Federal Financial Report (FFR) Long Form (Non-DOC Awards)

You can initiate the Federal Financial Report from the FFR module in eRA Commons, whereupon you are redirected to the electronic FFR long form in the Payment Management System (PMS).

Agency-Specific Instructions: Department of Commerce. For DOC awards, users fill out the FFR long form in eRA Commons FFR module instead of being redirected to the Payment Management System.

Also see:

Federal Financial Report (FFR)

Reminders of NIH Policies Related to Closeout (April 2, 2021)

Before attempting to complete and submit an FFR, you must register with PMS and obtain login credentials (https://pmsapp.psc.gov/pms/app/userrequest). You are required to log into PMS before or during FFR initiation from eRA Commons.

Before attempting to complete and submit an FFR, you must register with PMS and obtain login credentials (https://pmsapp.psc.gov/pms/app/userrequest). You are required to log into PMS before or during FFR initiation from eRA Commons.

  1. In the FFR module in eRA Commons, search for and find an FFR that needs to be completed.
  2. Select the Manage FFR option from the three-dot ellipsis menu for a record in the search results.
    You are redirected to the federal Payment Management System, where you must log in. After login, the FFR long form is opened for the grant you were working on in the eRA Commons FFR module. Alternatively, you can go directly to the PMS system and find the FFR by searching for the Award Document Number using the PMS FFR search screen.
  3. In the PMS FFR long form, complete the fields (see descriptions below for guidance).
  4. Follow PMS guidance for certifying and submitting the FFR to the sponsoring Agency. See the documentation provided by PMS (https://pms.psc.gov/pms-user-guide/federal-financial-report.html).

Displays the name of the Federal Agency associated with the grant. This information is pre-populated from the grant information and cannot be edited.

Displays the Award Document Number assigned to the award by the Federal agency. This field is pre-populated and cannot be edited.

Displays the name and complete address of the recipient organization. This field is pre-populated and cannot be edited.

Displays the Dun & Bradstreet Universal Numbering System (DUNS) number or Central Contractor Registry (CCR) extended DUNS number belonging to the recipient agency. This information is pre-populated from the grant information and cannot be edited.

Displays the number assigned by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Central Registry System for payment and accounting purposes. This information is pre-populated from the grant information and cannot be edited.

Enter the recipient account number or any other identifying number assigned to the award by the recipient. This is not a requirement of the Federal agency and is for the recipient’s use only.

Displays the Report Type:

  • Annual
  • Final

This information is pre-populated from the grant information and cannot be edited.

Select the appropriate option from the dropdown menu to indicate the basis used for recording the transactions related to the award:

  • Cash
  • Accrual

Accrual basis of accounting refers to the accounting method in which expenses are recorded when incurred. For Cash basis accounting, expenses are recorded when they are paid.

Indicates the period established in the award document during which Federal sponsorship begins and ends.

Displays the ending date of the reporting period.

For each field of the Transaction section, enter the cumulative amounts from the date of inception of the award through the end date of the reporting period specified in the Reporting Period End Date field.

These data fields are prepopulated in the Payment Management System, but may be recalculated in PMS by clicking the Recalculate icon next to the field. For Annual FFRs, these fields can be updated by the recipient. For Final FFRs, these fields can only be updated by the Recalculate button (if available). A Final FFR can NOT be submitted unless 10a and 10b are equal to each other and 10c is $0.00. 10c is a calculated value and cannot be edited.

Use lines 10.d-h for single grant reporting.

Displays the cumulative total Federal funds authorized.

  • For research ICs, this amount will reflect the total for the indicated grant segment.
  • For Non-Research ICs, this amount will reflect the total for the IC and serial number.

Enter the amount of Federal fund expenditures. Expenditures are the sum of actual cash disbursements for direct charges for goods and services; the amount of indirect expenses charged to the award; and the amount of cash advances and payments made to sub-recipients and subcontractors. A Final FFR can NOT be submitted unless 10e is equal to 10a and 10b.

Enter the Federal portion of unliquidated obligations. Unliquidated obligations on a cash basis are obligations incurred, but not yet paid. On an accrual basis, these are obligations incurred, but for which outlay has not yet been recorded. Those obligations include direct and indirect expenses incurred but not yet paid or charged to the award, including amounts due to sub-recipients and subcontractors.

