Claims and Reports in ezFedGrants
Frequently Asked Questions - Claims and Reports in ezFedGrants
The Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) pages provide responses to common questions, concerns, errors, and issues related to ezFedGrants. The FAQs should be consulted prior to contacting the ezFedGrants Help Desk and as a supplement to the other training materials on this website.
Introduction
Once your organization receives an award, you will need to submit claims and reports throughout the life of your award. These FAQs respond to questions about creating and submitting claims, repayments, and reports in ezFedGrants, including editing and signing these items.
Claims
I’ve opened my claim, but I cannot edit data or choose any options.
You have likely opened the claim via the Search screen. The Search screen opens the claim in read-only mode. You must open the claim from the “Actionable Items” list on the Home page.
Why am I unable to add an attachment to my claim?
Attachments may only be added to claims when the claim is in an editable status and opened via “Actionable Items”. This means the claim cannot have been submitted to either the Certifying Official or the awarding agency.
If you need to add an attachment after the claim is submitted to the Certifying Official, the Certifying Official may return the claim to you by selecting the Return option from the Decision dropdown menu when reviewing the claim. You must "return" the claim, even if you are self-certifying your own claim.
Once a claim has been submitted to the awarding agency, please contact the awarding agency for guidance on providing additional attachments.
Do I have to submit claims through ezFedGrants? Does ezFedGrants replace ASAP?
Not all agencies use ezFedGrants for claims. Please contact your awarding agencies for guidance on submitting claims for each of your awards.
Why can’t I submit advance payment requests through the ezFedGrants External Portal?
At this time, the ezFedGrants External Portal does not support submission of justification narratives, which are required for all advance payment requests. Please contact your awarding agency for guidance on submitting advance payment requests, as some agencies may require manual claim submission, or they may use a separate system for advance payment requests.
How do I create a claim?
Please refer to the ezFedGrants Reimbursement Claim Submission Job Aid (PDF, 1.9 MB) for general guidance in submitting claims through the ezFedGrants External Portal. However, it is strongly recommended to contact your awarding agency for guidance on submitting claims for each of your organization’s agreements. Some agencies use additional system for claims (such as ASAP), or may require manual submission of claim forms (as with Advance Payment requests).
Why am I unable to create a new claim when I have created claims for the same Agreement in the past?
You must ensure all prior claims for the same Agreement are fully approved and submitted for payment. In addition, any past due reports must be submitted by you and approved by the agency.
I would like to submit a claim, but I cannot locate the associated agreement in ezFedGrants.
Historical agreement information may not have been migrated into the ezFedGrants System. Therefore, agreements issued prior to adoption of the ezFedGrants System may not be available for claim submission or other action through the ezFedGrants External Portal. Please contact your awarding agency for guidance on submitting claims for these awards.
Can the requested amount exceed the maximum designated for a particular budget category?
You can submit claims that exceed the limit of individual budget categories, but the amount of the entire claim cannot exceed the value of the entire award.
Are claims in ezFedGrants related to the Invoice Processing Platform (IPP)?
The IPP is a system for processing invoices between the Federal Government and external vendors, which is managed by the US Department of the Treasury. ezFedGrants is not related to the IPP.
I have a question about the SF-270 claim form or required attachments.
Please contact the relevant awarding agency for any questions about completing claim forms.
How do I change pre-populated fields on the SF-270 claim form?
Most pre-populated fields on the SF-270 are derived from the award agreement or your organization’s business partner information. Please contact the awarding agency if a pre-populated field is incorrect.
How do I edit my previously created claim once it has been returned to me?
Returned items are accessed via your Actionable Items list. Once you make the necessary changes, you will need to resubmit the item for additional review.
Where is the Submit button?
The Submit button has been replaced with either Certify or Send to Certifier button and is only available when you are viewing the Attachments stage (stage three) of the Create Claim screen. If Self-Certify is checked on the signature tab, the button appears as “Certify” otherwise it is labeled “Send to Certifier”.
How do I check the status of a claim?
If you submitted a claim through the ezFedGrants External Portal, you can view the status of the claim through the Claims Under Review section on the Home screen or by searching for the claim through the Claims link on the left-side navigation menu.
How do I cancel a claim?
If the claim is in a pending-signature status the assigned certifier can cancel the claim from the Decision dropdown on the final review page. If Self-Certify is used, you are the certifier and can cancel directly during the certification stage.
If the claim is in a draft or returned status, use the Withdraw button.
If the claim has been submitted to the agency, contact the agency and request that they return the claim. Once returned you will be able to use the Withdraw button.
Can I transfer a claim to another user to continue editing?
Yes. Please use the Transfer button to send an in-progress claim to a user within your organization.
Transferring requires selecting a user and entering a comment. The system will move the claim to the new user’s Actionable Items and send a notification to the selected user with the comment you entered. The selected user will now be considered the creator of the claim. If the claim is later returned by a certifying official or the agency, the claim will return to the transferee vs. the person who originally created the claim.
Repayments
Do I have to submit repayment requests/documentation through ezFedGrants?
For all agencies, the ezFedGrants external portal is not used to collect payments from Recipients. Please contact the relevant awarding agency for guidance on submitting repayment requests.
Reports
I’ve opened my report but I cannot edit data or choose any options.
You have likely opened the report via the reports Search screen. The Search screen opens the report in read-only mode. You must open the report from the “Actionable Items” list on the Home page.
Why am I unable to add an attachment to my report?
Attachments may only be added to reports when the report is in an editable status and opened via “Actionable Items”. This means the report cannot have been submitted to either the Certifying Official or the awarding agency.
