Award Closeout

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WRAPPING UP
YOUR PROJECT

Award closeout is the final stage of the award life cycle, when your project's work, spending, and reporting are formally brought to a close. As PI, you're responsible for finishing any remaining research activities, making sure all charges to the award are accurate and allowable, and submitting your final technical and financial reports, typically due within 120 days of the project end date. Planning ahead (about 90 days before the end date) gives you time to resolve outstanding charges, confirm effort certifications, and coordinate final invoices with subrecipients. OSP and Research Accounting will guide you through each step, but staying current on your reporting and expenses throughout the award is what turns closeout into a simple wrap-up rather than a last-minute scramble.

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FINALIZING EXPENDITURES

Before Research Accounting can submit a final financial report, all expenditures on the award must be reviewed, reconciled, and finalized. Completing this step early helps ensure the final financial report accurately reflects the award’s financial activity and helps prevent delays during closeout.

WHY IT MATTERS
Once an award or project account is closed, making accounting corrections can become significantly more difficult or impossible. Cost transfers, corrections, and other adjustments should be completed before the account is closed. Waiting until the end of the closeout period may leave insufficient time to resolve discrepancies or process necessary adjustments.

WHAT TO REVIEW
Departments should review the award’s financial activity and confirm that:

  • All expenditures are allowable, allocable, reasonable, and properly recorded.
  • All transactions have posted to the appropriate award and account.
  • Outstanding encumbrances and commitments are cleared or otherwise appropriately resolved.
  • Pending transactions are reviewed and completed before the final financial report is prepared.
  • Cost transfers and accounting corrections are completed as early as possible.
  • Duplicate, erroneous, or potentially unallowable charges are identified and resolved.
  • The final expenditures reconcile with the department’s records and supporting documentation.

PLAN AHEAD FOR CLOSEOUT
Do not wait until the award’s final days to begin reviewing expenditures. Departments should begin identifying and resolving outstanding financial activity well in advance of the closeout deadline. This provides time to investigate discrepancies, obtain required documentation or approvals, process cost transfers, and ensure transactions are fully posted.

Closeout Reminder: Finalize expenditures before the award is closed. Once an account is closed, cost transfers and other corrections may be more difficult to process or may no longer be possible. Resolving financial issues early helps ensure an accurate final financial report and a smoother award closeout.

BEFORE RESEARCH ACCOUNTING SUBMITS THE FINAL FINANCIAL REPORT
Make sure the award is financially complete:

  • All expenditures have been reviewed
  • All transactions have posted
  • Encumbrances and commitments have been cleared
  • Pending transactions have been resolved
  • Cost transfers and corrections have been completed
  • Any questionable or unallowable costs have been addressed
  • Final expenditures have been reconciled

NEED HELP?
Have questions about finalizing expenditures? The Research Accounting team within Research Financial Services is available to help you review outstanding transactions, resolve financial issues, and prepare for award closeout.

Contact Research Accounting

EQUIPMENT & PROPERTY DISPOSITION

If your project purchased equipment with a per-unit cost of $5,000 or more, federal terms under 2 CFR 200.313 may require you to report its final disposition — whether it will continue to be used on other sponsored work, be transferred, or be retired. OSP Post Award will let you know if your award includes equipment subject to this review.

Contact OSP Post Award

Invoice

SUBRECIPIENT FINAL INVOICE

If your award includes a subrecipient, their final invoice must be received, reviewed, and reconciled before UNT Health can complete the award closeout with the sponsor.

PLAN AHEAD
Contact your subrecipient well before the project end date to confirm:

  • Any required final programmatic reporting requirements have been received
  • That all outstanding costs and expenses have been submitted
  • That the final invoice will be clearly identified as the final invoice
  • Subrecipient final invoice has been paid and accounted for in the General Ledger

WHY IT MATTERS
A late or incomplete subrecipient invoice can delay closeout of the entire award. UNT Health cannot finalize the award’s financial reporting until all subrecipient expenditures have been received and reconciled. 

Closeout Reminder:  Research Financial Compliance (RFC) can help you monitor subrecipient expenditures and burn rates throughout the budget period and provide guidance during the award closeout process. Engaging RFC early can help identify potential issues, address discrepancies, and support a timely and accurate closeout.

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FINAL REPORTS

Two final reports bring an award to a close: a financial report and a technical (or progress) report. Both must be submitted before the sponsor will formally close the award, so it's worth understanding who prepares each one and what it requires.

FINAL FINANCIAL REPORT
Research Accounting prepares and submits the final financial report to your sponsor. This report summarizes total expenditures for the life of the award and confirms that spending matches the approved budget, so the sponsor can close the award and release any remaining obligated funds. Because this report reflects every charge made to the project, Research Accounting typically needs all expenses (including any late-arriving invoices, cost transfers, or subrecipient charges) to be finalized before they can prepare it. If costs are still posting to the award near the end date, let Research Accounting know so the report isn't delayed or submitted with the wrong figures.

FINAL TECHNICAL OR PROGRESS REPORT
As PI, you are responsible for the final technical or progress report, which documents what the project accomplished: the research outcomes, key findings, any publications or presentations, and progress toward the aims described in your original proposal. Many federal sponsors also ask whether the project resulted in any inventions, and some require a final data sharing update.

KNOW YOUR DEADLINE
Check your award's specific terms for the exact due date. Deadlines vary by sponsor, but many require the final technical report within 90 days or fewer after the project end date, and some require it sooner. Missing a final report deadline can delay the sponsor's approval to close the award and, in some cases, affect your eligibility for future funding from that sponsor.

CLOSING THE ACCOUNT

Once expenditures are finalized, all required reports are submitted, and any remaining balance or overrun is resolved, Research Accounting closes the project account. For fixed-price awards, any unspent balance is either returned to the sponsor or transferred to your non-sponsored account, depending on the award’s Notice of Award terms. After closeout, no additional expenses can be charged to the account.