Verification note: The form-structure, timing, and regulatory-citation claims below reflect the SF-425 (Federal Financial Report) as an OMB-approved, government-wide form (OMB control number 4040-0014) and its governing Uniform Guidance provision, 2 CFR 200.328 (“Financial reporting”), verified directly against eCFR/Cornell LII text of 2 CFR 200.328 and cross-checked against agency SF-425 guidance pages (EPA, HUD, DOE/EERE) and the Treasury-hosted SF-425 form itself. Checked 2026-07-17. Individual funding agencies can layer additional agency-specific instructions and submission systems on top of the base OMB form, so always confirm the exact due date, submission portal, and any agency-specific fields against the award’s own terms and conditions before submitting, not against this page alone.
What SF-425 is
SF-425 — the Federal Financial Report (FFR) — is the standard, OMB-approved government-wide form (OMB control number 4040-0014) that recipients of federal grants and cooperative agreements use to report the financial status of an award to the federal awarding agency (or, for a subaward, to a pass-through entity). SF-425 is one piece of the broader set of federal grant reporting requirements a recipient owes across an award’s life. It reports dollars, not science: cash drawn down, amounts expended, unobligated balance remaining, program income, and indirect costs charged against the award.
The government-wide requirement to use SF-425 took effect October 1, 2009, consolidating what had previously been reported on two separate, older forms — the SF-269/SF-269A Financial Status Report and the SF-272/SF-272A Federal Cash Transactions Report — into a single standardized report, unless OMB has approved a specific agency alternative. That consolidation is now codified in the Uniform Guidance at 2 CFR 200.328, “Financial reporting”, which requires federal awarding agencies to collect only OMB-approved government-wide data elements on recipient financial reports — in practice, the SF-425. See CASRAI’s Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200) overview for how this fits into the broader post-award compliance framework.
When SF-425 is required
Per 2 CFR 200.328, a federal awarding agency (or pass-through entity, for subawards) must collect financial reports no less than annually, and may not require them more frequently than quarterly, unless a specific award condition under 2 CFR 200.208 — commonly a “high-risk” recipient designation — justifies more frequent reporting. Box 6 of the form itself designates which reporting type applies to a given submission: quarterly, semi-annual, annual, or final, set by the specific award’s terms and conditions rather than a single government-wide default.
In practice, interim (quarterly/semi-annual/annual) SF-425 reports are commonly due within 30 days after the end of the reporting period, and a final SF-425 is commonly due within 90 days after the project or budget period ends — but these specific deadlines are set by the awarding agency in the notice of award and accompanying terms and conditions, so confirm the exact due date against the award itself rather than assuming this general pattern applies. A final SF-425 marked “Final” closes out federal financial reporting for the award and is one of the required closeout deliverables, alongside the final progress report and, where applicable, a final invention statement — see CASRAI’s federal grant closeout guide for the full closeout checklist.
What’s on the form
Boxes 1–9: identification and reporting parameters
- Boxes 1–5: the federal agency and organizational element the report goes to, the federal grant/award number, the recipient organization’s name and address, the recipient’s Unique Entity Identifier (UEI — the DUNS number it replaced was retired government-wide in April 2022) and EIN, and the recipient’s own internal account/identifying number.
- Box 6: report type — quarterly, semi-annual, annual, or final.
- Box 7: basis of accounting — cash or accrual.
- Box 8: the project/grant period (the award’s overall start and end dates).
- Box 9: the reporting period end date — the specific period this particular report covers.
Box 10: transactions (the financial core of the form)
Box 10 is where the actual dollar figures live, grouped into four subsections:
- Federal cash — cash receipts, cash disbursements, and cash on hand. This tracks federal cash the recipient has actually drawn down and disbursed, which is a distinct figure from expenditures (a recipient can hold drawn cash that hasn’t yet been spent, or can have expenditures that outpace cash drawn).
