Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A university's sponsored programs office reconciles final expenditures against an expiring NIH R01, submits the Federal Financial Report and final progress report, and -- because the award ran under budget -- refunds the unobligated balance of federal cash advanced to it, all within 120 calendar days of the period of performance ending, per 2 CFR 200.344(b) and (c).
- Is an instance
A recipient institution used federal award funds to purchase a piece of laboratory equipment with a per-unit acquisition cost above the federal capitalization threshold. At closeout, it must account for that equipment under 2 CFR 200.310-200.316 and either retain it (with the federal government retaining a right to require its use on other federally sponsored work, or a right to a pro-rata share of its value on disposal), transfer it to the federal awarding agency, or dispose of it and remit the appropriate federal share of the proceeds -- it cannot simply be written off.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
A no-cost extension request submitted before the period of performance ends is a pre-closeout budget action, not a closeout cost -- the closeout obligations under 2 CFR 200.344 only begin once the period of performance has actually concluded.
- Not an instance
Ongoing indirect cost rate negotiations that are unrelated to a specific award's final reporting are a rate-setting process, not a closeout action, even though an unresolved final rate can delay a specific award's final financial report.
Editorial commentary
Under the Office of Management and Budget’s Uniform Guidance at 2 CFR 200.344 (“Closeout”), a federal award is not simply left to lapse when its period of performance ends. The recipient and the federal awarding agency each have a defined set of financial and administrative actions to complete — collectively what a search for “closeout costs” is usually looking for: what happens to the award’s remaining money, property, and reporting obligations once the funded work is over.
The closeout timeline
Recipients must submit all required financial, performance, and other reports, and liquidate all financial obligations incurred under the award, no later than 120 calendar days after the period of performance ends. That 120-day figure is relatively recent: OMB’s April 2024 revision to the Uniform Guidance raised the recipient deadline from 90 to 120 days, effective for federal awards issued on or after October 1, 2024 — an award issued before that date may still carry a 90-day closeout deadline in its own terms and conditions, so the applicable figure depends on the individual award, not a single universal number. Subrecipients face a separate, shorter 90-calendar-day deadline to report to their pass-through entity, giving the pass-through entity time to compile subrecipient data before its own 120-day deadline to the federal agency. On the agency side, the federal awarding agency must make every effort to complete its own closeout actions within one year of the period of performance ending.
Final financial and performance reporting
Closeout cannot be completed until the recipient has submitted every report the award’s terms and conditions require — typically a final Federal Financial Report (SF-425 or equivalent) and a final performance/progress report. If a recipient’s indirect cost rate has not been finalized by the reporting deadline, 2 CFR 200.344 does not allow the report to simply be withheld: the final financial report must still be submitted on schedule using the best available rate, with a revised final report submitted once the rate is finalized.
Disposition of unobligated balances
Any federal funds the recipient was advanced but did not obligate — the award’s unobligated balance — must be promptly refunded to the federal awarding agency if the recipient is not otherwise authorized to retain them. Before that refund figure can be calculated, any outstanding unliquidated obligations have to be resolved one of two ways: actually liquidated (paid and recorded as an expenditure), or formally deobligated, which releases the commitment and reduces it to zero on the award’s books.
Equipment and property disposition
Recipients must account for any equipment, supplies, or intangible property acquired with federal award funds in accordance with the property standards at 2 CFR 200.310 through 200.316 and 200.330. Depending on the property type, current fair-market value, and the specific federal awarding agency’s disposition instructions, this can mean retaining the property (subject to the federal government’s continuing interest), transferring it to the federal awarding agency or a third party the agency designates, or selling it and remitting the federal government’s pro-rata share of the proceeds — property acquired with federal funds is never simply the recipient’s to keep or discard without following these steps.
How this differs from the broader closeout phase
The closeout phase is the general lifecycle stage that follows the end of an award’s period of performance. “Closeout costs” under 2 CFR 200.344 is the specific set of financial-disposition rules that operate within that phase — the reporting deadline, the unobligated-balance refund duty, and the equipment/property disposition requirements described above. For the complete step-by-step recipient and agency closeout process, including subrecipient monitoring and audit implications, see CASRAI’s federal grant closeout guide.
Related terms and guides
- Closeout phase — the general award-lifecycle stage this term’s requirements sit within.
- Unliquidated Obligations (ULO) — the specific obligation category that must be resolved before an unobligated balance can be refunded.
- SF-425: The Federal Financial Report Explained — the standard federal financial report filed at closeout.
- Federal Grant Closeout: The Process and a Practical Checklist — the full recipient/agency closeout process.
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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