Post-Award Grant Management

Why Post-Award Management Matters

Winning the grant is only the beginning. How you manage the award — tracking expenditures, meeting reporting deadlines, maintaining compliance, and communicating with your program officer — determines whether you deliver on your promises and position yourself for future funding.

Poor post-award management has real consequences. Late reports can trigger suspension of funding. Unallowable expenses can result in disallowed costs that you must repay. Failure to meet programmatic milestones can lead to reduced funding for subsequent years. And a track record of management problems follows you to future applications, where reviewers may question your ability to steward resources responsibly.

Financial Management

Setting Up the Award

When the award notice arrives, work with your sponsored programs or grants management office to set up the project account. Confirm the budget categories, the award period, the indirect cost rate, and any special conditions or restrictions. Read the terms and conditions of the award document thoroughly — they are legally binding.

Establish a system for tracking expenditures against the approved budget from day one. Most institutions use enterprise financial systems that assign a unique project code or account number to each grant. Ensure that all project expenses are charged to the correct account and that you have a process for reviewing charges regularly.

Monitoring Expenditures

Review your project finances at least monthly. Compare actual spending against the approved budget and your projected spending plan. Look for budget lines that are underspent or overspent relative to the project timeline.

Underspending can be as problematic as overspending. If you are significantly under budget midway through the project, it may signal delays in implementation — which will attract questions from your program officer. If you are overspending, you need to identify the cause and determine whether a budget modification is necessary.

Budget Modifications

Most funders allow some flexibility to move funds between budget categories without prior approval, typically up to 10 or 25 percent of the total budget depending on the funder's rules. Larger reallocations usually require prior written approval from the funding agency.

Request budget modifications proactively. If you know that personnel costs will be lower than budgeted because a hire was delayed, and you want to redirect those funds to supplies, submit the modification request before making the change. Retroactive approvals are harder to obtain and can create compliance issues.

Reporting Requirements

Progress Reports

Most grants require periodic progress reports — annually for federal grants, sometimes quarterly for foundation or state grants. Progress reports describe what you accomplished during the reporting period, how activities align with your original plan, any challenges encountered, and your plans for the next period.

Write progress reports as strategic documents, not perfunctory summaries. They are your primary opportunity to communicate with your program officer about the project's trajectory. Highlight significant accomplishments, explain any deviations from the plan, and describe how you are adapting to challenges.

Financial Reports

Financial reports document how you spent the award funds during each reporting period. These are typically prepared by your grants management office based on the expenditure records in your financial system. Review the financial report before it is submitted to ensure that it accurately reflects your project's spending.

Final Reports

Final reports summarize the entire project: objectives achieved, outcomes measured, lessons learned, and publications or products resulting from the work. Many funders use final reports to assess the overall success of the investment and to inform future funding priorities. A strong final report can also serve as the foundation for your next proposal to the same funder.

Compliance

Allowable Costs

Federal grants are governed by the Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200), which defines which costs are allowable, allocable, and reasonable. Familiarize yourself with the basic principles: costs must be necessary for the project, consistent with institutional policies, and not prohibited by the funder's terms. Common compliance issues include charging entertainment expenses, alcoholic beverages, or general-purpose equipment to federal grants.

Effort Reporting

If your institution uses effort reporting (as most universities do), ensure that the effort certified for key personnel matches the effort committed in the grant budget. If a PI committed 20 percent effort to a project but only devoted 10 percent, the effort report should reflect the actual effort, and the salary charge should be adjusted accordingly.

Human Subjects and Other Regulatory Compliance

If your project involves human subjects, animal research, biosafety, or other regulated activities, maintain all required approvals throughout the project period. IRB approvals must be renewed annually, animal protocols must be current, and any changes to the research protocol must receive prior approval. Regulatory lapses can result in suspension of the grant.

Communication with Your Program Officer

Your program officer is your primary contact at the funding agency. They monitor your project's progress, review your reports, and make decisions about modifications, extensions, and supplemental funding.

Build a professional, communicative relationship. Do not contact your program officer only when you have a problem. Share good news — a significant publication, a successful milestone, a conference presentation. Proactive communication builds trust and gives the program officer confidence in your management of the award.

When challenges arise — and they will — communicate early and honestly. Program officers are far more supportive when they learn about issues in real time than when they discover problems in a late or incomplete report.

No-Cost Extensions

If your project needs additional time to complete planned activities without additional funds, you can request a no-cost extension (NCE). For federal grants, the first NCE (typically up to 12 months) can often be approved by your institution without agency involvement. Subsequent extensions require agency approval.

Request an NCE well before the award expiration date and provide a clear justification: what remains to be completed, why it was not finished on time, and what your plan is for the extension period. An NCE is not a mechanism for spending down leftover funds — it is for completing the work you proposed.

Building Toward Future Funding

Effective post-award management is not just about compliance — it is about building the record that supports your next grant application. Every publication, dataset, and outcome you produce during the award becomes preliminary data or evidence of impact for future proposals. Every positive interaction with your program officer strengthens a relationship that may influence future funding decisions.

Document your results carefully, maintain organized records, and think of each grant not as an isolated project but as one chapter in a longer funding narrative.

Common Pitfalls

• Not reading the terms and conditions of the award document
• Failing to monitor expenditures regularly, leading to surprises at year-end
• Missing reporting deadlines, which can trigger funding suspension
• Making budget changes without understanding whether prior approval is required
• Treating the program officer as an adversary rather than a partner

Successful post-award management requires discipline, organization, and proactive communication. The habits you develop in managing your current award will serve you throughout your career as a funded investigator and will directly influence your ability to secure future funding.