How-To Guides

The first five things to enter when you receive an award letter, common setup errors that cause downstream problems, and how to link the award to your donor

A practical guide to building grant-specific internal controls - role-based approval levels, segregation of duties, policy documentation, and how to present

A practical guide to federal grant draw tracking, covering advances, reimbursements, expense linkage, reconciliation, timing, and documentation.

Why deadline tracking fails in shared calendars, how to assign per-deadline ownership, how to build in prep lead time by report type, and what happens when

What funders expect in a closeout narrative, how to structure it, what supporting documentation to attach, and how federal and private funder expectations

How to write a grant progress report, including narrative structure, financial reporting, funder expectations, metrics, attachments, and review steps.

What nonprofit leaders need to know about 2 CFR Part 200, single audit thresholds, restricted fund tracking, and the systems that prevent the most common

A practical guide for nonprofit EDs building the case for CRM or grant management software. Covers ROI framing, TCO comparison, and board presentation format.

The full Subpart E cost principles - allowable, allocable, reasonable, and consistently applied. Section-by-section breakdown for nonprofits managing federal

AmeriCorps grantee fiscal reporting: PER, FFR, match documentation, and member support costs classification.

Which basis of accounting is required for federal grants, how GAAP differs from tax basis, and why FFR drawdowns force accrual conversion.