Part III - Chapter 18: Closeout
HIGHLIGHTS OF CHAPTER:
- Background
- Closeout of Discretionary/Categorical Awards
- Closeout of Block/Formula Awards
- Refund of Federal Grant Monies and/or Program Income at Closeout
- Initiation of the Closeout Process
- Failure to Remit Funds Owed
BACKGROUND
It is the responsibility of the recipient to initiate the closeout process of his/her awards by using the Closeout Module in the Grants Management System (GMS). All discretionary/categorical and block/formula award recipients have 90 days after the end date of the award to close out the award. However, recipients should start the closeout process as soon as the program is completed and all monies have been spent. This will enable accurate reporting of financial information on the financial statements.
CLOSEOUT OF DISCRETIONARY/CATEGORICAL AWARDS
- Cash Reconciliation. The recipient must perform a financial reconciliation at closeout. The total cost of the project must be determined. If there was a requirement for the recipient to provide a share of the project costs, match must be calculated based on the actual total cost of the project. Any match must be reported on the SF-269A (Financial Status Report). The recipient should request reimbursement for any funds due to cover expenditures and obligations (incurred prior to the grant expiration date and liquidated no more than 90 days after the grant expiration date) at award closeout. The recipient's Federal expenditures (outlays) must be equal to or greater than the cash disbursements from the awarding agency.
- Drawdown of Funds. Recipients should request final drawdown for reimbursement of Federal expenditures made within the approved period in conjunction with the final Financial Status Report.
- Recipient Closeout Requirements. Within 90 days after the end date of the award or any approved extension thereof (revised end date), the following must be submitted by the recipient to the awarding agency:
- Final Financial Status Report. This FINAL report of expenditures must have no unliquidated obligations and must indicate the exact balance of unobligated funds. Any unobligated/unexpended funds will be deobligated from the award amount by the awarding agency. Any match requirement must be met by the end of the grant period. Matching contribution must be reported on the final SF-269A. Recipients, who have drawn down funds in excess of their Federal expenditures, shall return unused funds to the awarding agency at the same time they submit the final report. (Recipients must report obligations and expenditures at the recipient/subrecipient level.)
- Final Progress Report. This report should be prepared in accordance with instructions provided by the awarding agency.
- Invention Report. All inventions that were conceived or first actually reduced to practice during the course of work under the award project must be listed on this report before closeout.
CLOSEOUT OF BLOCK/FORMULA AWARDS
The timeframe for closeout of block/formula awards is also 90 days from the end date of the award. Cash disbursements and recipient expenditures must be reconciled before closeout.
REFUND OF FEDERAL GRANT MONIES AND/OR PROGRAM INCOME AT CLOSEOUT
If funds must be returned at award closeout, award recipients should remit:
-
- a check made payable to DOJ/Office of Justice Programs;
- a cover letter or voucher containing the grant award number for the refund, the unobligated balance, and an itemization of funds (e.g., the amount to be applied to excess payments, interest income, program income, questioned costs and so forth); and
- a print out of the final SF-269A report which reconciles the amount of the refund.
INITIATION OF THE CLOSEOUT PROCESS
The recipient must complete the financial reconciliation and ensure that all programmatic conditions and requirements have been met, and then the recipient can initiate the closeout process in GMS. The closeout package is reviewed in GMS by the OJP Program Office. Once approved, the closeout package is submitted to OCFO for financial reconciliation.
If the financial reconciliation process reveals that refunds are due to OJP, the OCFO Customer Service Branch will contact the award recipient to request the funds owed. All refunds must be submitted to OJP by check. All checks will be converted into an electronic funds transfer (EFT). The account information from the checks will be scanned and stored. OJP will debit the account for the amount specified on the check within 24 hours. The drawdown will be reflected on the remitter's regular account statement.
The remitter will not receive a return check from the bank. OJP will destroy all checks; however, the information on the checks will be stored electronically.
Electronic funds transfer from the remitter's account is faster than normal check processing. If the EFT is returned for insufficient funds, OJP will process the transfer two more times. OJP may charge a processing fee for insufficient funds.
All refund checks and letters should be submitted to: Office of Justice Programs, Office of the Chief Financial Officer, ATTN: Accounting Control Branch, 810 Seventh Street, NW., Washington, DC 20531.
NOTE: Furnishing your check information is voluntary, but a decision not to do so may require remitters to make payment by some other method.
FAILURE TO REMIT FUNDS OWED
If the award recipient fails to remit funds owed to OJP, OCFO will refer the debt to the U.S. Department of the Treasury for collection as provided by Federal laws. Treasury may add fees, fines, and penalties to the original amount of the debt owed to the Federal agency.
Failure to remit funds due to OJP may result in withholding or freezing of funds on all other grants awarded to the grantee organization, and may impact future financial integrity reviews affecting future grant applications.