If you need to add an attachment after the report is submitted to the Certifying Official, the Certifying Official may return the report to you by selecting the Return option from the Decision dropdown menu when reviewing the report. You must "return" the report, even if you are self-certifying your own report.
Once a report has been submitted to the awarding agency, please contact the awarding agency for guidance on providing additional attachments.
How do I create a report? Do I have to use ezFedGrants?
Please refer to the Submit Financial or Performance Reports in ezFedGrants Job Aid (PDF, 2.0 MB) for instructions on submitting reports in ezFedGrants. Because some agencies do not use ezFedGrants for reports, please contact your awarding agency for guidance on submitting reports for your agreements.
Reports are generated in the system automatically and do not need to be uploaded or created. Reports will automatically appear in the Actionable Items section of the Home screen during designated reporting intervals based on the Period of Performance dates and reporting schedules for your agreements.
A report is in "Submitted" status, but all fields are blank and there is no signature.
This occurs when USDA agency staff mark a report as "completed" in the ezFedGrants Internal Portal before the report has been submitted in the ezFedGrants External Portal. If you believe this has been done in error, please contact your awarding agency.
Where is the Submit button?
The Submit button has been replaced with either Certify or Send to Certifier button and is only available when you are viewing the Attachments stage (stage three) of the Report screen. If Self-Certify is checked on the signature tab, the button appears as “Certify” otherwise it is labeled “Send to Certifier.
How do I check the status of a report?
If you submitted a report through the ezFedGrants External Portal, you can check the status of the report through the Pending Reports section of the Home screen or by searching for the report via the Reports link on the left-side navigation menu.
What do SF-425 and SF-PPR stand for?
The SF-425 is the Standard Form for grant award financial reports. The SF-PPR is the Standard Form for grant award performance reports. They are both types of grant award progress reports.
I have a question about the SF-425, SF-PPR, or attachments.
Please contact the relevant awarding agency for any questions about completing report forms.
How can I change the pre-populated items or un-editable fields on the SF-425 or SF-PPR form?
Most of the pre-populated items on the SF-425 and SF-PPR are pulled from the agreement or your organization’s business partner information. Please contact the relevant awarding agency if a pre-populated item appears incorrect.
How do I edit my previously created report, once it has been returned to me?
Returned reports will have a status of “Acceptance Pending Edits” or “Returned by Certifying Official” and are accessed via your Actionable Items list the same as new reports. Once you make the necessary changes, you will need to resubmit the report for additional review.
Why am I seeing all work items and agreements for my organization within my actionable items?
To reduce the number of reassigned reports or reports being inaccessible because another user has one open, all reports will route to a centralized organizational workbasket. All reports will be accessible by all individuals within that organization that have an active ezFedGrants account. Please be sure to take advantage of the filter options available in order to locate your agreement-specific reports.
When I access my Actionable Items list, I am seeing duplicate report work items. How do I fix this?
If you see duplicate report work items when accessing your Actionable Items list, complete one of the report items and the duplicate report should disappear. Contact the ezFedGrants helpdesk at ezFedGrants-cfo@usda.gov for additional information.
Can I transfer a report to another user to continue editing?
Yes. Please use the Transfer button to send an in-progress report to a user within your organization. Transferring requires selecting a user and entering a comment. The system will send a notification to the selected user with the comment you entered and move the item to the new user’s actionable items.
If the user does not complete the report the same day, the report will automatically return to the Report Submission Workbasket where all users within your organization can access the report for editing. You can also use the Return to Workbasket button which returns the report to the Report Submission workbasket, where all users from your organization can access the report for editing.
Certifying Officials
Who is the Certifying Official?
Any user in your organization with ezFedGrants External Portal access can be a Certifying Official for a claim, repayment, or report, including yourself. The Certifying Official reviews the claim, repayment, or report, provides a digital signature, and submits the claim, repayment, or report to the awarding agency. This is a temporary role that applies only for one specific claim, repayment, or report. It is not the same as the Signatory Official role.
The system is not accepting the name(s) I typed into the Certifying Official field(s).
The Primary and Secondary Certifying Official fields are linked to system data, which triggers notifications and work items for the Certifying Official. For this reason, these fields cannot accept typed names. You must select a name from the dropdown menu.
To view the available names, select the field, type the first few letters of the desired name (optional), and press the down arrow on your keyboard. When the dropdown menu appears, select the desired name. The list may take up to 30 seconds to generate depending on the speed of your Internet connection, the number of users in your organization, and whether or not you have typed any text into the field.
What is the purpose of the Secondary Certifying Official?
Designating a Secondary Certifying Official will send a work item to both the Primary and Secondary Certifying Officials. In the event the Primary Certifying Official is unavailable, the Secondary Certifying Official will have the ability to certify and submit the claim, repayment, or report.
Indicating a Secondary Certifying Official does not require the claim, repayment, or report to be reviewed twice.
The Certifying Official is unable to select the Complete Signature button?
The Certifying Official must select the Legal Notice button, check the checkbox at the bottom of the Legal Notice popup window, and then select the OK button in order to unlock the Complete Signature button.
Can I change Certifying Officials after the claim, repayment, or report is submitted?
You will need to contact the agency to return the claim or report in order to edit the Certifying Official. Once returned you can update the certifying officials.
If the claim or report is in pending-signature status the Certifying Official who received the claim or report must select the “Return” option. Returning sends the claim back to the creator where changes can be made. For Self-Certified claims or reports the creator can select return during the certification stage which returns the work item to edit mode.
If the assigned Certifying Official is not able to return the claim or report, the GAO in your organization can use the Work Item Reassignment on the left navigation panel to reassign the work item to an available user.
