How to tell what a federal award number means

A notice says a federal agency awarded eight million dollars for a project. A later data search turns up a smaller figure. Before treating either amount as missing money, find out which field the figure came from. A project announcement, a legal commitment and a recorded payment describe different events.

Start with an award ID

USAspending publishes U.S. federal spending data. Start with the agency and recipient named in the announcement, then narrow by award type and dates. A grant and a procurement contract can look similar in a headline, but their records describe different kinds of transactions. If the agency published an award identifier, match it to the search result. Two organizations with similar names or multiple awards to the same organization can otherwise be easy to confuse.

Copy the identifier, award description, awarding agency and recipient from the detail page. Record the date you looked. You can reopen the same award after an amendment and explain exactly what changed.

Keep the dollars in their own columns

The Treasury’s federal spending guide distinguishes an obligation, a legal commitment by the government, from an outlay, a payment that reduces an obligation. Suppose a fictional agency signs a grant that obligates eight million dollars. If two million dollars in related payments have been recorded by the date of your search, both figures can describe the same award. They answer different questions. The timing of delivery or reimbursement may explain why they differ, but the award total alone supplies no payment schedule.

A later transaction can add to an obligation or reduce it. If a modification reduces the eight-million-dollar obligation by one million, the net obligation becomes seven million in this example. Compare the transaction history with the total before calling a particular entry a new award.

Match the period before comparing figures

A fiscal-year search may capture only transactions dated within that year. An award can run across several years. When comparing a yearly spending figure with an award’s running total, keep the different periods visible. The award’s start and end dates answer a separate question about the project’s period of performance.

A useful description can name the agency, the award and the exact measure. “The agency had obligated seven million dollars to this award as of the date checked” gives a reader enough information to verify the figure. If a payment figure is available for your question, give its date range and identify it separately.

• Match the award identifier and recipient.
• Record whether your figure is an obligation or an outlay.
• Check transactions and save the exact period you searched.