Managing the contract, reporting and close-out

1Compliance

• Eligibility of expenditure: within the contract period, provided for in the budget, actually incurred, supported by original documents.
• Procurement: the donor's thresholds and procedures (number of quotations, tender), procurement committee, no conflict of interest.
• Sanctions list screening for suppliers and partners, in line with donor requirements.
• Visibility: required logos and acknowledgements, except where security calls for a low profile (to be negotiated in writing).
• Sub-grants: the donor's rules also apply to partners; provide for a written agreement, a capacity assessment and financial monitoring.

2Budget monitoring and amendments

Every month, compare actual expenditure with the budget (budget versus actuals report, BvA) line by line and calculate the burn rate against the time elapsed. Donors generally allow transfers between lines up to a certain percentage (often 10 to 20% depending on the contract); beyond that, a written amendment approved before the expenditure is required.

If the project falls behind schedule, request a no-cost extension well before the end date, often at least one month beforehand depending on the contract, explaining the reasons and the new timeline.

3Reporting, audit and close-out

• Narrative reports: results against indicators, explained variances, stories of change, challenges and lessons learned.
• Financial reports: expenditure by line, consistent with the accounts and the narrative report.
• Audit: file supporting documents by budget line from the start; an audit is prepared every day, not the day before.
• Close-out: final payments, inventory and transfer of equipment according to the donor's rules, final report, refund of unspent funds, archiving of documents for the period required by the contract (often 5 years or more).