report with its confirmation receipt.

Closeout

Finish cleanly

• Submit final financial, performance, and any required property or subaward reports, usually within 90 to 120 days of the end date.
• Liquidate remaining obligations and return unspent funds if the award requires it.
• Resolve equipment disposition for anything purchased with award funds.
• Retain records for the required period, commonly three years from final report submission, and longer if litigation or audit is pending.

What happens after you receive a grant?

You move from applicant to grantee. You accept the award in writing, which binds you to the terms and conditions, then set up separate financial tracking, calendar every reporting deadline, and begin spending inside the approved budget and period of performance. Everything you promised in the application becomes an obligation you are measured against.

What are typical grant compliance requirements?

Four categories: financial (spend only allowable costs, document them, stay inside the approved budget), programmatic (deliver the funded activities and report on agreed outcomes), administrative (prior approvals, procurement standards, records retention, insurance, nondiscrimination), and reporting (periodic and final financial and performance reports on the funder's schedule).

How long do we have to keep grant records?

The common federal standard is three years from the date of final expenditure report submission. Extend that whenever an audit, claim, or litigation is unresolved, and check whether your state or the specific funder requires longer.

What is post-award grant management?

The full set of activities between acceptance and closeout: budget setup, expense tracking, outcome data collection, prior approval requests, reporting, subrecipient monitoring, audit readiness, and final closeout. It usually consumes more staff hours than writing the application did.

What happens if we cannot spend the full award?

Tell the funder early. Options often include a no-cost extension, a budget revision, or a reduced scope. Silence followed by a large unspent balance at closeout is far more damaging to the relationship than an early conversation.