On the final report, this line must be zero. Do not include any amount that has been reported in the Federal share of expenditures (line 10e). Do not include any amount for a future commitment of funds (such as a long-term contract) for which an obligation or expense has not been incurred.

This is the sum of Federal share of expenditures (line 10e) and Federal share of unliquidated obligations (line 10f).

This information is calculated and cannot be edited.

This is the amount of Total Federal funds authorized (line 10d) minus Total Federal share (line 10g).

This information is calculated and cannot be edited.

Do not complete this section if reporting on multiple awards.

Enter the total required recipient share for the reporting period specified in the Reporting Period End Date field (line 9). The required recipient share should include all matching and cost sharing provided by recipients and third-party providers to meet the level required by the Federal agency. This amount should not include cost sharing and match amounts in excess of the amount required by the Federal agency (e.g., cost overruns for which the recipient incurs additional expenses and, therefore, contributes a greater level of cost sharing or match than the level required by the Federal agency).

Enter the recipient share of actual cash disbursements or outlays (less any rebates, refunds, or other credits) including payments to subrecipients and subcontractors. This amount may include the value of allowable in-kind match contributions and recipient share of program income used to finance the non-Federal share of the project or program.

Note that on the final report, this line should be equal to or greater than the amount of the Total recipient share required (line 10i).

This is a calculated field for showing the amount of Total recipient share required (line 10i) minus Recipient share of expenditures (line 10j).

If the Recipient share of expenditures is greater than the Total recipient share required amount, the field will show zero.

This information is calculated and cannot be edited.

Do not complete this section if reporting for multiple awards

Enter the amount of Federal program income earned. Do not report any program income here that is being allocated as part of the recipient’s cost sharing amount included in the Recipient share of expenditures field (line 10j).

Enter the amount of program income that was used to reduce the Federal share of the total project costs.

Enter the amount of program income that was added to funds committed to the total project costs and expended to further eligible project or program activities.

Enter the amount of Total Federal program income earned (line 10l) minus the Program income expended in accordance with the deduction alternative (line 10m) or Program income expended in accordance with the addition alternative (line 10n). This amount equals the program income that has been earned but not expended, as of the reporting period end date.

This information is calculated and cannot be edited.

Indirect expenses are the costs associated with the general operation of an institution and the performance of its research activities. In the Payment Management System (PMS), you are limited to 10 indirect expenses only, and if there are more than 10, you must enter the rest in the Remarks field.

This field represents the type of indirect expense. Types include Provisional, Predetermined, Final, or Fixed.

This field indicates the indirect cost rate in effect during the reporting period. This number is a percentage.

The "From" and "To" range of the period as related to the indirect costs.

Base represents the amount of the base against which the indirect cost was applied.

This field represents the total amount of indirect costs charged during the reporting period.

This field indicates the Federal portion of the Amount Charged (line 11e).

These fields are the calculated sums of indirect expense entries for each of the following fields: Base, Amount Charged, and Federal Share.

Enter any explanations or additional information required by the Federal sponsoring agency including excess cash as stated in the field for Cash on Hand (line 10c). If you have more than 10 indirect expenses (Line 11), enter additional expenses in the Remarks field.

NOTE: Remarks are required when submitting a revision to an FFR or on an Annual FFR if Cash on Hand (10c) is greater than $0.00.

Select your username from the Prepared by dropdown to complete the preparation of the FFR. The phone number and email address are prepopulated based on your PMS credentials and are not editable. The Date Report Prepared field automatically populates today's date.

NOTE: If you are not ready to submit, you can click the Save button and come back to the report later.

After selecting your username from the Prepared by dropdown, click the Submit button.

Once prepared the FFR must be Certified. The certifier will receive a notification from PMS when an FFR is ready to be certified. If you are the certifier, you should log into PMS and locate the FFR.

When prompted, select your username from the Signature of Authorized Certifying Official dropdown to complete the certification of the FFR. The phone number and email address are prepopulated based on your PMS credentials and are not editable. The Date Report Submitted field automatically populates today's date.

Submit the report to be certified by clicking the Certify button. If you do not see the Certify button, submit the form first.

You can log into eRA Commons FFR module to check on the status of the submission.

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