Federal Grant Management Glossary

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Allowable Costs – Costs that are allocable, budgeted, necessary, and reasonable for the performance of the federal award. Allowable costs must be consistent with the grantee’s treatment of other costs not funded by a federal award and be in accordance with Generally Acceptable Accounting Principles (GAAP). 

Assistance Listing – Detailed public description of Federal programs that provide grants, loans, scholarships, insurance, and other types of assistance awards. Previously known as the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA).  

Authorized Organizational Representative – The individual named by the applicant or grantee who is authorized to act on behalf of the organization and assume the obligations of the federal grant application or award.

Budget Narrative - A written justification of estimated costs in a proposed budget. 

Budget Period - The start date of a funded portion of an award to the end date of that funded portion.

CAGE Code - The Commercial and Government Entity Code is a five position code that is a standard method of identifying entities doing business with the federal government. 

Carryover – A process by which unobligated funds from one budget period is carried forward to the next budget period. 

Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) - A publicly available listing of federal financial assistance programs. This is now known as an Assistance Listing.  

Closeout - The process by which a federal awarding agency or pass-through entity determines that all applicable administrative actions are complete, and the non-federal entity has completed all required work of the federal award. This process requires the recipient to submit final program, financial, and other reports as outlined in the terms and conditions of the award. 

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) - An annual codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the federal government. 

Contract - In the context of grants or cooperative agreements, a contract is a legal instrument by which a recipient or subrecipient procures the services or products needed to carry out a project or program under a federal award. 

Contractor - A non-federal entity that is contracted to provide products or services needed to carry out a project or program under a federal award. 

Cooperative Agreement - A legal instrument of financial assistance between a federal agency and a recipient or a pass-through entity and a subrecipient that provides for substantial involvement by the federal agency or the pass-through entity.

De Minimis Rate - An indirect cost rate of up to 15% that may be calculated against an award recipient’s modified total direct costs. The recipient must never have received a Federally negotiated indirect cost rate in order to use the de minimis rate. 

Direct Costs - An expense or cost that can be specifically identified with a particular project, program, or activity. Examples of direct costs include salaries, travel, and program supplies. These costs directly support the federally-funded project or activity. 

Drawdown - A process of electronically requesting funds from a federal agency to reimburse the non-federal entity for valid, budgeted, and allowable grant-funded expenditures. This process is normally performed by a lead finance official of a non-federal entity. 

D-U-N-S Number - The Data Universal Numbering System or D-U-N-S number is a nine-digit unique identifier for businesses. It is no longer used as a unique entity identifier for federal grants.

Expanded Authority - The authorization granted to recipients of Federal awards by the Federal agency that waives prior approval of specified post-award changes or actions.

Facilities and Administrative (F&A) Costs - Costs incurred by a recipient for a common or joint purpose that benefits more than one cost objective. F&A costs are also called indirect costs. 

Federal Awarding Agency – The federal entity that provides the award funds. 

Federal Cash Transaction Report (FCTR) - A financial report that is submitted on a quarterly basis within 30 days at the end of each calendar quarter.  

Federal Financial Report (FFR) - A financial report that is submitted based on the frequency and/or deadlines outlined in the award terms and conditions. FFRs may be submitted quarterly, semi-annually, or annually. The report must include only funds authorized and disbursed during the timeframe covered by the report. The federally approved template for the FFR is Form SF-425. Another name for the FFR is the Financial Status Report. 

Final Federal Financial Report - The recipient must submit their final FFR to the federal awarding agency. The deadline for the final FFR is generally outlined in the award terms and conditions. 

Financial Assistance - Assistance that non-federal entities receive from federal agencies in the form of grants, cooperative agreements, non-cash contributions or donations of property, direct appropriations, food commodities, and other financial assistance. Per OMB Uniform Guidance Subpart F, this definition also includes loans, loan guarantees, interest subsidies, and insurance. 

Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) – Set of rules that encompass the details, complexities, and legalities of accounting.  

Grant - A form of federal financial assistance from federal awarding agencies to non-federal entities to support or stimulate a public purpose. 

Grantee – The recipient of a grant or cooperative agreement. Also referred to as a Non-Federal Entity (NFE), recipient or awardee.  

Grantee Financial Official – The individual who serves as the grantee’s business official. This is typically the person who conducts the drawdowns and prepares the Federal Financial Report (FFR). 

Grants.gov - An online tool that serves as a centralized location for grant seekers to find and apply for federal grants. It currently houses information for over 1,000 grant programs. 

Grants Management Officer – The federal awarding agency official who is responsible for the business management aspects of grants and cooperative agreements. 

Grants Management Specialist – The federal awarding agency official who oversees the business and other non-programmatic aspects of one or more grants or cooperative agreements. 

