Services · Post-award
Federal Grant Compliance Review
We review your active federal awards against their terms and the Uniform Guidance, 2 CFR 200. You get a written list of what an auditor or grants officer would likely find, ranked by risk, and what to fix first. Most reviews take two to three weeks.
Who is a compliance review for?
Nonprofits, local governments, and tribes with federal awards, whether the money comes straight from an agency or through a state or county. It helps most when:
- You’re new to federal funding, or you just received a larger award than usual.
- You expect your first Single Audit, or your federal spending is close to the $1,000,000 threshold (2 CFR 200.501(a)).
- The person who managed your awards has left.
- A funder has scheduled a monitoring visit, or a past audit or visit found problems.
What does the review cover?
We start with each notice of award, because its terms decide which rules apply. Then we test how each award is run against them:
- Award set-up in your accounting system, so costs can be traced to each award (2 CFR 200.302)
- Budget compared with actual spending, and any changes that needed prior approval (2 CFR 200.308)
- Time and effort records behind salary charges (2 CFR 200.430(g))
- Purchases compared with your written procurement procedures (2 CFR 200.318)
- Subrecipient and contractor decisions, and subrecipient monitoring (2 CFR 200.331, 2 CFR 200.332)
- Indirect cost rate and the base it is charged on (2 CFR 200.414)
- Reports filed so far and the dates still to come (2 CFR 200.328, 2 CFR 200.329)
- Equipment records, and closeout plans for any award ending in the next six months (2 CFR 200.344)
We test a sample of transactions from each award, the way an auditor would.
What do you get?
| Deliverable | What it is |
|---|---|
| Findings memo | Each gap we find, the rule or award term behind it, and a risk rating of high, medium, or low |
| Fix list | What to change, in order, with a suggested owner and date for each item |
| Reporting calendar | Every report and closeout date for each active award, in one place |
| Walkthrough | A 60-minute call with your leadership and finance staff to go through the findings |
How does a compliance review work?
- Intro call. About 30 minutes, at no charge. Tell us which awards you have and what prompted the review. We send a fixed fee and a timeline after the call.
- Document request. We send a list: notices of award and amendments, budgets, a general ledger detail for each award, payroll and time records for a sample period, procurement files, subaward agreements, and reports filed.
- Review. We work remotely from the documents and ask questions as we go. Read-only reports from your accounting system are enough; we don’t need a login.
- Findings and walkthrough. You get the memo, fix list, and calendar, and we walk through them with your team.
After the review, you can make the fixes yourselves. If you’d like help, we can take them on as a project, or cover your awards month to month on a monthly retainer.
How much does a compliance review cost?
It’s a fixed fee, agreed before we start. The fee depends on how many active awards you have, their size, and whether any pass funds to subrecipients.
Is a compliance review the same as an audit?
No. We don’t perform a Single Audit or a financial statement audit, and we don’t issue an opinion. Those come from an independent auditor. A compliance review is preparation: it finds the problems an audit or monitoring visit would find, early enough for you to fix them.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a federal grant compliance review take?
Most reviews take two to three weeks from the day we receive the documents. Organizations with many awards or subrecipients take longer, and we give you a timeline with the fee.
Can you review state or county grants too?
Yes. Federal money passed through a state or county follows the same federal rules, and we review it the same way. State-funded grants follow state rules, and we can include them on request.
Do you need access to our accounting system?
No. Reports exported from your system are enough: a general ledger detail for each award, budget-to-actual reports, and payroll records for a sample period.
Do you help fix what you find?
If you want us to. Many organizations make the fixes themselves using the fix list. Others hire us for a project or ongoing support.
Not sure where your awards stand? Book a free 30-minute call. Bring your list of federal awards and your next three deadlines.
Book a free call Email us