Blog
June 18, 2026
Award set-up is the foundation of effective post-award management. From invoicing and reporting to closeout, a properly established award can influence the success of the entire lifecycle. When issues arise at set-up, they often compound over time, leading to administrative burden, compliance risk, and potential financial loss.
Below are two examples illustrating how award set-up challenges created significant downstream impacts.
Risks of Combining Separate Work Orders Under a Single Award
The Challenge
An institution receives a master agreement that issues funding through separate work orders. Each work order represents a distinct scope and funding allocation and must be managed separately within the financial system.
Initially, the institution establishes a single award for one work order. Later, the Principal Investigator (PI) receives supplemental funding under a separate work order but requests that it be combined with the original. Rather than maintaining separate awards, the request is approved, and both work orders are set up under a single grant in the institution’s ERP system.
The Impact
Issues emerge when an invoice exceeding the funding limit of the original work order is submitted, leading to a rejected payment from the sponsor. Upon review, combining the two work orders had overstated the budget and resulted in overbilling.
Additionally, expenses for both work orders are charged against the original, causing many costs to be unallowable under that agreement. Resolving the issue requires establishing a new grant for the second work order, correcting the original award, and reallocating expenses.
The result is a substantial refund to the sponsor along with the need to rebill tens of thousands of dollars. Beyond the financial impact, the institution faces increased audit risk, significant administrative burden, and strain on sponsor trust.
Risks of Failing to Track Mandatory Cost Share
The Challenge
In another case, an award includes a 100% mandatory cost share requirement. The proposal indicates that cost share should be met through personnel effort and associated unrecovered F&A.
However, this requirement is not captured during award set-up. The cost share requirement is not recorded in the system, and no formal process is put in place to track it.
As a result, while the sponsored portion of the budget is fully spent over the life of the award, cost share is never tracked. The gap only becomes apparent during final reporting when the department is asked to provide supporting documentation.
The Impact
Because cost share was not tracked in real time, the department was unable to identify sufficient allowable and allocable costs to meet the commitment. To compensate, they had to retroactively move personnel expenses off the grant and onto institutional funds.
As a result, the institution was unable to fully recover the awarded funding. With proper tracking in place from the beginning, the cost share requirement could have been met as incurred and without financial impact.
Key Takeaways for Effective Award Setup
These scenarios highlight a common theme: decisions made during award setup shape everything that follows. When key elements such as funding structures, constraints, and compliance requirements are not clearly defined and operationalized, the consequences often emerge later, when they are more difficult and costly to fix.
Potential Consequences of Award Setup Errors
- Audit findings
- Increased sponsor scrutiny
- Delayed or rejected payments
- Loss of funding
- Reputational damage
- Increased administrative burden to correct errors
Early-stage decisions in award set-up have an outsized impact on everything that follows. With structures, budgets, and requirements established correctly—and supported by clear ownership and consistent oversight—institutions can prevent avoidable issues and operate with greater confidence.
Attain Partners – Research Administration and Grant Management Specialists
Attain Partners helps research organizations strengthen these foundations by diagnosing process gaps, designing practical controls, and equipping teams with practical tools that support consistency.
About the Author
Drew Davis is a Senior Associate at Attain Partners with more than nine years of experience in research administration, focused on serving higher education institutions. His expertise covers the full post-award lifecycle, from initial setup to closeout, and includes work with federal, state, industry, and foundation sponsors.
