Most federal grant award funding has a limited period of availability. Some grant’s period of funds availability terminates on September 30 of the fifth federal fiscal year after the period of funds availability. These are considered M-Year grants. For example, a federal grant award with a one-year grant period of October 1, 2014 - September 30, 2015 expires on September 30, 2020 (five years from September 30, 2015).

OSC strongly recommends that state agencies make every effort to disburse and/or adjust all unspent federal project balances for all awards as soon as possible, but no later than June 30, for awards that are scheduled to be closed the following September. This will allow sufficient time for final reports and closing documents to be reviewed and approved by the federal government before the awards are closed on September 30.

Except for awards for which a specific federal law extends the availability for expenditure of obligated balances, any undisbursed balances of federal grant awards are withdrawn by the federal awarding agency and the award is considered expired.

In some instances, the life of a federal award may be more or less than M-Year limits, and is set at the discretion of the awarding agency, subject to federal regulations.

Agencies should periodically check with their federal program liaison to confirm the award period to ensure that federal funding authorizations are not withdrawn prematurely.

Guide to Financial Operations

REV. 07/31/2015