End of Year Best Practices

Reports can be created from scratch in Reporting > Ad Hoc and Data Feeds or our out-of-the-box standard report templates can be used as a starting point. Examples of report templates include Payments – Cleared – Year to Date, Awards – Year to Date, and Applications Submitted – Year to Date.

Note: For more information, see the Build Ad Hoc Reports or Standard Report Templates > Available Templates resources.

A funding source is a bucket of funds that feeds one or more budgets. It can be closed or archived if it should no longer be made available for payments. Closed funding sources cannot be applied to budgets, but you will still be able to view it in the system.

Tip: Are pending awards associated with this funding source? It is recommended to update the budget to use a different source OR approve and process payments before closing this funding source.

Note: For more information, see the Close Funding Sources resource.

A budget is an amount of money set aside for grant payments and awards. It can be open for as long as needed (e.g., months, years).

Tip: With that said, organizations may find it helpful to keep budgets on an annual track to align with program cycles and allow for easier annual reporting.

A closed budget cannot be applied to programs or used to process, but you will still be able to view it in the system. If you choose not to close it, additional funds can be added to the funding source as needed. Like the funding source, it is recommended to either update the budget OR approve and process payments if there are pending awards attached to the budget you wish to close.

Note: For more information, see the Close Budgets resource.

At least one cycle is required for all programs. The length of time it is open for applications will differ based on the program and client.

Tip: With that said, it is recommended to create meaningful cycles to aid in reporting – even for continuously run programs. Many clients find it helpful to keep cycles on an annual track to make year-end reporting easier.

A program cycle closes when its End Date has been reached. While it is not best practice to modify the End Date mid-cycle, this is a procedure you may keep in mind when creating future cycles.

Note: For more information, see the Close Cycles (Grant Programs) or Close Cycles (Nomination Programs) resources.

While archiving a program is not necessary for year-end procedures, it may be helpful if the program and its applications are at the end of their lifecycle and no longer needed for reporting.

Tip: A program should not be archived if it is still accepting applications. Archiving a program will also archive all applications associated with it.

Note: For more information, see the Archive Programs (Grant Programs) or Archive Programs (Nomination Programs) resources.

A cycle can be archived when it has closed and associated applications are no longer needed for reporting or auditing. This may be especially beneficial for cycles that have many applications attached but is not a required year-end procedure.

Tip: Archiving a cycle will also archive all associated applications. This will remove them from most views (i.e., dashboard, reports). However, they will not be deleted from the system. Archive applications that are no longer needed

Note: For more information, see the Archive Cycles (Grant Programs) or Archive Cycles (Nomination Programs) resources.

Applications may be archived if they have reached the end of their lifecycle and are no longer needed for reporting, all payments and awards have been processed, etc.

Archiving an application will also archive all related awards and payments, removing them from most views (i.e., dashboards, reports). If needed, Grant Managers may make changes to archived applications. However, the Applicant cannot make further edits. Additionally, payments that have been archived as a result cannot be added to a new processing batch.

Tip: Applications with outstanding payments cannot be archived.

There are multiple ways to do this based on the number of applications and the area in which you are working.

• Archive individual applications

• Archive applications in bulk from the Applications area

Tip: Archiving the program or cycle will also archive all applications associated with it.

A funding source is a bucket of funds that feeds one or more budgets. There must be at least one funding source defined for a client as this – along with the budget – is selected when a payment is created.

If a funding source was closed at year-end or a situation arises where a new one is needed, a new funding source should be added to your account. This refers to either cash or in-kind sources.

Note: For more information, see the Create Cash Funding Sources and Create In-Kind Funding Sources resources.

If you decide to continue with an existing funding source in the new year rather than closing it and creating a new one, funds can be added to meet the needs of upcoming programs and awards.

Note: For more information, see the Edit Funding Sources resource.

A budget is an amount of money set aside for grant payments or awards and is required for each program. If a budget was closed at year-end or a situation arises where a new one is needed, a new budget can be added to your account.

Note: For more information, see the Create New Budgets resource.

If the previous program cycle closed (i.e., reached its End Date) and you wish to continue the program, a new cycle can be added. A program must have at least one cycle before it can be published.

Note: For more information, see the Add New Cycles (Grant Programs) or Add New Cycles (Nomination Programs) resources.

Budget automation allows you to build rules that will automatically assign a cash budget to applications upon submission.

Tip: This is not a required procedure for the new year but can help simplify the Award and Payment creation process as well as provide insights into what is being used from a budget.

Note: For more information, see the Set Up Budget Automation resources.

Workflow automation allows you to build rules that will automatically assign submitted applications to a specific workflow level.

Tip: This is not a required procedure for the new year but can be used to quickly route applications to a workflow level when they are initially submitted. You are still required to manually route them through the remainder of the workflow.

Note: For more information, see the Set Up Workflow Routing resources.