Advancement · Grants & Funding

Spent, budgeted, explained.
Before the funder asks.

A grant financial report answers three questions: what was spent on each approved line, whether spending matches the calendar, and why any line is far off. Enter the award, the dates and each line’s budget and spending to date. The builder works out the variances, compares money spent with time gone, flags lines that need an explanation and prints a clean budget-to-actual table.

Build a reportWhat 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.

Grant reports

The worked example is made up: a literacy grant on track with one line over, an equipment grant spending ahead of schedule and late, and an arts residency underspending. Saved on this device only.

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What you get

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

What you finish with
A record per report: grant, funder, award, grant and reporting dates, every budget line with budget and spending to date, and four supporting checks. Works out totals, the share spent against the share of the period gone, lines over by more than 10 percent, overspending as a share of the award and days to the due date; flags each, and prints a budget-to-actual table with remaining amounts and percentages.
Who it is for
Grant managers, development and finance staff at schools, districts and nonprofits.
Format
Browser builder with a saved record per report. Prints a budget-to-actual report, one report with its checks, every report in a table or a blank form; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); 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. Enter the award and the dates.
  2. Add each approved budget line.
  3. Enter spending to date from the ledger.
  4. Explain each flagged variance.
  5. Print the budget-to-actual table.

Build a report

How a report comes together

A financial report in five steps1Pull the ledgerEvery cost charged to thegrant through the period end.2Match it to budget linesThe categories in the approvedbudget, not your chart of3Compare with time goneHalf the period gone and atenth spent is a story to4Explain the variancesAny line well over or under,in a sentence each.5Check it against the narrativeActivities and spending shouldtell the same story.A financial report in five steps1Pull the ledgerEvery cost charged to the grant throughthe period end.2Match it to budget linesThe categories in the approved budget,not your chart of accounts.3Compare with time goneHalf the period gone and a tenth spentis a story to tell.4Explain the variancesAny line well over or under, in asentence each.5Check it against the narrativeActivities and spending should tell thesame story.
Funders read the spending against the calendar. A short note on why a line is behind is better than a surprise at closeout.

Spending against time

Funders compare the share of the budget spent with the share of the grant period gone. A gap of 20 points or more either way is worth a sentence in the report: a delayed hire, a bulk purchase early in the year, an event moved to spring.

Moving money between lines

Private funders set their own rules, often asking for approval before shifting more than 10 percent between lines. For federal awards, 2 CFR 200.308 lets an agency require prior approval when cumulative transfers among direct cost categories exceed 10 percent of the total budget, for awards above the simplified acquisition threshold. Check your award terms.

Sources

  1. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 2 CFR 200.308: revision of budget and program plans; 2 CFR 200.328: financial reporting.
  2. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, 2 CFR 200.302 and 200.403: financial management and allowable cost documentation.
  3. Candid Learning. Grant budgets and financial reports (learning.candid.org).
  4. National Council of Nonprofits. Grant reporting and managing restricted funds (councilofnonprofits.org).

The worked example is made up. Your grant agreement’s reporting rules and forms come first; this builder organizes the numbers they ask for. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.