Purpose: This guide helps end users understand how to use Project Accounting & Grant Tracking for managing grants, contracts, and internal programs.
Overview
Project Accounting & Grant Tracking (FA-13) provides specialized financial tracking for grants, contracts, and internal programs. It enables organizations to manage project budgets, allocate expenses, record revenue, and track grant drawdowns — all integrated with the core General Ledger.Key Capabilities
- Budget Management: Create and approve budget lines by category, track budget vs. actual spending with visual charts
- Expense Allocation: Allocate direct and indirect costs to projects, with automatic IDC (Indirect Cost Rate) calculations
- Revenue Tracking: Record revenue by period and link to drawdown-related entries
- Drawdown Management: Create drawdown requests, record receipts, and track status through a complete workflow
- Utilization Monitoring: Visual progress bars and alert banners for budget utilization and drawdown balances
Who Should Use This Guide
Prerequisites
Permissions Required
Note: Contact your organization administrator if you don’t have the required permissions.
Getting Started
Accessing Projects
- Navigate to Finance & Accounting in the main menu
- Under Projects & Grants, click All Projects
- You’ll see the project list with summary statistics
Quick Reference
Project List
The project list page provides an overview of all projects with filtering and search capabilities.Summary Statistics
At the top of the page, four summary cards display:- Total Projects — count of all projects
- Active Projects — currently active projects
- Total Budget — combined budget across all projects
- Total Spent — combined expenses across all projects
Filtering & Search
- Search: Type a project name or number to filter results
- Status Filter: Filter by Planning, Active, On Hold, Closed, or Cancelled
- Type Filter: Filter by Grant, Contract, Program, or Internal
- Funding Source: Filter by federal, state, local, foundation, corporate, private, or other
Project Table
Each row displays:- Project number and name
- Type and status badges
- Funding source
- Budget utilization bar (color-coded: green < 80%, yellow 80-95%, red > 95%)
- Total budget and spent amounts
Creating a New Project
- Click New Project on the project list page
- Fill in the required fields:
- Project Name — descriptive name for the project
- Project Type — Grant, Contract, Program, or Internal
- Status — typically starts as Planning
- Start Date / End Date — project period
- Optionally fill in funding details:
- Funding Source — where the funding comes from
- Total Award Amount — total grant/contract award
- Project Manager / Director — staff assignments
- Click Save
Project Detail View
The project detail page uses a tabbed layout with five sections.Overview Tab
Displays at-a-glance project information:- Project Details Card — name, number, type, status, dates, manager, director
- Funding Info Card — funding source, award amount, grant/contract identifiers
- Summary Metrics — four metric cards:
- Total Award
- Total Budget (allocated budget lines)
- Spent (with utilization bar)
- Balance (budget minus expenses, plus revenue total)
Budget Tab
Manage budget lines and visualize budget vs. actual spending.Adding a Budget Line
- Click Add Budget Line
- Fill in:
- Category — e.g., Personnel, Supplies, Equipment, Travel, Contractual, Other
- Description — what this budget line covers
- Budgeted Amount — planned spend
- Period — fiscal period this applies to
- Click Save
Budget vs. Actual (BVA) Chart
A bar chart compares budgeted amounts against actual spending by category. This updates automatically as expenses are allocated.Utilization Tracking
The utilization bar shows percentage of budget consumed:- Green (< 80%): On track
- Yellow (80–95%): Approaching limit
- Red (> 95%): Over or near budget
Approving Budget Lines
Users withfa.projects.admin permission can approve budget lines to lock them from further editing.
Expenses Tab
Allocate costs to the project from General Ledger journal entries.Allocating an Expense
- Click Add Expense
- Fill in:
- Amount — expense amount
- Expense Date — when the cost was incurred
- Category — matches budget categories
- Description — details of the expense
- Allocation Percentage — portion allocated to this project (default 100%)
- Is Indirect Cost — toggle for IDC expenses
- Click Save
IDC (Indirect Cost) Support
When “Is Indirect Cost” is enabled, the system applies the project’s configured IDC rate to calculate the indirect cost allocation automatically. IDC rates are managed per project and period under FA Settings.Revenue Tab
Record revenue earned or received against the project.Recording Revenue
- Click Add Revenue
- Fill in:
- Amount — revenue amount
- Revenue Date — when recognized
- Description — revenue source details
- Is Drawdown Related — toggle if this revenue came from a grant drawdown
- Click Save
Drawdowns Tab
Manage grant drawdown requests and receipts through a complete workflow.Creating a Drawdown Request
- Click New Request
- Fill in:
- Drawdown Amount — funds being requested
- Drawdown Date — target date for funds
- Request Date — date of the request
- Description — purpose of the drawdown
- Request Notes — internal notes
- Click Submit Request
Drawdown Status Workflow
Recording a Receipt
When funds arrive, record a receipt against the drawdown:- Click Record Receipt on an approved drawdown
- Enter the received amount and receipt date
- Click Save
Alert Banners
The DrawdownAlertBanner appears when the remaining drawdown balance falls below the configured threshold (set in FA Settings → Projects → Drawdown Alert Threshold). This warns users to submit new drawdown requests before funds run out.Project Statuses
Tips and Best Practices
Do’s
- ✅ Set up budget lines before allocating expenses to ensure accurate BVA tracking
- ✅ Review the utilization bar regularly — address yellow warnings before they turn red
- ✅ Configure the drawdown alert threshold in FA Settings to get early warnings
- ✅ Use allocation percentages for shared costs across multiple projects
- ✅ Record drawdown receipts promptly to maintain accurate cash position
Don’ts
- ❌ Don’t skip budget approval — unapproved lines may not appear in compliance reports
- ❌ Don’t allocate expenses to Closed or Cancelled projects
- ❌ Don’t ignore drawdown alert banners — they indicate funding gaps
Common Mistakes
Troubleshooting
Common Issues
Issue: “I can’t create a new project”
Cause: You lack thefa.projects.create permission.
Solution: Contact your organization administrator to request the permission.
Issue: “Utilization bar shows red but budget isn’t exceeded”
Cause: The threshold is 95%, so the bar turns red when spending reaches 95% of budget. Solution: This is expected behavior — it’s an early warning. Review whether additional budget is needed.Issue: “Drawdown alert won’t dismiss”
Cause: The alert is based on remaining balance vs. the configured threshold and recalculates on each page load. Solution: Submit a new drawdown request or adjust the threshold in FA Settings → Projects.Glossary
Related Documentation
- Specification:
specs/fa/specs/FA-13-project-accounting-grant-tracking.md - Implementation Log:
specs/fa/IMPLEMENTATION_LOG.md(FA-13 section) - FA Module Overview:
specs/fa/README.md
Last Updated: 2026-02-09
Questions? Contact your organization administrator.