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Track Grant Spend

Goal: Know how much of each award has actually been spent, cost by cost, and how much is left. A cost is recorded on the project it belongs to, posted to the ledger, and charged to the grant that pays for it. Spent and Remaining above the tabs are live totals of those charges.

Where spend lives​

Open an awarded grant and choose the Fund Tracking tab. The Spend against this grant card lists every cost charged to the grant: its date, description, vendor and invoice number, the project and budget line it was charged to (or direct when it has no budget line), its backup (whether the invoice and the proof of payment are attached — see Evidence and Packets), its status, and this grant's share of the amount. The Spent tile above the tabs is the total of the rows that count, and Remaining is the award less that total.

The chart above the cards, Budgeted vs spent by cost category, sets what you planned on each budget line (from the Projects & Budget tab) against what has been charged to the grant under that category.

Record a cost​

Costs belong to projects, so a grant can only be charged for costs on a project it is linked to. Click Record cost on the Fund Tracking tab, then:

  1. Choose the project and, if it applies, the budget line the cost hits. Leave the line blank for a direct cost such as equipment or an indirect allocation.
  2. Enter the description, amount, the date of the cost (never a future date), and optionally the vendor and invoice number.
  3. Set this grant's share. It defaults to the whole cost. Enter less when match or another funder pays the rest; the remainder stays on the project and can be charged to another grant later.
  4. Click Post cost.

Posting writes the cost's accounting entry in one step and charges the share to the grant. The row appears on the Spend card, Spent rises, Remaining falls, and the project's budget line shows the cost in its Actual column.

You can also record costs from the project itself: the Costs card on a project's Budget tab lists every cost on the project, lets you save one as a draft first and post it later, and shows which grants each posted cost is charged to.

Drafts and posting​

A cost saved without posting is a draft. Drafts can be edited or deleted freely and count for nothing: they do not appear on any grant, and they do not change a budget line's Actual. Posting locks the amount, date and line. From then on a mistake is corrected by a reversal, never by editing.

Posting is switched on per environment by your administrator. If it is off, Record cost on the grant is disabled with a note, and costs recorded on projects stay drafts.

The budget line's Actual​

Once a cost has been posted against a budget line, that line's Actual on the project's Budget tab is the sum of its posted costs. It updates on every posting and reversal and can no longer be typed in the budget dialog. A line with no posted costs keeps whatever Actual was entered by hand.

Correct a mistake​

Two things can be undone, and each leaves its row on the record:

  • Reverse the cost. On the project's Costs card, click Reverse on a posted cost and give a reason. Its accounting entry is voided, every grant's share of it is voided with it, the row stays marked Reversed, and the budget line's Actual drops.
  • Stop charging the grant. On the grant's Spend card, click Void on the row and give a reason. Only this grant's share is voided: the cost itself stays on the project and on the ledger, and it can be charged to another grant. Spent drops by the share.

A share that is already on a submitted reimbursement claim cannot be voided, and a cost with such a share cannot be reversed, until the claim is voided or rejected.

Who can do what​

Anyone who can view grants can read the Spend card and the figures. Charging a cost to a grant and voiding a share need the Allocate Grant Expenses permission, which admins and staff have by default; recording the cost on the project also needs the project management permission. Recording, editing, posting and reversing costs on a project's Costs card follow the project permissions.