Guides
Grant compliance,explained plainly.
Practical writing about the work between an award letter and a final report. No gated PDFs, no email wall — every guide cites its sources so you can check them.
- COMPLIANCE6 min read
The SF-425 Federal Financial Report
The Federal Financial Report, demystified. What each section asks, the cash-vs-expenditures trap, and the deadline on the final one.
Read guide - COMPLIANCE5 min read
What makes a grant cost allowable
Seven tests decide if a cost survives an audit. The two auditors argue (reasonable, allocable) and the one most costs fail: being documented.
Read guide - COMPLIANCE5 min read
Managing equipment bought with grant funds
Property records, a two-year physical inventory, and the $10,000 disposition rule — raised from $5,000 in 2024, so most checklists are stale.
Read guide - FINANCE5 min read
Program income on a grant
The default method quietly shrinks your grant. Deduction vs addition, netting the cost of earning it, and the during-performance timing rule.
Read guide - COMPLIANCE6 min read
What 2 CFR 200 is, in plain English
The one rulebook behind almost every federal grant. What the Uniform Guidance is, how its subparts are organised, and the sections you actually deal with.
Read guide - COMPLIANCE6 min read
Subrecipient monitoring
A subaward is a new obligation, not one less thing to manage. Risk-assess, monitor, verify the audit, close it out — and mind that their deadlines sit inside yours.
Read guide - COMPLIANCE5 min read
When a grant needs prior approval
Some costs are allowable only if you asked first. What commonly needs prior approval, and why skipping it turns a good cost into a repayment.
Read guide - FINANCE5 min read
Cost share and match, and what counts
Match is a documentation problem, not a funding one. The five criteria a contribution must meet, and the unrecovered-indirect option most orgs miss.
Read guide - COMPLIANCE5 min read
How long to keep grant records
Three years from the final report, not the award start. The open-audit exception that overrides it, and the records on a different clock.
Read guide - COMPARISON4 min read
Grantwell vs Instrumentl
Instrumentl finds and wins grants; Grantwell handles the compliance of grants you already won. Which half of the problem you have, and the price gap.
Read guide - COMPARISON5 min read
Grant tracking software for a small nonprofit
The real competitor is the spreadsheet — until it can’t chase anyone or survive turnover. What a small org actually needs in a tool, and what to skip.
Read guide - REGULATION5 min read
The de minimis indirect cost rate
It went from 10% to 15% of MTDC in 2024, and most budget templates still say 10%. Who can elect it, and the mistake of claiming zero.
Read guide - COMPLIANCE5 min read
The grant no-cost extension
A one-time 12-month extension you can take without asking — but only if you file the notice 10 days before the end. The four things that disqualify it.
Read guide - COMPLIANCE6 min read
The grant closeout checklist
Everything final is due 120 days after the period of performance ends — reports, liquidation, refunds. The checklist, and the two deadlines that catch people out.
Read guide - OPERATIONS5 min read
The grant tracking spreadsheet that does not break
If adding a grant means adding columns, the shape is wrong. The one structural fix — plus a free workbook, no signup.
Read guide - REGULATION6 min read
The Single Audit threshold
It went from $750,000 to $1,000,000 — and a surprising number of published checklists still say the old number. What actually counts toward the threshold.
Read guide - OPERATIONS7 min read
What belongs on a grant compliance calendar
Most calendars track only report due dates — the smallest part of the problem. The five categories that actually belong on one.
Read guide - COMPLIANCE8 min read
How to read an award letter for obligations
An award letter is a contract, not a congratulations note. A practical method for pulling every obligation out of one.
Read guide - FINANCE6 min read
Budget vs actual on restricted grants
Organisation-wide budget-vs-actual hides grant overspends until it is too late to fix them. What a per-award view has to show instead.
Read guide
Every guide records the date it was last fact-checked. Oldest review on this page: 26 August 2026.
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