National Science Foundation (NSF)

The NSF SBIR/STTR program is usually governed by a special set of NSF regulations (Phase I and Phase II) found on the NSF website. The NSF also allows the applicant for Phase I awards to budget up to $10,000 to set-up a compliant accounting system. As an awardee, it is imperative that your set-up and maintain a compliant accounting system for your NSF Ph I award.  With the submission of cost reports, and the final report, the government wants you to declare, under penalty of perjury, that the money spent was in accordance with the proposed budget. The only way to prove this is to have a job cost accounting system, and a properly maintained labor distribution & timekeeping system.  You also need to ensure this system was properly maintained throughout the duration of the grant. 

The NSF CAP Review

Before a small business receives its Phase II award, Cost Analysis & Pre-Award (CAP) Branch Auditors will need to verify that the Phase I spending was made in accordance with FAR Part 31.  Meaning, you must produce a Ph I spending report (as if the award were a cost-type contract, instead of fixed price).  If you fail to produce this report correctly, you will not receive the phase II funding!

In order to pass the CAP review, you must certify that this is how you keep your books and records. With ReliAscent’s help, your small business can set up and maintain a compliant accounting system, and pass your CAP review (our experts have a 100% success rate helping clients pass their CAAR/CAP reviews).  While most CAP Reviews can be completed in just a few days, it is important to contact ReliAscent® as soon as you have been notified that a CAP Review is required, as you only have a 10-day window to complete the CAP and we often have dozens of companies needing help in the same timeframe. In the meantime, after you have submitted your Ph II proposal, we highly recommend that all grantees begin reviewing the NSF's CAP Review Checklist and compiling the items they need (or knowing what they are expected to have and where to find that information). This will help you prepare for the CAP and can help reduce the cost of a CAP review (most CAP reviews will cost between $4,000 - $8,000 depending on the state of your books and how prepared you are--if you are not already a ReliAscent® accounting client).

NSF SBIR/STTR Ph I Accounting Services & Products

NSF SBIR/STTR Ph. I & II Monthly Accounting Services

ReliAscent® offers full, outsourced accounting to NSF Ph I and II awardees, in order to ensure compliance with NSF requirements and to ensure awardees can focus on their grant.  ReliAscent® will set up an NSF compliant job cost accounting system that is web based so ReliAscent® can easily  handle the bookkeeping and monthly accounting functions for you, so you can focus on what you do best, and improve your chances of succeeding.  This is highly recommended in Phase II to avoid compliance issues for the company and allow the company to concentrate on the core technology to ensure the success of the business.