Closeout

On This Page:

• NIH Closeout Requirements
• Brief Overview of Required Reports
• Resources
• Points of Contact

Closeout of an award is the process by which NIH determines that all applicable administrative actions and all required work of an award have been completed by the recipient and NIH. NIH updated its closeout process and has incorporated all relevant policy and procedures in NIH Grants Policy Statement Section 8.6 Closeout.

NIH Closeout Requirements

Recipients must submit the following closeout reports:

• Final Federal Financial Report (except for Fellowships)
• Final Research Performance Progress Report (except for Fellowships for which the Termination Notice will continue to serve as the Final Progress Report)
• Final Invention Statement and Certification.  Please reference NIH Grants Policy Statement Section 8.6.3 Final Invention Statement and Certification for a list of activity codes that are not required to submit the form.  

All applicable closeout reports are due no later than 120 days after the project end date. Failure to submit timely and accurate final reports may affect future funding to the organization and/or awards with the same PD/PI.

Brief Overview of Required Reports

The forms for all closeout reports may be found at NIH Forms & Format Pages. 

• The Final Federal Financial Report  (FFR) – Must be submitted electronically through  Payment Management System (PMS) .  Line by line instructions for this form are found in the Federal Financial Report Instructions . Additional instructions with NIH-specific information are included in the NIH Supplemental Instructions for Completing the FFR.  Instructions for electronic submission are detailed in the eRA Commons FFR Expenditure Data User Guide .
   
• Final Research Performance Progress Report  – This report summarizes progress made toward the achievement of scientific aims and identifies significant outcomes. Investigators should note that the information submitted in Section I of this report will be made available to the public. Instructions for electronic submission are detailed in the NIH RPPR Instruction Guide.
   
• Final Invention Statement and Certification – This form is required for all awards except Training grants, Fellowships, and certain other programs—e.g., activity codes C06, R13, R25, S10. For a full list of activity codes that do not need to submit this form, please refer to the NIH Grants Policy Statement Section 8.6.3 Final Invention Statement and Certification.  It should include all inventions which were conceived or first actually reduced to practice during work under the grant or award, from the original effective date of support through the date of completion or termination.
   
• Termination Notice (PHS 416-7) – This form is required for Fellowships and Training grants. It summarizes the information that must be supplied by Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) recipients on termination of their award and for a limited period thereafter. It must be submitted within 90 days of the fellow or trainee's appointment.
  
  Note: This form may also be used to document the termination of appointments to non-NRSA institutional research training programs (e.g., T15), research education awards (e.g., R25), and institutional career development awards (e.g., K12).

Detailed information about the requirements and descriptions of the reports are available in the  Section 8.6 Closeout and Section 11.2.11.3

Resources

• NIH Guide Notices
  • NOT-OD-23-102 - Guidance for the Repayment of Grant Funds
  • NOT-OD-23-086 - Updated Process for Requesting Drawdowns Outside of the Liquidation Period
  • NOT-OD-23-035 - Announcing New Inbox for Inquiries Related to Federal Financial Reports (FFRs) and Financial Closeout
  • NOT-OD-22-215 - NIH Final Federal Financial Reports (FFRs) Will No Longer be Converted to Interim Annual Reports in the Payment Management System
  • NOT-OD-20-127 - Upcoming Mandatory Submission of the Federal Financial Report (FFR) in the Payment Management System  
  • NOT-OD-17-022 - NIH Implementation of Final Research Performance Progress Reports (Final RPPR)
  • NOT-OD-15-136 - Impact of Discrepancies Between Final Financial Reports for Grant Closeout
  • NOT-OD-15-135 - Grant Closeout: Deadlines for Financial Drawdowns and Reporting in PMS
  • NOT-OD-15-111 - Deadline for Final Reports Required for Grant Closeout
  • NOT-OD-14-084 - NIH Updating Grant Closeout Policies and Procedures to Align with New HHS Requirements
• Frequently Asked Questions
  • Frequently Asked Questions (Recipients)
• eRA Commons Resources
  • Closeout Tutorial – Final Report Additional Materials (FRAM) how-to video
  • Commons User Guide

Points of Contact

• System issues or comments
  • eRA Service Desk
• Content questions or comments
  • E-mail: GrantsPolicy@od.nih.gov