Research Accounting is responsible for closing an award once the period of performance has been exhausted. This process begins when the end date of an award passes. Once the award ends, the department has a review period to analyze costs and post any remaining expenditures. The Hold Close Date, which is determined by the grant validity end date and the final invoice due date, is the last day that expenses can be posted to a grant. If the department must add costs after the Hold Close Date, they must submit an extension request which is typically denied unless it is a special circumstance (e.g. subaward). If the business area requests an extension they acknowledge that they have consulted with the sponsor regarding the receipt of a late final invoice or report and accept responsibility for a rejected invoice with disallowed costs. If an end date extension is in the works, an Extension Request form is needed to change the end date and status within SIMBA. The grant will change to “Research Accounting” status on the Sunday after the Hold Close Date.

Once a grant changes to “Research Accounting” status, the award will be analyzed for F&A errors and make any necessary adjustments.  Research Accounting is then responsible for completing and submitting any required invoices, refunds, or financial reports to the sponsor. Once the final invoice has been submitted, the grant will be changed to “Awaiting Final Payment” status. When the payment is received and posted, the grant will be analyzed to confirm total expenses, revenue and income are all equal. If the account is balanced, the award will be changed to “Awaiting Bank Rec” status. Once the bank reconciliation is completed, the grant will be changed to “Closed/Closed” status.

For Fixed-Price awards a residual balance worksheet may need to be completed by the business area and submitted to Research Accounting in order to balance the grant for closeout.

The Authorization to Close (ATC) form is required to be submitted for NIH awards and may be submitted to res-acct@psu.edu in order to close any grant/IO early.

ORA provides a monthly closeout report to all departments listing any grants that are within 90 days of their end date or have expired in order for the departments to take any necessary actions before closeout.

Additional information regarding finalization and closeout procedures for sponsored awards can be found in Research Administration policy RA90.