How federal grant drawdowns work, in ASAP and PMS
How do I draw down federal grant funds?
You request the money yourself, through the payment system your agency uses. HHS agencies, including NIH, pay through the Payment Management System (PMS). Many other agencies use Treasury's ASAP. Your agency enrolls your organization, you set up user access, and then you request a specific amount against the award whenever you need it. The money usually reaches your bank within a business day or two. Draw only what you need for costs you are about to pay.
Last reviewed October 12, 2026.
From award to first drawdown
Find your payment system
Your notice of award names it. HHS awards use PMS, while many other agencies pay through ASAP.gov, which the Treasury runs on behalf of agencies across the federal government. A few agencies run their own.
Get enrolled
In ASAP, the awarding agency starts the enrollment and your organization's officials get emails to finish it. In PMS, you request user access for the people who will draw funds. Both sign in through ID.me, not the Login.gov account you use for SAM.gov. Start the week the award arrives.
Request the funds
Pick the award. Enter the amount. Submit. The money goes to the bank account on your SAM.gov registration, so keep that account current.
Spend it promptly
Federal rules expect you to keep the time between drawing money and paying the bills short. Draw for near-term costs, not for the whole year.
The rules that come with it
- Draw for real costs
- Every dollar you draw has to match an allowable cost on the approved budget, and an auditor may ask you to show which receipts sit behind any drawdown, years after the fact. Keep that support with your records.
- Interest goes back
- If advance funds earn interest in your account, anything above a small yearly allowance is returned to the government.
- Cash gets reported
- Recipients file a federal financial report, and the cash you drew has to match what you report spending. PMS asks for this on its own schedule.
- Leftovers are settled at closeout
- Funds you drew but did not spend go back at the end of the award. How closeout works.
Where this fits
Drawdowns are how advance payment works on a federal grant. Reimbursement vs. advance payment covers the other method. How long until grant money arrives covers every kind of funder. Quillify searches 4,300+ open grants, and "Am I qualified?" reads the full announcement and tells you where you stand. See how finding funding works.
Who asks this most
The answer above is the same whoever you are. What Quillify does about it is not.
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