Close-Out is the final stage of a funded project. One of the many important duties performed by the
University of Texas at Arlington's Office of Grant and Contract Services is final administrative Close-Out
of contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements which also includes the Close-Outs of Subcontracts.
There are Federal, state, and local rules, which govern the way this must be handled, and this
policy/procedure will demonstrate what must be performed. The purpose of this procedure is to provide
general guidance to UTA faculty and staff relating to Close-Out activities and to shed some light on
the overall system under which terms and conditions of contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements are
fulfilled.
This will be a general overview of the Close-Out process, policies, and procedures. Included will be details
relative to individual deliverables and other actions unique to the Close-Out process, and access to forms
and instructions.
There are some basic assumptions necessary for understanding the essential nature of the Close-Out
process as described here:
a. A Layered Process- Generally, award Close-Out is the process of documenting and assuring the
fulfillment of the terms and conditions of the award, of making final dispostion of all award byproducts,
such as final vouchers, reports, patent disclosures, and property, and obtaining the
certification from the sponsor that all documentation is acceptable.
b. Types of Award- Grants and cooperative agreements vary in important ways from Contracts as far as
Close-Out is concerned. Many of the same forms and procedures are utilized for both, however.
c. Award-Specific Terms and Conditions-Each individual contract, grant, or cooperative agreement is
potentially different in its Close-Out requirements than the next. An intimate knowledge of the
specific terms and conditions of an award, especially relating to final deliverable requirements, is a
pre-requisite for a complete understanding of the Close-Out process. Read the terms and conditions of
each award for a full understanding of this aspect of the Close-Out process.
General deliverable requirements and other actions unique to the federal closeout process:
a. The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) at 4.804-5 provides detailed procedures for the Close-Out
process, and charges the office administering the contract with this responsibility after receiving
evidence of its physical completion. Generally speaking, most of these requirements are applicable to
contracts. The primary purpose of these procedures is to ensure that-
(1) The University has complied with the terms and conditions set forth in the award, including timely
submission of all deliverables.
(2) Disposition of classified material (if any) is completed.
(3) Final patent reports and royalty reports are cleared.
(4) Plant and property clearance report is received and all property is fully dispositioned.
(5) Final costs have been reviewed and accepted by any one of several audit approaches, and /or any
disallowed or open elements of costs are settled or dispositioned, including:
- Subcontract settlement/ Close-Outs
- Open year indirect cost rates
- Submission of the University's final invoice
- Deobligation of excess funds has been recommended
b. Similarly, concerning grants and cooperative agreements, OMB Circular A-110, Subpart D-, entitled,
"After-the Award Requirements" contains Close-Out guidance and other procedures for subsequent
disallowances and adjustments. Specifically A-110, Subpart D .71, Close-Out procedures, requires
that recipients submit "within 90 calendar days after the date of completion of the award, all financial,
performance, and other reports as required by the terms and conditions of the award."
(a) When do we start?
Once the award is physically complete, (See FAR 4.804-4 and OMB Circular A-110,.71 Close-Out
Procedures) e.g., the period of performance has expired, the "clock begins ticking" for submission by the
awardee of final deliverables mentioned above.
(b) What is required?
Final deliverable requirements are usually identified in the individual award terms and conditions. They
may appear as an appendix, a data requirements list, or as a simple attachment. These attachments will
generally include instructions relative to the distribution destination of these final deliverables, including
numbers of copies and mailing addresses. In research and development, examples of final
technical/performance deliverables may be a research report, data, software, or more rarely, a prototype of
some sort.
(c) Why is this process important?
The Sponsor/Government acceptance of the University's final deliverables and reports is critical to the overall
success of the project. In many instances, this act of final acceptance can cause the release of final
payments to the University, and ultimately lead to release of the University from lingering obligations
under the award. This acceptance may take many forms, again driven by the type of award and the
individual terms and conditions.
Some common forms of acceptance are:
(1) Sponsor/Government Letterhead correspondence indicating or certifying acceptable final deliverables or
performance. (This certification may be executed by the awarding contracting officer, or his or her
delegate, such as a Contracting Officer's Representative (COR) or Program Manager/Officer (PM/PO.)
(2) Other electronic communications indicating final acceptances.
The following is a list of items that may be required for Close-Out and when they are generally due:
WHAT: FINAL TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE REPORT CLOSE-OUT
WHEN: Generally due 60 to 90 days after the period of performance has expired, but one should refer
to the specific terms and conditions of the award and it's governing regulations.
WHAT: FINAL PATENTS CLOSE-OUT
WHEN:Generally due at the end of the period of performance.
WHAT: FINAL COST CLOSE-OUT
WHEN:Generally due at the end of the period of performance.
WHAT: FINAL PROPERTY CLOSE-OUT
WHEN: Generally due by: At the end of the period of performance, usually 60 to 90 days thereafter.
WHAT: FINAL SECURITY CLOSE-OUT
WHEN: Generally due as applicable from the terms and conditions of the award.
CLOSE-OUT PROCEDURE FOR AWARDS WITH A SUBCONTRACT:
The Principal Investigator will:
- Review the subcontractor's final report(s) and deliverables thirty days prior to the end of the Prime
Contract and notify the OGCS Post Award of any additional information that must be obtained from
the Subcontractor. If all items have been satisfied by the Subcontractor, the PI will notify the OGCS
Post Award that the Subcontract can be closed out.
- The PI will incorporate the Subcontractor information, if applicable, and then prepare the final
technical report and any other deliverables of a scientific or technical nature and submit to the OGCS
Post Award for submission to the sponsor. This will also include information on property, patents,
and intellectual property, government security issues, and any other requirements specific to the grant
or contract.
- Review the final voucher from the subcontractor, prepare Payment Approval voucher and approve it,
and submit the Payment Approval Voucher and the Subcontractor's final invoice to OGCS.
OGCS will:
- Obtain the Final Report from the PI and submit with any other deliverables, property reports, patent
reports, and intellectual property reports to the sponsor. OGCS Post Award will coordinate with the
Grant Accountant and assure the payment of the Subcontractor Final Voucher if applicable and
preparation of the Final Voucher.
- Review all documentation in the grant/contract, review information in DEFINE to ensure consistency
with the grant/contract, and with the assistance of the PI and the grant accountant, prepare all closing
documentation.