Grant Management: Budget vs. Actual Reconciliations
According to 2 CFR 200, grantees are required to compare the actual expenditures with the budgeted amounts for each Federal award. This reconciliation process is a key for managing grants effectively because it assists with performance evaluation and financial reporting. If you are a grant professional who is in-charge of managing a grant, this is what you need to know:
- As mentioned above, reconciliation of actual expenses vs. proposed budget.
- Whether you have 1 year grant or multiple year, it is important to reconcile expenses on monthly basis.
- I usually recommend the 1st week of new month to reconcile the prior month's expenses. (December 2017 expenses should be reconciled--1st week of January.)
- What should the reconciliation include??
- All actual expenditures processed through the Finance department plus any authorizations, obligations, unobligated balances, program income, and interest.
- The report should include all budget categories such as personnel, fringe, supplies, equipment etc.
- What do you do with the reconciliation report??
- Please send a copy to the Principal Investigator (PI) for review, grant manager, and anyone else who may be in-charge of reviewing the expenses to ensure everything is charged correctly.
- If something is charged incorrectly, the PI should notify the Finance Office.
- After the corrections, a final copy of the monthly expenses should be sent again to the PI.
- Repeat the process again for next month.
- By year end, you should have everything ready for your annual report which will save your grant team a lot of time and money
We hope you find this blog post helpful as you manage your grants. Thank you for making us part of your learning team. Our goal is to equip you with you what you need to know to excel in your role. Please tell us what you would like us to write about next??