GrantSolutions - A financial assistance management software program that enables federal agencies to administer grants and cooperative agreements through the award cycle. For recipients, GrantSolutions is a portal through which applications, awards, reports, and requests can be submitted to the federal awarding agency. 

Indirect Costs - These costs are incurred for a common and joint purpose benefitting more than one cost objective and cannot be identified with a particular project, program, or activity. They are also known as Facilities and Administrative (F&A) costs. 

Level of Effort - The amount of time key personnel contributes to a federally-funded project. 

MPIN - A personal code created on the Business Information page during the SAM.gov registration process. 

Modified Total Direct Costs - All direct salaries, wages, applicable fringe benefits, materials and supplies, services, travel, and up to the first $25,000 of each subaward. It excludes equipment and several other cost categories.

Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA) - A signed document that reflects an estimate of the indirect cost rate negotiated between the federal government and a grantee or contractor which reflects the indirect costs (facilities and administrative costs) incurred by the organization. This rate must be applied consistently across all federally funded projects.  

No Cost Extension – The extension of the final budget period for a period of up to 12 months. Refer to the award Terms and Conditions, federal awarding agency administrative guidance, or contact the appropriate federal awarding agency official for instructions on how to request a no cost extension and if it is feasible. 

Non-Federal Entity (NFE) - An organization, company, or municipality that carries out the activities of a federal award as a recipient or subrecipient. NFEs include local and state government agencies, nonprofit organizations, school districts, public housing agencies, Indian tribe, institution of higher education, or for-profit business. 

Notice of Award (NOA) - A legal document issued by the federal awarding agency to notify the recipient that a grant award or cooperative agreement has been made to the recipient. 

Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) - A publicly available document in which a federal awarding agency announces its intention to award discretionary grants or cooperative agreements through a competitive application process. 

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) - An office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States that is charged with implementing the President’s vision across the Executive Branch. The OMB is the office that initially published what is commonly called “Uniform Guidance.” The full title is Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards and it is the result of streamlining eight separate, sometimes entity-specific, OMB Circulars. 

Pass-through Entity - A non-federal entity that provides a subaward to a subrecipient to carry out a part of a federally-funded project. 

Payment Management System (PMS) - An online resource that facilitates the draw down of funds awarded in the support of approved activities and where awardees file the Federal Financial Report (FFR). 

Period of Performance (Project Period) - Total estimated time between the start of an initial federal award and the planned end date. A period of performance can have several budget periods. 

Principal Investigator - The individual judged by the applicant or grantee to have the appropriate level of authority or responsibility to direct the project or program supported by the grant or cooperative agreement. 

Prior Approval - An official request by the non-federal entity to make changes or adjustments to certain aspects of the federal grant before making the change.  

Procurement - Acquisition of supplies or services by contract with federal funds. 

Program Income - Gross income earned by the non-federal entity (grantee) that is directly generated by a supported activity (grant-funded activity) during the project period or period of performance and is earned as a result of the award. 

Program Official – The federal awarding agency official responsible for monitoring the programmatic, scientific, and/or technical aspects of grants and cooperative agreements.  

Progress Report (Program Report) - Reports submitted by the recipient and used by the federal agency to evaluate progress. Progress reports may be submitted monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually. Frequency and deadlines are outlined in the terms and conditions of the award. Some federal agencies use progress reports to determine whether to provide funding for the budget period following that covered by the report. The progress report is also referred to as the performance or program report. 

Redirection of Funds - The submission of a revised budget or the movement of funds between direct cost budget categories in an approved budget. Recipients must refer to the award terms and conditions to determine the re-budgeting threshold and when prior approval is required to redirect funds. 

Solicitation - A publicly available document by which a federal agency announces its intention to award discretionary grants or cooperative agreements, usually through a competitive process. A solicitation is also known as a Notice of Funding Opportunity, Notice of Funding Announcement, Program Announcement, and other names depending on the federal agency. 

Subaward - An award provided by a pass-through entity or a primary recipient to a subrecipient to carry out part of a federal award. 

Subrecipient - A non-federal entity that receives a subaward from a pass-through entity or primary recipient to carry out part of a federally-funded program. 

Terms and Conditions – A document that outlines the applicable terms, regulations, laws, policies, procedures, and administrative guidance that grantees must comply with. There are typically general and award-specific terms and conditions. 

Uniform Guidance - A set of authoritative rules published by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that streamlines and consolidates requirements for receiving and using federal awards to reduce administrative burden and improve outcomes. The full title is Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards. 

Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) - A new 12-character identifier that will be assigned to each entity that registers in SAM.gov. 

Unobligated Funds - The amount of funds under a federal award that the non-federal entity has not obligated.

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