Blanket Justification for Arts Endowment Funding Application Guidelines and Requirements for Government Agencies

INSTRUCTIONS FOR REQUESTING PAYMENT
FY18 and Later Awards

April 2019

To request your award funds from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), you must submit a Payment
Request through REACH. Follow the instructions carefully.
Please e-mail us at grants@arts.gov or call the Office of Grants Management at (202) 682-5403 if you have
questions.
TO ENSURE TIMELY PAYMENT
Federal payments rely on up-to-date information in the System for Award Management (SAM). Before you
submit a payment request, take a moment to check your organization’s account at www.sam.gov:
1. Confirm that your SAM registration is current; payment cannot be made to an organization whose
registration status is not active. (We are looking at the entity registration, not your personal
registration.)
2. Make sure you have no “Debt Subject to Offset” (delinquent federal debt). We cannot make payments to
an organization that owes the federal government money. If you do have federal debt, resolve it before
submitting a payment request.)
3. Verify that SAM has your organization’s current banking information. NEA payments will be made to
this bank account.
4.

If your bank information changes, you MUST
(1) update it in SAM before requesting payment AND
(2) add a note in the Progress Report field that SAM has been updated with new bank information.
COMPLETING THE PAYMENT REQUEST FORM

Access the Payment Request form by logging into your REACH account and selecting the correct award. Go to
the Payments tab and click the Add Payment Request button.

National Endowment for the Arts Payment Request Instructions for Awardees

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TIPS
Disable your pop-up blocker to access to the instructions from within the payment request form
(by clicking the View Payment Request Instructions button).
DO NOT hit Enter on your keyboard while filling out the form; you will get error messages.
Use the Tab key instead.
If you’ve clicked the Submit Payment Request button and nothing has happened,
look to see if there is an error message at the bottom of the screen.
Often this is because you forgot to check the “I agree to the assurances” box in #7.
Also, make sure you are not requesting more than your grant amount.

PAYMENT REQUEST FORM
Line 1. Recipient Account or ID Number (Optional)
If your organization assigns its own ID number to track awards you may enter it here. This is not
required; you can leave the field empty.
Line 2. Type of Payment Requested
If this is the last or only payment request select FINAL, otherwise select PARTIAL.
Line 3. Basis of Request
This is the method used to record costs in your organization’s accounting ledgers.
- If you recognize expenses only as you pay them, select CASH.
- If you recognize expenses before paying them, select ACCRUED EXPENDITURES.
Line 4. Period Covered by this Request Starting Date
This date should reflect the earliest date for which the costs reported were incurred. This date cannot
be prior to the start date of the award. All costs must be incurred within the approved period of
performance.
Line 5. Period Covered by this Request Ending Date
This date can be no more than 30 days from the date you submit this form. It also cannot be after the
end date of the award.
Line 6. Computation of Amount Requested:
a. Total program outlays: Enter all allowable project costs that have been incurred and/or paid by the
date you provide in the “as of” field.
IMPORTANT: Report actual expenditures; do not simply reiterate your original budget. All costs
claimed must be allowable and appropriate expense documentation (e.g., contracts, receipts,
invoices, payroll records, cancelled checks, etc.) must be maintained and available for submission
upon request. Refer to the General Terms and Conditions for more information.
b. Estimated net cash outlays needed for advance period: Include funds here only if you are
requesting an advance of NEA funds to cover expenses expected to be incurred within 30 days or
less from the date you submit this form. If you are requesting a reimbursement, enter a zero.
National Endowment for the Arts Payment Request Instructions for Awardees

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c. Total (a plus b): The sum of line a plus line b will calculate automatically.
d. Non-federal share of amount on line c: Enter the amount of your organization’s cost share/match
included in the outlays shown on line c.
e. Federal share of amount on line c (c minus d): The form will calculate the difference between line c
and line d. The federal (NEA) share of outlays cannot exceed the amount of your award.
f.

Payment previously requested: Enter the total NEA funds previously requested for this award.

g. Federal share now requested (e minus f): Line g will automatically calculate based upon the
previous fields. This is the amount you are now requesting. Remember, these funds must be
disbursed immediately upon receipt.
Progress Report
The Progress Report is due the first time the cumulative amount requested EXCEEDS two thirds (2/3) of
the NEA award amount. The Progress Report does not need to be long, but must include a description of
award-supported activities that (1) have been undertaken since the award period start date, and (2) are
scheduled for the remainder of the period of performance. If submitting a payment request with your
final report, the Final Descriptive Report will serve as your progress report; enter “See Final Descriptive
Report” in the Progress Report field.
REMINDER: If your bank information changes, you MUST
(1) update it in SAM before requesting payment AND
(2) add a note in the Progress Report field that SAM has been updated with new bank information.
Line 7. Assurances
Checking the Assurances box indicates agreement to all the terms and conditions of the award, including
authorizing official certification and labor assurances.
When your Payment Request is complete, click the Submit Payment Request button.
TRACKING YOUR REQUEST
You can track the status of your payment request through the Payments tab in REACH. You can generally expect
payment within two weeks after the payment request status changes to Approved.

National Endowment for the Arts Payment Request Instructions for Awardees

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