Now that you have the grant, how can it be maintained? The answer is simple – robust grant tracking. Once you are awarded a grant, there are a lot of strings attached to that funding, and a number of compliance requirements that necessitate adherence. 2 CFR 200 (Uniform Guidance) outlines these requirements in greater detail. 

Let’s put it this way: if proper programmatic and financial grant tracking isn’t in place after an award is received, it could lead to a number of infractions for the recipient and subrecipient entities. It is important that organizations stay compliant:

• Missed reporting deadlines
• Audit findings
• Disallowed costs
• Potential legal ramifications based on falsified data.

We’ll explore what grant tracking is in more detail, and you can learn more here about internal controls and their importance in grant administration.

What is Grant Tracking and Why Does it Matter?

Grant tracking refers to the process of monitoring and managing the lifecycle of a grant, from pre- through post-award, ensuring compliance with requirements and proper allocation of funds. Essentially, the goal is to ensure that programmatic objectives are met and funds are spent in accordance with the budget. The question is, how does this happen? This is the purpose of grant tracking and ensuring its importance in the accountability of funding and effective funding stewardship.

When a grant award is received, the most important component in effective grant tracking is holding a kickoff meeting with key stakeholders and partners (both internal and external) to ensure that everyone is aware of the award requirements and critical deadlines. There are several different activities that must be tracked and maintained, and it is important to identify the key personnel who are responsible for each component. 

What are the benefits of effective grant tracking?

• Effective monitoring to ensure that each dollar is tracked
• Strengthen internal controls to avoid audit findings
• Adherence to the Uniform Guidance to maintain robust grant compliance
• Appropriate record-keeping for auditing and reporting purposes
• Oversight of subrecipients and contractors
• Easier reporting and data collection

Grant Tracking Spreadsheet Essentials: What You Need to Monitor

You might now be wondering, “What is it that I need to track?” Whether you use a spreadsheet or are considering a more robust grant management or project management system, you will want to track the following items for each award:

• Deadlines
• Award amounts
• Reporting requirements
• Points of contact
• Evaluation metrics
• Comments/Notes of Concern

There are a number of other items that require ongoing maintenance and tracking outside of a general tracking spreadsheet, and they cover different functional areas:

Programmatic – This covers all the evaluation data, subrecipient activities, and progress made toward meeting grant goals and objectives.

Financial – Budget reconciliation, invoicing, cash management, and fiduciary responsibilities associated with effective financial management and administration.

Operations – Oversight of project and updates to administrative documents, including policies and procedures, reporting, and communication within the organization and with the awarding agency.

At MyFedTrainer, we believe that one of the best ways to stay on track is to develop robust grant management policies. That’s why we offer editable grant management templates for the most important policies. 

Setting Up a More Robust Grant Tracking System

If you are using Google Sheets or Excel to track your grants, and it’s working for you, that’s great. However, if you are finding that you need a more robust way of tracking, here are some considerations:

Manual: These are your basic spreadsheets, and are very easy to develop and use. These documents can be easily adjusted, and for those Excel wizards, you can create formulas to track expenditures and create pivot tables for reporting purposes. The catch is that it is difficult to maintain version control, so there must be clear protocols on updating grant data.

Cloud-Based: If you manage multiple complex grants, you might need to level up your grant tracking to ensure nothing is missed. This is especially true if you work in a Hybrid situation with people operating in different working environments. These systems are more expensive but do have more robust reporting and tracking capabilities. Whether you use one that is more project management-focused or a grant lifecycle system, you will want to test it out first and ensure that there is an ease of use and that multiple staff members can leverage the system components.

Some things you will want to consider as part of the tracking process include:

• Leveraging a system you might already have
• Pilot the system for one grant
• Assign responsibilities and develop a quick checklist on how to use the system
• Set up a time each week for continued updates

Features to Look for in Grant Tracking Software

I often get asked, “What is the best project/grant management system to use?” My response is always the same: it depends on your user requirements.

Before you spend money on any system, you need to outline your organizational priorities and needs, and what system will have the best features to meet these needs. These features may include:

• Automated reminders and integration with email systems
• Customized reporting tools
• Expense/budget tracking
• Compliance monitoring
• Evaluation of program data
• Communication notes 
• Record keeping or documentation

Once you identify those data sources, you can demo some systems and see what will work best for you and your team. 

What Are the Next Steps Once You Have Identified a Grant Tracking System?

Congratulations! You have taken the next step towards becoming a compliance warrior. We know that grant compliance is not an easy process, and once you have your grant tracking system in place, what now? There are a few steps in a successful system implementation process.

Buy-in: Does your team want to implement the system? Have they been involved in developing user requirements (and not just brought in at the back end)?

SOPs: Do you have standard operating procedures developed to map out how you will use the system and the key functions/personnel (by job title) who are involved? This should also include ongoing maintenance and timing of updates.

Training: Some people in your office might be tech-savvy, and others are not. It is important to provide an overview of the system and process, as well as how information will be tracked. 

Round Out Your Grant Tracking & Management Skills with MyFedTrainer!

As we’ve outlined, grant tracking is a critical component of the grant administration process. Each organization is different so the way you do this will vary depending on the size of the staff, organization, and complexity of the grant awards.

It’s most important to review the Uniform Guidance and your notice of grant award(s), and ensure effective processes to comply with the grant requirements.

Need help? Check out our training and template resources to help you stay compliant.