Does your organization currently have grants that need to be billed monthly or quarterly in order for the granting organization to release the grant funds? All grants require careful documentation. Reimbursable grants based on units provided or actual expenses put additional upfront pressure on documentation as your organization will be doing funded work without cash. The need to report accurately and promptly is critical to the successful cash flow of your organization.

Even if the grants your organization has received are not reimbursable grants, but rather provide the grant funds upfront or in two even payments, your organization still needs to be prepared to report on the expenses for each penny of the awarded funds.

As each organization will have a unique mixture of grants and reporting and grant billing requirements, today’s challenge is to review your organization’s grant reporting and billing procedures. Ask yourself these questions as you review your policies and procedures:

1. What is the approval process for potential expenses before purchases are made or staff hours are revised?
2. How are invoices, purchase orders and staff time-coded to a specific grant? Are they consistently documented by all staff?
3. Are reports run and reviewed monthly to compare expenditures for each grant compared to the budgeted (and funder approved) expenses?
4. Who is responsible for ensuring that grant bills and financial reports are produced to meet each grantmakers expectations and requirements? Who reviews the reports prior to submission?

While the final policies and procedures will look unique for each organization, if you are receiving grant funds from government agencies you will want to review Uniform Grant Guidance and compare your policies and procedures to those federal standards.

Don’t forget to share your journey on the 30 Day Grant Readiness Challenge by using the hashtag #grantreadiness on your posts and updates on social media.

Did you miss the launch of the 30 Day Grant Readiness Challenge? It isn’t too late for you to start! It’s free to participate in, and you can sign up at any point and it will start you back on Day 1!