Dan, your list of places where obligations can be hidden is quite helpful. My approach is fairly simple, but I find it reliable. When an award arrives, I go through the document carefully and highlight every “shall”, “must”, and relevant table row. I then create a simple tracker with three columns: task, owner, and deadline. Any relative deadlines are converted into actual dates straight away. One area that can be easily overlooked is amendments. When the budget changes, the tracker should be reviewed and updated as well. It takes a little time for each award, but I think the clarity it provides is worthwhile.