Closeout Procedures

Award closeouts generally require that a series of final reports be submitted to the project's sponsor. It is essential that these be prepared and sent on time.  The terms and conditions of the award will specify what should be sent, when and to whom.  Non-compliance in this regard can lead to debarment of the Principal Investigator/Project Director (PI/PD)* from receiving subsequent grants from the sponsor. Ultimately, it can even lead to the debarment of the University from receiving grants from the sponsor because the University is held responsible for all required closeout documents.

If you have any questions about the terms or the process, please contact the grants compliance manager.

Guidance to Prepare for Closeout

PI's should be aware of the closing dates of their awards not only to complete the technical aspects of the project, but also close-out all financial obligations in advance of the project termination date.  Project accounts will be inactivated on the end date and only allowable charges will be allowed to post after that date. Any charges incurred after the termination date will be returned to the respective department.

Due to the timeliness of posting charges to a project account, p-cards should not be used within 60 days of the end date.

For most federal awards, the university is allowed 90 days to officially close an award. This means the university may use this time to correct errors, post charges that were incurred before the end date, and address other close-out requirements. Investigators should also be aware of the following:

• Check that all deliverables have been submitted and meet agency requirements. If any deliverable is missing.  
• Confirm that all equipment purchased by award funds has been inventoried and tagged. Generally, equipment purchased by external funds becomes the property of the University.  Please coordinate with OGSP when your project involves the purchase of equipment to preserve appropriate ownership. 
• Begin the necessary paperwork to terminate and/or transfer personnel working on the project to other projects or university funding.  
• Most agencies will withhold funding for future projects from PIs who do not comply with the timely submission of final reports. Many sponsors will also not remit final payment until a satisfactory final report has been received. In this event, the PI's academic unit is responsible for any expenses that cannot be covered due to incomplete reporting. 

PI:

• Writes and submits a final report to the sponsor in the time required by the terms of the grant.
• Works with Financial Services to identify all expenses properly allocable to the grant and remove any expenses that are incorrect or exceed the amount of the grant.
• If inventions were disclosed on the project, coordinates with Legal Affairs to insure that a complete final invention report is submitted.
• If the sponsor loaned equipment, coordinates with the OGSP for final disposition of the equipment.

OGSP:

• Reminds PI's of upcoming end dates and reporting deadlines
• Coordinates the closeout process and maintain copies of all reports for the official file
• Works with the PI to insure that all project expenses are properly identified and that the account is not overspent
• Prepares and submits a final equipment report if required.

Financial Services:

• Prepares and submits the final financial report to the sponsor.
• Returns any unspent funds.