Closeout Procedures

The close of a project is a shared responsibility that involves the Principal Investigator, Department Administrator, Fiscal Staff and the Office of Grants and Contracts Postaward Unit. It involves the review of expenditures to ensure that they are allowable, allocable, reasonable and consistent with Uniform Guidance. The expenses must be clearly made within an award(s) period of performance.

For Federal awards, all closeout reports must be submitted no later than 90 calendar days after the end date of the performance period as outlined by the award notice, unless an extension is authorized by the Federal Agency. All expenses must be booked in the GL in order to include them on final billings and reports. In very rare cases, exceptions can be made with sufficient documentation if the expense needs to occur. There may be times where your award still has budget periods but an individual project/ST are ending and this checklist should be used for all cases.

Closeout of Sponsored Projects

Fiscal Policy 4-6

30, 60, 90 - After Project End

90, 60, 30 - Before Project End

Closeout Reports

Grantees must submit the following closeout reports:

Final Federal Financial Report

Sponsors generally require financial reporting both interim and at project closeout (often referred to as "Federal Financial Reports" or "FFRs"). Please work with your OGC Postaward Accountant to submit your FFR in a timely manner before the sponsor deadline. Please note, each OGC Postaward Accountant is assigned different departments (Postaward Staff Department Assignments). In an effort to meet competing deadlines, the OGC Postaward team will be distributing notifications of projects approaching "closeout" by email 90/60/30 calendar days before the award end date. The notifications are intended to serve as a reminder that the award will be ending soon and the closeout process should begin.

NIH Closeout

The FFR is used to submit financial information about individual grant awards. The FFR is required on an annual basis, except for domestic awards under the Streamlined Noncompeting Award Process (SNAP) and awards that require more frequent reporting. When required on and annual basis, the report must be submitted for each budget period no later than 90 days after the end of the calendar quarter in which the budget period ends (3/31, 6/30, 9/30, 12/31).

A final FFR shall be submitted at the completion of the award agreement for all awards. For final FFRs, the reporting period end date shall be the end date of the project or grant period. The final FFR must be submitted within 120 calendar days after the end of the project period.

NIH FFR User Guide

DOD Closeout

The recipient shall use the Standard Form (SF) 425, "Federal Financial Report," for reporting individual awards. Quarterly and final reports are required for those awards receiving advance payments. Annual and final reports are required for those awards receiving cost reimbursement payments.

The Federal Financial Reporting period end dates fall on the end of the calendar quarter for quarterly reports (3/31, 6/30, 9/30, 12/31), end of the calendar year for annual reports (12/31), and the end date of the term of the award for the final report. Reports are due 30 days after the reporting period end date for quarterly and annual reports and 90 days after the end date of the term of the award for the final report.

Final Research Performance Progress Report (F-RPPR)

For NIH, the Final Research Performance Progress Report (F-RPPR) replaced the Final Progress Report (FPR) for closeout effective January 1, 2017. NIH is no longer accepting FPRs. Generally, the format is the same as the annual RPPR, making it easier for recipients to navigate through the F-RPPR based on familiarity with the format of the annual RPPR.

Also, in accordance with NIH's implementation of the F-RPPR, recipients are required to adhere to the new requirement to report on Project Outcomes. This section is made publicly available, thus allowing recipients the opportunity to provide the general public with a concise summary of the cumulative outcome or findings of the project (analogous to the Project Summary/Abstract section of the competing application).

NIH has aligned its reporting requirement with other Federal research agencies and therefore did not make any changes to the deadline for submitting the final report- i.e., the Final RPPR must be submitted via eRA Commons no later than 120 calendar days from the period of performance end date. If a recipient fails to comply with this reporting requirement, NIH may take one or more enforcement actions, such as a decision not to make a non-competing continuation award, consistent with NIHGPS Chapter 8.5.2.

Notes:

Type 2 Renewal Submission Changes

NIH discontinued its Type 2 policy which in accordance with NIHGPS Chapter 8.6.2 states that "whether funded or not" the progress report contained in the Type 2 application may serve in lieu of a separate final progress report. It is important to note that the discontinuance of this longstanding policy aligns NIH's final performance reporting requirement with the requirements imposed by other Federal research awarding agencies thus reducing the administrative burden associated with a unique NIH reporting requirement.

Therefore, as a standard policy, NIH requires that organizations submit an "Interim-RPPR" while their renewal application (Type 2) is under consideration. In the event that the Type 2 is funded, NIH will treat the Interim-RPPR as the annual performance report for the final year of the previous competitive segment. If the Type 2 is not funded, the Interim-RPPR will be treated by NIH staff as the institution's Final-RPPR.

The "Interim RPPR" must be submitted within 120 calendar days from the period of performance end date.

Steps for F-RPPR | Interim RPPR Submissions (does not require ERA InfoEd Routing):

Final Invention Statement and Certification

The DOD and NIH require the recipient of an award to report whether or not the funded project resulted in any subject inventions, and whether or not inventions were previously reported. Final Invention Statements must list all inventions that were conceived or first actually reduced to practice during the course of work under the project. Final Invention Statements must be signed by the OGC Signing Official.

PI or Delegate completes FIS via eRA Commons. Paper copies will not be accepted if electronic submission is available. All DOD FIS reports are submitted as a paper copy.