To establish a grant in the Statewide Financial System (SFS), agencies must enter all required information and attach documentation for review by OSC Bureau of State Accounting Operations (BSAO).  This information is necessary to ensure compliance with the federal Cash Management Improvement Act (CMIA), federal single-audit reporting requirements, and to allow both agencies and OSC to report grant activity accurately. Failure to provide complete information will prevent approval of the grant award in SFS.

Grant establishment in SFS requires the use of three integrated modules: Contracts (CA), Project Costing (PC), and Grants (GM). Agencies create and link these components through the Federal Grant Request Guide, after which BSAO reviews and approves the submitted grant.

ESTABLISH PROJECT

To establish a federal grant, a project must first be established with the appropriate Federal funds’ distribution. See Chapter XIX.2 Establishing a Project of this Guide for project setup instructions and Project Guide related details.

ESTABLISH CUSTOMER CONTRACT AND GRANT AWARD

The Federal Grant Request Guide is used to establish Customer Contracts and Federal grant awards in the SFS. (Navigate to: Customer Contracts > Federal Grant Request Guide)

BSAO has prepared a Federal Grant Request Guide Agency Walk-Through document to assist agencies in creating a Federal Grant: Federal Grant Request Guide Agency Walk-Through.pdf

SFS Coach Training Resource:

JAA-GCC101-029: Request a New Federal Grant using the Federal Grant Request Guide.

GRANT AWARD

The Grants module is used for award management and to store the grant award’s key data elements to be used for processing and reporting. This is essential for many statutory reports as well as other reporting needs. The Grants module primarily interfaces with the Contracts and Projects modules. Every grant will be established with a grant type of “Federal Grant”.

CUSTOMER CONTRACT

The Contracts module is used to facilitate billing the Federal Government and for revenue recognition. A contract is necessary to identify related project(s) and to create an award profile for the grant. The contract links the grant to the project(s).

The contract identifies the project’s sponsor (federal agency), while billing parameters are also specified for OSC-managed grants. The designation of a sponsor is required for accounts receivable and receipt posting.

The agency establishes the contract using the SFS Federal Grant Request Guide and submits when completed, which sets the contract status as PENDING_OSC_APPROVAL.

OSC will run a query for any contracts awaiting their review. After OSC completes the contract review and confirms the federal grant is available on the federal draw system, OSC BSAO will change the contract status to ACTIVE for OSC cash-managed grants; the status remains PENDING for non-OSC cash-managed grants.

Contracts with the status of ACTIVE will allow all expenditures (made to date and future) to be pulled into Billing and be eligible for reimbursement (up to the Billing Limit) by the federal government.

Contracts with the status of PENDING do not generate any billing activity in the SFS. Non OSC-managed grants will be changed to ACTIVE once an agency onboards and OSC performs the drawdown.

If OSC BSAO requires additional information to approve the contract, OSC will change the contract status to RETURNED_FOR_INFORMATION. A follow-up e-mail will also be sent informing the agency of the corrections required. The agency will be required to amend the contract via the Federal Grant Request Guide or Project Guide.

Contract Maintenance Due to Federal Award Changes (Amendments)

When a federal award is revised, agencies must update the associated project and customer contract in SFS to reflect the new award terms. These include changes to federal funding amounts and date changes. 

If a federal award is increased or decreased, if the award period is modified, or if the grant has expired, the agency must update the project and customer contract accordingly. Agencies are responsible for ensuring that project budgets do not exceed the federal billing limit and must immediately address any expenditures that exceed the authorized award amount.

Agencies enter amendments directly in SFS using the Federal Grant Request Guide. OSC BSAO reviews and approves all submitted amendments to ensure compliance with federal award requirements. 

SFS Coach Training Resources:

• JAA-GCC101-047: Amend Contract End Date using the Federal Grant Request Guide
• JAA-GCC101-048: Amend Amount on a Customer Contract using the Federal Grant Request Guide
• JAA-GCC101-049: Amend a Pending Agency Draw Contract using the Federal Grant Request Guide

Guide to Financial Operations

REV. 08/013/2026