Benefits of Preparing a Grant Status Report [Downloadable Template Included]

Have you ever wished you had a grant status report that showed in a simple format whether your government is billing, collecting and spending grants in a timely manner? Or have you had a problem even identifying every grant that the government holds? 

We developed a simple grants report for a client that you may find useful as a template to get a head start on preparing an effective grant status report for your government. Click here to jump directly to the download of the template.

The Basics: How to Keep Track of Your Grants?​

Of course, when your government gets a grant approved, it’s usually a great thing. However, they also bring a burden for billing and collecting the grant and assuring compliance with grant provisions. That’s where it gets tricky. 

Can you easily answer questions such as:

• How much was awarded to the government this year? 
• How much awarded dollars were not spent by the end of the grant period?
• Are we billing our grants in a timely manner? 
• Are we collecting grants in a timely manner? 
• Are we spending fast enough to expend proceeds before the grants expire?

​These, and other important questions frequently come up from senior management, department personnel, auditors, grantors and others.

In an ideal world, a designated an organization-wide Grants Manager would track all your grants in a frequently updated and neatly organized database that includes the status of billing, collecting, spending and compliance.

The reality is, however, that most government don’t manage their grants centrally, and have difficulty tracking them in organized or efficient ways.
In addition, frequently not all grants are set up separately in the general ledger. Managers responsible for individual grants frequently maintain expenditure and billing information in separate worksheets that are not reconciled to the general ledger.
Therefore, to gain understanding of the status of all your grants, you’d likely need to talk to different people in various departments to piece together the information you need. 

​​We recommend your Finance Department prepare a standard grant status report each quarter. In order to give you a head start on developing such a grant status report, Kevin Harper created the following  that your government can customize to fit its needs.

 

-DOWNLOAD THE TOOL HERE-

sample snippet view
​Note: This tool is just a template with sample numbers, names and other information – all filled in information is purely for demonstration – please modify it for your government's needs.

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​Instructions on how to use our Grant Status Report template are directly in the file. However, here are the basic steps:

1. A reviewer of this Grant Status Report should ask and assure the following:

• Are grants billed in a timely manner? Look at "Last Billed Date" and at the amount of "Not Yet Billed" revenues.
• Are grants collected in a timely manner? Look at amount in "Billed & Not Collected."
• Will grants be spent within the grant period? Look at "Expenditures Life-to-Date" and the grant period.
• Assure that amount in "Total" revenues equals amount in "Expenditures Life-to-Date" for reimbursement-type grants.
• Assure that amounts in "Total" revenues and in "Expenditures Life-to-Date" for active grants agree with amounts recorded in the financial system.
• Assure that the total of "Billed and Not Collected" and "Not Yet Billed" equals grants receivable amount recorded in the financial system.
• "Available Grant Balance" can be used to prepare budgets and cash flow projections.

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1. The "Project #" and "Program #" columns should be tailored to identify where the grant is recorded in the client's financial system.
2. Reimbursement Grants: Most governmental grants are reimbursement-type grants. For reimbursement-type grants, revenues should be recognized at the time eligible expenditures are incurred.  Therefore, revenues will equal expenditures at all times.
3. Available Grant Balance" is "Grant Amount" less "Expenditures Life-to-Date.
4. For advance-type grants, revenues are recognized when received.
5. Expired grants are included on this report until they are closed.
6. Expected grants are included for planning purposes.

​​By using this grant status report template for your government’s needs, your grants management can be more efficiently managed. Again, it is our recommendation for the Finance Department to prepare this report quarterly for review and use by the Grants Manager, Finance Department and senior management.

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For any questions about the use of this grant status report template, feel free to contact Kevin Harper directly: ​​

Kevin Harper, CPA
kharper@kevinharpercpa.com
(510) 593-503

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