Federal Financial Report (FFR)

Information on submitting the Federal Financial Report (FFR), which is also one of three reports to closeout a grant. 

Recipients of federal funds are required to report the status of funds for each award document number(s) assigned to grants or assistance agreements individually via the Federal Financial Report (FFR) expenditure data.  Since January 1, 2021, recipients have been required to submit the SF-425 Federal Financial Report (FFR) to the Payment Management System (PMS) accessed through the FFR navigation link in eRA Commons (see Figures 1 and 2). The schedule for submitting FFR is generally specified in the award documents of a grant or contract.

Selecting the Manage FFR action from the three-dot ellipsis icon next to an Award Number on the Search for Federal Financial Report (FFR) screen in eRA Commons takes the recipient directly to PMS (see Figures 3 and 4). The recipient will authenticate to PMS and be taken straight to the Federal Financial Report — Details screen for that award in PMS. Once the form is completed in PMS, the recipient will submit it to the agency. Recipients will still be able to see the status of their submission in the eRA Commons/FFR module.

Basic Tasks (Step-by-step instructions from the online help)*

• Search for FFRs
• Federal Financial Report (FFR) Module
• Completing the Federal Financial Report (FFR) Long Form

* You must be logged into eRA Commons with appropriate role(s) to complete these activities. 

Main Screenshots

For users with the FSR role, after logging into eRA Commons, select FFR from the Main menu in the upper left corner.

Figure 1: Accessing FFR from the Main menu

Figure 2: FFR Search screen, with quick searches at the bottom

Figure 3: FFR Search screen, showing results and Manage FFR and View PDF actions under the three-dot ellipsis menu

Figure 4: Payment Management System (PMS) login screen

Additional Resources

• FFR Resources Page
• eRA Service Desk
• PMS Help Desk

Policy

• NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-24-017: NIH Will Send Reminder Notifications to Recipients with Final Federal Financial Reports (FFR) in Rejected Status Beginning November 2023 (October 31, 2023)
• NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-22-215: NIH Federal Financial Reports (FFRs) will no longer be converted to Interim Annual Reports in the Payment Management System (September 21, 2022)
• NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-21-128: Updated Process for Submission of Federal Financial Reports for Closed Payment Management System Subaccounts (June 4, 2021)
• NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-21-138: NIH Final Federal Financial Reports (FFRs) will be converted to Interim Annual Reports in the Payment Management System (June 4, 2021)
• NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-21-102: Reminders of NIH Policies Related to Closeout (April 2, 2021)
• NIH Guide Notice NOT-OD-21-046: Reminder: Mandatory Submission of the Federal Financial Report (FFR) in the Payment Management System Beginning January 1, 2021
• NIH Grants Policy Statement: Reporting Requirements
• NIH Grants Policy Statement: Federal Financial Report
• NIH Grants Policy Statement: Final Federal Financial Report