Grant Writing Post-Award Management and Reporting 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A federal grantee is required to report on outputs and outcomes. What is the key difference between these two measures?
- Outputs are financial; outcomes are narrative
- Outputs are direct products of activities; outcomes are the changes or benefits resulting from those activities (Correct answer)
- Outputs are reported annually; outcomes are reported at project close
- Outputs measure staff time; outcomes measure budget expenditure
Correct answer: Outputs are direct products of activities; outcomes are the changes or benefits resulting from those activities
Outputs are the direct, countable products of program activities (e.g., number of people trained), while outcomes are the changes in knowledge, behavior, or conditions those activities produce.
Question 2: What does the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) require of prime grant recipients?
- Annual single audits regardless of expenditure level
- Reporting of subawards over $30,000 in USASpending.gov (Correct answer)
- Monthly financial reports to Congress
- Publication of all grant budgets in the Federal Register
Correct answer: Reporting of subawards over $30,000 in USASpending.gov
FFATA requires prime awardees to report first-tier subawards of $30,000 or more to the FSRS (FFATA Sub-award Reporting System), which feeds into USASpending.gov.
Question 3: Which of the following costs must be treated as a direct cost and cannot be included in an indirect cost pool?
- Executive salaries of organizational leadership
- Depreciation on the grantee's headquarters building
- Salaries of project staff working exclusively on the grant (Correct answer)
- Utility costs for the grantee's main office
Correct answer: Salaries of project staff working exclusively on the grant
Salaries of staff who work exclusively on a specific grant must be charged as direct costs, not pooled as indirect costs.
Question 4: A grantee receives a 'disallowed cost' determination from the federal agency after a monitoring visit. What is the grantee's recourse?
- Accept the determination without appeal rights
- File an appeal through the agency's dispute resolution process (Correct answer)
- Immediately return all grant funds
- Contact the Office of Management and Budget directly
Correct answer: File an appeal through the agency's dispute resolution process
Grantees have the right to appeal disallowed cost determinations through the federal agency's administrative appeal process before costs become a final debt.
Question 5: Under Uniform Guidance, when is a grantee required to report property purchased with federal funds to the federal agency upon project closeout?
- Only if the property value has increased
- When the fair market value of federally-owned equipment exceeds $5,000 per item (Correct answer)
- Only when the funder requests an inventory
- Equipment never needs to be reported at closeout
Correct answer: When the fair market value of federally-owned equipment exceeds $5,000 per item
At closeout, grantees must submit an inventory of equipment with a fair market value exceeding $5,000 per item to the federal agency for disposition instructions.
Question 6: What is the purpose of the SF-425 (Federal Financial Report) in grant management?
- To apply for a grant renewal
- To report on cumulative federal cash received, disbursed, and obligated under a grant award (Correct answer)
- To document the grantee's indirect cost rate calculation
- To certify that key personnel have met effort requirements
Correct answer: To report on cumulative federal cash received, disbursed, and obligated under a grant award
The SF-425 is the standard form used to report on the financial status of a federal grant, including cash received, expenditures, and unliquidated obligations.
Question 7: A grantee's final performance report is due 90 days after the end of the project period. The project ended March 31. When is the report due?
- June 29
- June 30 (Correct answer)
- July 1
- July 15
Correct answer: June 30
90 days after March 31 is June 29, but most agencies interpret '90 days' as the last day of the 90th day, which falls on June 30 for a March 31 end date.
Grant Writing Post-Award Management and Reporting 5
A federal grantee is required to report on outputs and outcomes.
What is the key difference between these two measures?