Closing out a BWSR Grant

Within thirty (30) calendar days of the end of the grant agreement period, or expenditure of all grant and match funds, whichever occurs first, the Grantee must:

1. Complete all eLINK reporting, according to the eLINK Reporting Guidance. Create and submit the final Progress Report in eLINK, including changing the status to “Submitted” in eLINK; an eLINK notification will automatically be sent to the Board Conservationist when the report is submitted. After the report is submitted, the Board Conservationist will review the eLINK Progress Report and cross reference the work plan and the eLINK reporting guidance to determine if reporting is satisfactory.

Grants of $50,000 or more may be subject to reconciliation prior to closeout.  See the Grant Monitoring and Reconciliation section of this Manual for additional details.

2. Return unspent funds. If the full grant award has not been spent, the unspent funds must be returned to BWSR. The process for returning funds will vary depending upon whether the grantee has already received 100% of the award or if a portion of the funds has not yet been requested or received:
3. For competitive grants, or grants structured to have a final payment due to the grantee at closeout:
   1. If the final project costs are more than 90% but less than 100% of the grant award, the Grantee can only submit a reimbursement request for the actual project expenditures above the 90% of funds already received.
   2. If the final project costs are less than 90% of the grant award that was previously paid by BWSR, the Grantee must Return to BWSR any unspent funds using the Returned Funds form generated in eLINK.
      1. Indicate that this is a final report, and that there are unspent funds to return to BWSR, then enter the amount of returned funds and a check number (or placeholder “0000”) to generate the form.
      2. Print a copy of the Form and send it to BWSR (the address on the form) with the check.

For non-competitive grants, or grants in which the grantee received a 100% advance payment at the time of the grant agreement execution:

1. Return to BWSR any unspent funds using the Returned Funds form generated in eLINK.
   1. Indicate that this is a final report, and that there are unspent funds to return to BWSR, then enter the amount of returned funds and a check number (or placeholder “0000”) to generate the form.
   2. Print a copy of the Form and send it to BWSR (the address on the form) with the check.

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