Advancement · Grants & Funding

Every grant dollar
with its paper trail.

Grant money is rarely lost to fraud; it is lost to missing paperwork, when an auditor asks for an invoice nobody kept. Log each expense with its documentation as it happens. The organizer totals spending by budget line, shows how many dollars have an incomplete file and flags equipment that needs a tag.

Add an expenseWhat you get
$12one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $12

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Grant writer’s desk, $49 for 55 items.

Expenses

The worked example is made up, with invented vendors: book sets with a complete file, an $11,200 3D printer bought before approval and not yet tagged, and a training invoice that never arrived. Saved on this device only.

Loading the expense form. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

Advancement · Grants & Funding$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A record per grant expense: date, vendor, grant code, budget line, amount, what it bought, unit cost and six documentation checks, with a note. Works out whether each file is complete; totals spending by budget line and the dollars with incomplete documentation; flags purchases before approval, missing invoices or payment proof, untagged equipment over the federal per-unit threshold, unit costs between the old and new thresholds and supplies coded as equipment.
Who it is for
Grant managers, business officers, bookkeepers and program leads who spend and document grant funds.
Format
Browser organizer with a saved record per expense. Prints one expense, every expense in a table or a blank expense sheet; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv) for the ledger; exports and imports a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Grant writer’s desk ($49) and the Advancement Suite pass ($99), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Grants & Funding space in Caveat Advancement.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Log each expense the week it is paid.
  2. Scan the invoice and payment into the same folder.
  3. Mark each document on file or missing.
  4. Chase the flagged items monthly.
  5. Print the table before every report or audit.

Add an expense

The file behind each expense

What every grant expense needs on fileBeforeAn approval or purchaseorder, dated before thepurchase.It fits the approvedbudget.At purchaseAn itemized invoice orreceipt.Proof it was paid.Inside the award period.AfterCoded to the grant andline.Equipment tagged andinventoried.Kept for the retentionperiod.What every grant expense needs on fileBeforeAn approval or purchase order, dated beforethe purchase.It fits the approved budget.At purchaseAn itemized invoice or receipt.Proof it was paid.Inside the award period.AfterCoded to the grant and line.Equipment tagged and inventoried.Kept for the retention period.
For federal awards, records are generally kept three years from the final expenditure report (2 CFR 200.334); your award or state may require longer.

Equipment is per unit

Under the 2024 revision of the federal Uniform Guidance, equipment is tangible property with a useful life of more than a year and a per-unit cost of $10,000 or more, or a lower amount the organization sets; earlier awards used $5,000. Fourteen $400 tablets are supplies; one $11,200 printer is equipment and needs an inventory record.

Approval first

A purchase made before it was approved is not automatically unallowable, but it is the first thing an auditor notices. Fix the process, and for the ones that already happened, write down why and who approved them after the fact.

Sources

  1. Office of Management and Budget. Uniform Guidance, 2 CFR part 200, including 200.1 (equipment), 200.313 (equipment records), 200.334 (record retention) and the 2024 revisions (ecfr.gov).
  2. U.S. Department of Education. Uniform Guidance resources for grantees (ed.gov).
  3. National Council of Nonprofits. Grant compliance and documentation (councilofnonprofits.org).
  4. Government Finance Officers Association. Grants administration best practices (gfoa.org).

The worked example is made up and the vendors are invented. Follow your award terms and your finance office; this is not legal or audit advice. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.