Subrecipient Invoice Approval Checklist
Upon receipt of an invoice or request for payment from a subrecipient:
Review all submitted progress reports and financial reports received from the subrecipients.
Determine if all progress reports required to date under the terms of the agreement have been
submitted in an acceptable and timely manner.
Does the invoice have an institutional official signature certifying that charges are true and accurate
and/or for appropriate purpose.
Review the expenditures on the reimbursement request/invoice. Do the expenditures follow along
the same lines as what was budgeted or are there additional items listed that were not originally
budgeted for?
Do you see any potentially unallowable items listed in the reimbursement request such as
food/meals/entertainment/alcohol, etc. or items that should have been charged as an indirect cost
such as office supplies/general purpose computers/clerical and administrative salaries/postage.
Do the expenditures shown on the reimbursement request seem reasonable in relation to the amount
of time and work expected of the subcontractor to date? (For example, does it appear likely that they
will have spent a minimum of 75% of their budget by the time the current budget period has
concluded? Alternatively, does it look like they might exceed the amount available by the end of the
budgeted period? Are there appropriate reasons for such variations?) If something is amiss, follow
up with the subrecipient for an explanation.
Does it appear that there were charges that are not allocable to the project? (Such as travel costs to
places not anticipated in the scope of work or other charges or salaries for individuals not associated
with the work?)
If all required progress reports are up to date and acceptable, and the request appears reasonable
given the nature of the projects and amount of work completed to date, sign off on the invoice and
forward to ORSP for approval for payment.
Please note: by signing off and approving an invoice, you are attesting that the subrecipient has
been appropriately monitored and has met all of the conditions of #1 above. If you have any
doubts, please do not approve and go to Step #3 on the next page.
If progress reports are not up to date and acceptable, or you see something that does not appear
right, do not forward the invoice for payment. Instead, immediately contact the subrecipient and
ask for missing or unacceptable reports to be sent and/or request additional documentation as
necessary and appropriate. Once issues have been acceptably resolved, and/or, if necessary, a
revised request has been submitted by the subrecipient, you can forward the reimbursement request
or invoice to ORSP for approval for payment.
Note: Most invoices/reimbursements do not include a large amount of detail, but, if something does
not appear right on the surface, our contracts allow us the right to ask the subrecipient for back-up
documentation for specific budget line items, especially for high-risk agreements.
