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Multi year grant with a budget
If a grant has a budget that we must follow that only allows for certain expenses for certain staff to be used on the grant, is this considered a condition? Would it all be booked when awarded or would we have to wait until each year is rec’d and spent to book?
thanks
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3 Replies
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Hi Tammy…thanks for coming over to the forum! In my experience dealing with this type of wording – and not knowing the rest of the details of the grant – that sounds like a restriction on how you can spend the funds but not a condition you have to satisfy in order to receive the funding. Likely you would be recognizing that revenue up front upon the award notification. We hope to hear from others as the forums pick up steam!
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I agree with Wade’s response, but an exception might be if your application had promised that certain named individuals who might be experts in a particular field were to be compensated with the grant funding.
I think it is always a good idea to ask your auditors what they think. During fieldwork they will review your contracts and form opinions about how the provisions should be interpreted. So I really recommend asking them to look at the contract when you get it. That way you can get their opinion now and avoid having to make adjusting entries after the year has ended.
Also, sometimes there might be a provision in the contract that would preclude recognizing subsequent years all at once. I had a 5-year federal grant once that involved a mini-application process each year. We had to submit a budget and get the funder’s approval before we could proceed the next year. That was before the new rules took effect, but I think there is a good chance that our auditors would have viewed that as a condition requiring that we record the revenue one year at a time.
Sometimes asking the funder is a good idea but I’m not sure that all funders know or understand the revenue recognition rules, so they may not be able to give you technical advice. But if you have questions about what they intended when they wrote the provisions of the contract then it would be worthwhile to contact them.
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Awesome. thank you both for your reply.