Find details here on all the reports required by NIH and the U.S. government for international NIH grants.

Reporting Requirements

Once a project is underway, the principal investigator (PI) and grantee must submit the following reports:

• Financial reports
• Invention reports
• Progress reports
• Annual reports on possible research misconduct

You may also be subject to audit requirements, and your institution may have to report executive compensation and subaward information to NIH.

Make sure you know all of your due dates since you won't get warnings or reminders. If NIAID contacts you about missing information, respond as quickly as possible. The PI also needs to keep track of when the business office needs information and check that the business office has sent it to us.

PIs play a large role in preparing the reports, though they don't actually submit them. The PI gives information to the business office so it can send the reports.

Dates to Remember

Know your due dates.

If your submission is late or incomplete, you will not get an award or may get a reduced amount depending on the information missing.

Federal Financial Report

What Is a Federal Financial Report?

Grantees must report their expenditures to NIH in a Federal Financial Report (FFR). Your FFR shows your expenditures and the status of your funds, including any supplemental awards or revisions.

Use the currency rate that's in effect when funds are drawn down from the Payment Management System (PMS). For more on PMS, see Receiving and Spending Money.

Deadline for Submitting FFRs

Be on time! FFRs are due within 120 days after the end of the calendar quarter in which your budget period ends. If your report is not up to date, NIH will withhold your funds. Your failure to submit a timely and accurate report may also affect your future funding from us.

Submit the FFR electronically through the eRA Commons.

Terms to Know

• Unliquidated obligation—Expenses agreed to but not paid for by the end of a budget period. In the final financial report, unliquidated obligations must be zero.
• Unobligated balance—Funds not used by the completion of a grant's project period. Grantees must report unobligated balances over 25 percent of total costs to the grants management specialist.
• Offset—Use of the unspent portion of a current year's budget to fund a future budget period.
• Carryover—Ability of grantees to use grant funds from one budget period in the next one without prior approval from NIAID.  

Invention Reporting Has Four Parts

NIH requires grantees to report inventions resulting from the grant. There are four reporting requirements:

1. Fully disclose an invention to us in writing within two months after the inventor provides written disclosure to your institutional official.
   • Provide the grant, name of the inventor, and a complete technical description.
   • Your business office sends this information through iEdison.
2. When applying for a renewal or noncompeting support of your grant, include either of the following:
   • A list of all inventions conceived or brought to practice during the preceding budget period.
   • Certification that no inventions were made during the period.
3. You also must submit an annual Utilization Report when you've been granted a patent to an invention or begin to receive royalties or licensing fees from inventions that are not patented. Use iEdison to comply with reporting requirements.
4. At the close of the project, submit a final invention statement and certification, HHS 568. Also, be sure to submit a report in iEdison for all subject inventions reported on the HHS 568. For more information, see Prepare Final Reports at Award End below.

Annual Progress Report

For information on progress reports, see Annual Progress Report.

Prepare Final Reports at Award End

At the end of your grant, the institutional business official submits three closeout reports to NIAID:

1. Final Federal Financial Report (FFR)
2. Final Invention Statement and Certification (HHS 568)
3. Final progress report 

Learn more about these reports in File Your Final Reports at Award End. Though written for U.S. institutions, information is the same for foreign grantees.

Meeting Your Audit Requirements

You will need to arrange for an annual audit if your institution spends $750,000 or more a year of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services award money. You can use a public accountant or a federal, state, or local governmental audit organization.

While the auditing organization is your choice, the audit must meet our standards. The Federal Audit Clearinghouse will reject substandard or incomplete audits.

Foreign grantees can satisfy audit requirements with either of two audit types:

1. A financial audit. See the Government Auditing Standards (the "Yellow Book").
2. An audit that meets the requirements of OMB Circular A-133.

Foreign organizations should submit their audit reports to:

National External Audit Review Center
HHS Office of Inspector General
HHS Office of Audit Services
1100 Walnut Street, Suite 850
Kansas City, MO 64106-2197
United States of America

Grantees usually have 30 days after the receipt of the auditor's report or nine months after the end of the organization's fiscal year, whichever comes first, to respond to audit findings.

Find more information online

• 45 CFR 74.26(d)

Keep Your Records Accessible

Your institution must keep its project records accessible for three years after the grant ends. If an issue arises, we may need to verify your records, which must include all data and fiscal information.

For details, read Retention and Access Requirements for Records, 45 CFR Part 74.53.

Keep in mind that other people can gain access to information concerning a grant through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. If other scientists formally request nonproprietary information from a grant or application, our FOIA office will provide it.