Office of Sponsored Programs

The term subaward most often refers to a subrecipient agreement issued under a grant award. However, it is quite common in Sponsored Programs to use the term subaward to refer to any subrecipient agreement managed by an OSP, including subrecipient agreements made on contract awards a.k.a. subcontracts.  

When submitting a proposal for sponsored funding that includes funds that will be allocated to a collaborator, it is likely that a subaward will need to be issued. UM’s OSP Pre-award Team can assist you in making that decision and preparing the proposal and budget accordingly.  

If you identify the need for collaboration via subaward after UM’s award has already been received, reach out to your OSP Grant and Contract officer to secure sponsor permission and to revise the budget to allocate those funds, and work with the UM Subawards Team to issue the subrecipient agreement.  

As soon as you have determined one may be needed.  

Sponsors typically require the subrecipient scope of work and budget information, but some sponsors may require additional information. Please work with OSP to ensure that all required information is provided to the sponsor.  

No. The subrecipient agreement is a legally binding document that lays out the terms and conditions of the subaward including the work the subrecipient shall perform and how much funding they can expect to receive for that work. The subaward scope of work should accurately reflect the work that the subrecipient will be performing and the budget should be a reasonable estimate of the funding required to perform that work.  

Additionally, if this subaward is subject to the reporting requirement of the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (FFATA), a description of the subaward must be submitted via SAM.gov and will be available to the public. It is limited to 4000 characters and should not include personally identifying information. If the subrecipient scope of work does not meet these requirements, please attach a description that can be used in the FFATA report. See below for information regarding FFATA reports.  

UM OSP uses Excel to review the subrecipient budget and the subrecipient invoices to ensure that all calculations, particularly indirect cost calculations, are correct. Therefore, all subrecipient budgets need to be in Excel before the subaward can be issued.  

No. While we understand the appeal of making exceptions for straightforward budgets, experience has shown that even small deviations can lead to a cascade of similar requests, making consistency difficult to maintain. 

If your subrecipient budget is indeed simple, we’d be happy to share our Simple Budget Template to help streamline the process.  

Typically, no. However, we can provide one upon request. 

In most cases, subrecipients should prepare their budget using their own institutional template and cost categories, ideally through their Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP). 

Requiring subrecipients to use a different template can lead to complications, including the need to amend the subaward budget later. This is often due to mismatches between their actual expenses and the budget structure in the executed agreement, which can delay invoice processing and payment. 

Changes to the subrecipient budget must be made via a formal amendment of the subrecipient agreement and may require prior approval of UM’s sponsor. If you wish to spend funds currently allocated to a subrecipient, or shift funds from one subrecipient to another, reach out to the OSP Subawards Team and your UM GCO to begin that process.  

No. The University of Montana does not pay subrecipients up front.  

Cost reimbursement subawards are paid based on invoices received from the subrecipient for expenses incurred on the project. Subrecipients are required to invoice at least once per quarter.  

Fixed amount agreements include an invoicing and payment schedule. Invoices are typically accepted based on deliverables, completion of milestones, or submission of progress reports.  

If this subaward is for work being performed primarily in the summer (summer salary), or if you are aware that the work has been delayed for any reason, please reach out to the OSP Subawards Team and let us know.  

It depends. When the UM Subawards Team receives a BuStR (Budget Status Report) that shows funds added to an existing subaward line AND already has budget information matching that amount on file, we will begin to prepare the subaward amendment.  

Otherwise, the UM PI or Department Staff are responsible for initiating the process using the Subaward Modification Request Form.  

Yes. Although the subrecipient budget will not be included in the agreement, OSP still requires a copy that outlines how costs are calculated and how funds are intended to be spent. 

Additionally, OSP will need an invoicing and payment schedule tied to specific milestones or progress reports. This schedule will be incorporated into the subrecipient agreement. 

The initial payment milestone may be the execution of the subaward agreement. However, UM policy limits this first payment to no more than one quarter to one third of the first-year subaward amount, and an invoice must be submitted by the subrecipient to initiate payment. 

The final payment milestone should reflect project completion and the submission of all required reports and deliverables. It should also represent a reasonable portion of the total award. 

If you wish to issue a fixed amount subaward on a cost reimbursable award, written sponsor approval is required. Once that approval is received, we can proceed with a fixed amount subaward.  

Note: Many subrecipients outside the U.S. strongly prefer fixed amount subawards. Please work with your OSP Proposal Development Analyst to ensure sponsor approval is included in the award in order to avoid delays in subaward issuance.  

FFATA stands for the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, which requires that first tier recipients of U.S. Federal funding submit reports on all subawards of $30,000 or more issued on federal awards.  

The UM OSP Subawards Team submits FFATA reports on a monthly basis and that information is available to the public.