- Federal expenditures and unobligated balance — total federal share of expenditures, total federal share of unliquidated obligations, the sum of those two, and the resulting unobligated balance of federal funds still remaining on the award.
- Recipient share — total recipient share required (e.g., a cost-share or matching commitment), the recipient share of expenditures to date, and the remaining recipient share still to be provided.
- Program income — total federal program income earned under the award, and, depending on which OMB-approved treatment the award uses, the amount expended under the deduction alternative or the addition alternative, plus any unexpended program income remaining.
Boxes 11–13
- Box 11, Indirect expense: the indirect (F&A) cost rate, its base, the amount charged, and the federal share, if the award recovers indirect costs.
- Box 12, Remarks: free text for any explanation needed to support the reported figures — late draws, reconciling items, or other context an auditor or program officer would need.
- Box 13, Certification: the signature, name, title, and contact information of the recipient’s authorized certifying official, attesting that the reported figures are accurate.
Who submits it, and where
SF-425 is submitted by the recipient’s authorized organizational representative or certifying official, through whichever federal system the awarding agency designates for financial reporting on that specific award — this varies by agency. Some agencies collect it through Grants.gov’s FFR module; many HHS awards, including NIH awards, are financially reported through the HHS Payment Management System (PMS) rather than Grants.gov directly. Confirm the actual submission system in the award’s terms and conditions rather than assuming one method applies across every federal agency.
SF-425 vs. SF-424 vs. RPPR: three different forms, three different jobs
These three forms are easy to conflate because all three attach to the same federal award, but each covers a different stage and a different kind of information — and a single award typically involves all three at different points in its life.
| Form | What it is | When it’s submitted | What it contains |
|---|---|---|---|
| SF-424 (R&R) | The application package | At proposal submission, before an award exists | Applicant identity, project abstract, budget request, assurances and certifications |
| RPPR | The progress report | Periodically post-award (annual/interim/final), on a schedule set by the awarding agency | Narrative account of scientific and programmatic progress, outputs, and personnel changes |
| SF-425 | The financial report | Periodically post-award (quarterly/semi-annual/annual/final) per the award’s terms | Dollar figures: cash draws, expenditures, unobligated balance, program income, indirect costs |
Neither SF-425 nor the RPPR substitutes for the other: agencies expect a narrative account of progress and a financial account of spending, submitted separately, even when both cover the same reporting period. See CASRAI’s SF-424 (R&R) instructions guide for the application side and the RPPR instructions guide for the progress-report side of this same reporting cycle.
Common questions
Is SF-425 the same as a Financial Status Report (FSR)?
Not exactly, but they’re historically related: SF-425 replaced the older SF-269/SF-269A Financial Status Report and SF-272/SF-272A Federal Cash Transactions Report as the single, standardized federal financial reporting form, effective October 1, 2009. If an older award document or legacy system still references an “FSR,” it’s referring to the predecessor SF-425 now serves in that role.
What happens if an SF-425 is filed late?
Late or missing financial reports are one of the factors a federal awarding agency can weigh in designating a recipient “high-risk” under 2 CFR 200.208, which can bring additional agency oversight, including more frequent reporting requirements, and can affect future award decisions. A pattern of late financial reporting is also a common finding in a recipient’s Single Audit, and touches the same internal-controls expectations that apply to federal grant compliance generally.
Does SF-425 replace the RPPR, or vice versa?
No. They report fundamentally different things — dollars versus scientific/programmatic progress — and federal awards generally require both, submitted separately, even on a similar reporting cadence.
Who has to sign SF-425?
An authorized certifying official of the recipient organization signs in Box 13, attesting that the reported figures are accurate.
Is program income always reported on SF-425?
Program income is reported on SF-425 whenever it’s earned under the award; the award’s terms specify whether it’s treated under the deduction alternative (reducing the federal share) or the addition alternative (added to project funds), and that treatment determines exactly how it’s reflected in the program-income lines of Box 10.
