Award Closeout
Closeout is the process in which the awarding agency determines that all applicable administrative actions and all required work with the award have been completed by the recipient. In order to complete a closeout, the university must submit the final financial and programmatic reports to the sponsor usually within 90 days after the grant award expires or is terminated. The awarding agency will review these reports to ensure compliance with all the grant terms and conditions as well as to make sure all the funds were spent appropriately.
After the official closeout mentioned above, the Office of Contracts and Grants continue with Post Closeout actions which includes inactivating the award cost center(s) in the PeopleSoft financial system.
The chart below outlines the steps, the responsible office or person, and the time it takes to complete the award closeout process.
Award Setup Process and Timeline
| Steps | Responsible Office or Person | Timing |
| Email notification to the PI regarding closeout reports |
Office of Contract and Grants (Research Assistant) |
30 days prior to Award end date |
| Post all final expenditures, reconcile cost center, release encumbrances, clear overages | Department Administrator | At least 30 days after the award expiration or sooner if a sub-award |
| Conduct initial review of the general ledger for close out | Office of Contract and Grants (Research Assistant) |
At least 60 days after the award expiration or 30 days if UH is a sub-recipient |
| Submit final project deliverables to sponsor. | Principal Investigator (PI) | 90 days after award expiration or as otherwise stated in award terms and condition |
| Reconcile expenditures and payments and submit final financial and other non-technical reports to the sponsor |
Office of Contract and Grants |
90 days after award expiration or as otherwise stated in award terms and condition |
| Verify effort report certification against actual payroll | Office of Contracts and Grants (Research Accountant) |
90 days after award expiration |
| Post final payments to the general ledger | General Accounting | Net 30 days after payment request |
| Post Close Out Actions | ||
|
Inactivate Project Cost Centers in the PeopleSoft financial system |
Office of Contract and Grants |
At least 180 days after award expiration |
|
In the event of non-payment, collection action will continue. (The award cost centers cannot be inactivated till payment issues are settled) |
Office of Contract and Grants (Research Accountant) Principal investigator (PI) General Counsel |
Up to two (2) years after award closeout |
|
Retain the grant records |
Office of Contract and Grants (Research Accountant) Principal investigator (PI) |
At least three years from the date of the final expenditure report |
Over Expenditure
When expenditure posted to the project cost center(s) is beyond the sponsored project budget the Principal Investigator and the Department Business Manager must work with the Office of Contract and Grants to resolve the situation in time for closeout.
Sponsor Non-Payment
If payment from the sponsor is not received in full, the award will be flagged, and formal collection actions will be taken to recover the unpaid amount. When the expenditure on such an award exceeds the payment amount, collection efforts will continue for up to two (2) years. The University General Counsel may work with the PI and OCG to negotiation the settlement of this debt.
Cash Overages
At close out, if the total amount paid by the sponsor exceeds the total expenses, the overage will be returned to the sponsor unless it is a fixed price award in which no explicit request to return funding was included in the agreement. Credit due to vendor rebates, reimbursement, or the removal of unallowable charges, that results in a cash overage, will be returned to the sponsor.