The Post-Award phase begins on the date specified in the Period of Performance in the Notice of Award. In this phase of the grant process, grant payments are made and awardees work in partnership with NIFA to ensure proper stewardship of federal funds.
The Post-Award phase has three steps:
- Implementation: the objectives laid out in the application are carried out, the awarded funds are utilized according to the award’s terms and conditions. Awarded funds must be utilized within the duration of the award.
- Monitoring: includes monitoring project activities for compliance with program and applicable legal requirements.
- Reporting: includes reports from the Project Directors who are responsible for timely submission of program data to NIFA through REEport.
Monitoring
In this step, NIFA and the Recipient Organization are responsible for working together to monitor grant activities and ensure compliance with program requirements and federal regulations.
The awardee is accountable for the technical performance of the project or program. They must also ensure appropriate expenditure of funds under the award by all parties (co-project directors and sub-awardees) and that all other obligations cited in the grant’s Award Face Sheet are met.
NIFA is responsible for identifying potential areas where technical assistance might be needed by the awardee and for providing guidance or resources for such assistance.
The monitoring phase takes place over the lifecycle of a grant. Both NIFA and the Recipient Organization must ensure that:
- funds are being used properly for implementation of the project/program
- the project/program stays within the award’s scope of work and makes progress toward performance objectives.
- appropriate technical data and accomplishments are reported to NIFA (see more on Reporting below)
- Notifications of changes to project scope, key personnel, timeline, expenses, or location are sent to NIFA via the proper mechanisms: The awardees should contact the Administrative Contact listed in block 14 of their Award Face Sheet
NIFA conducts post-award compliance reviews to meet its responsibility under the Federal Managers’ Financial Integrity Act (FMFIA). Review the Compliance Materials chapter of this training video for more information.
Reporting
The reporting step of the grant lifecycle supports the activities described above in the monitoring step. Awardees must submit periodic technical and financial reports to NIFA that help ensure proper stewardship of federal funds.
The authoritative documents for reporting requirements for any NIFA grant are described in the current Terms and Conditions for that type of award.
Annual Reports
Technical Progress Reports
All awardees are required to submit annual technical progress reports through REEport. Progress reports must cover only the most recent Period of Performance, and they should adequately describe the funded project’s progress toward performance objectives and clearly highlight the major accomplishments achieved during the reporting period.
- The period of performance is a 12-month period beginning with the start date, or anniversary date, of the project. Annual progress reports for these are due no later than 90 days after the award anniversary date.
NIFA National Program Leaders are responsible for determining whether the technical accomplishments and impacts described in the progress report are satisfactory. They may return the report to the Project Director for corrections or additions if they deem necessary.
Financial Report
There are two types of financial reports due on an annual basis to NIFA: the Federal Financial Report (SF-425) and the REEport Project Financial Report.
- Federal Financial Report: Awardees are required to annually submit an SF-425 Federal Financial Report no later than 90 days after the award anniversary date. These should be emailed as a PDF attachment to awards@usda.gov. Guidance on completing the SF-425 is available at NIFA Terms and Conditions. All questions relating to the SF-425 reports should be directed to the Administrative Contact listed in Block 14 of the Award Face Sheet.
- REEport Project Financial Report: A Project Financial Report must be submitted through REEport on an annual basis. Assistance for submitting online forms through REEport should be directed to REEport Customer Service at electronic@usda.gov. Questions regarding report content should be directed to the Programmatic Contact listed in Block 14 of the Award Face Sheet.
No-Cost Extensions
In certain programs there is a possibility of a no-cost extension depending on the program's authorization. Please check with the program contact for an evaluation of your case. A general guidance is provided in this presentation.
