What happens in the first ninety days
What do I need to do after winning a grant?
Read the award document, because it is not the announcement and the terms may differ. Note the period of performance, since costs incurred before it starts are generally unallowable however sensible they were. Set up the accounting so this grant's costs are separable from everything else, which is what makes reporting and any future audit straightforward instead of painful. Find the reporting dates and put them in a calendar. Work out how money actually arrives, because most federal grants pay by reimbursement, meaning you spend first and claim afterwards, and that is a working capital question rather than a paperwork one.
Last reviewed 10 August 2026.
The first month, in order
Read the award document, not the announcement
Terms and conditions attach at award and can differ from what was advertised, particularly on reporting frequency and prior-approval requirements. This is thirty minutes that prevents a year of small surprises.
Diarise the period of performance
Both ends. Costs before the start date are generally unallowable, and costs after the end date are unrecoverable. Extensions exist and they are requested in advance rather than explained afterwards.
Separate the accounting on day one
A distinct code, class or fund for this award. Retrofitting this at year end is the single most common cause of a painful audit, and setting it up takes an hour while the award is fresh.
Map how the money arrives
Reimbursement, advance, or milestone. Reimbursement means you carry the cost until the claim clears, which for a small organization can be the hardest part of the whole grant.
Put every reporting date in one place
Programmatic and financial reports usually run on different cadences and sometimes to different people. Late reports jeopardise the next payment and, more quietly, the next award.
Where Quillify hands over
Quillify covers finding and winning, which is the stretch that costs you the weeks. Post-award financial management stays wherever you already handle it, and the systems organizations use for that are usually already in place and working.
What does carry across is the track record: what you applied for, what you asked, what you won and when, which is the record you will want in front of you the next time you write to the same funder.
Who asks this most
The answer above is the same whoever you are. What Quillify does about it is not.
Related
- The work that starts when the money arrivesWhat are my obligations after winning a grant?
- Audited financials, a review, or neitherDo I need audited financial statements to apply for grants?
- Indirect cost rates, and the money most organizations leave behindWhat is an indirect cost rate and do I need one?
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