Form questions

Grant acquittal questions for a final project report

Ask 12 to 16. Never skip the outcomes achieved against the ones promised, the budget set against actual spend, and a declaration from someone authorised to make it. An acquittal missing any of these tends to come back with questions, which can hold up the organisation's next application.

A grant acquittal has to show the funder that the money went on what was agreed, and that the project delivered what the application promised. These questions set every outcome and every dollar against the original application, so an assessor can compare the two documents line by line instead of reading a story.

The questions

The grant

  1. Organisation nameShort textRequired

  2. ABNShort text

  3. Project titleShort textRequired

    Exactly as on the application, so the report matches the funding agreement.

  4. Grant amount received ($)Number

  5. Date the project finishedDate

  6. Contact name and roleShort text

  7. Contact emailShort text

What happened

  1. What did the project achieve, against what the application said it would?Long textRequired

    Repeat the promised outcomes in a paragraph block above, so the answer is written against them.

  2. Targets and resultsTable

    Columns: measure, target, actual, how it was counted.

  3. How many people took part or benefited?Number

  4. Did the people who benefited match the groups named in the application?Single choice

    Yes, mostly, partly, no.

  5. What did not go to plan?Long text

  6. Did the project change from what was funded?Single choice

    No; yes, with written approval; yes, without approval. The third answer, given honestly, beats a change found at audit.

  7. If it changed, describe the changeLong text

The money

  1. Budget against actual spendTableRequired

    The application's budget columns plus actual spent and variance, so the tables line up row by row.

  2. Total grant funds spent ($)Number

  3. Unspent grant funds ($)Number

    Say in a paragraph above whether unspent funds are returned or may be carried over with approval.

  4. Other funding and in kind support receivedLong text

  5. Is the organisation a charity registered with the ACNC?Single choice

Evidence and learning

  1. Evidence of spendingFile uploadRequired

    Receipts, invoices or a financial statement. Images and PDF only, so ask for one combined PDF where possible.

  2. Photos or materials from the projectFile upload

  3. What would the organisation do differently next time?Long text

  4. May the funder share the project's story publicly?Single choice

Declaration

  1. DeclarationMultiple choiceRequired

    Two ticks: the report is true, and the funds were spent as agreed or as approved in writing.

  2. Authorised signatory name and positionShort textRequired

  3. SignatureSignature

Which questions to make required

Seven questions are required: organisation name, project title, outcomes achieved, the spend table, evidence of spending, the declaration and the signatory's name. The first two match the report to a funding agreement, the next three are what an acquittal exists for, and the last two make a named person accountable for it. Participant numbers, stories and photos stay optional, because not every project can count or photograph its benefit.

The form built from these questions

A static copy of the finished form, from its own example page.

Page 1 of 4

Community Small Grants 2027, application

Otway Shire Council. Grants up to $5,000 for community projects delivered by 30 June 2027. Closes 5 pm, 28 February.

Step 1: your organisation

Three ways to change this bank

For a progress report halfway through a multi year grant, replace actual spend with spend to date, add milestones reached and milestones at risk, and ask whether the project is on track to finish on time, with a short explanation if not. Leave the declaration in, because progress payments often depend on it. For a council event sponsorship, swap participant numbers for attendance, add a file upload for photos showing the council's logo on signage, and ask what attendees said about the event. For a research grant final report, add a table of publications and datasets, a question confirming ethics approvals were followed, and a separate question for any equipment bought with the grant and where it is now held.

Questions people ask

What is a grant acquittal?

It is the final report a grant recipient gives the funder to show the money was spent as agreed and the project did what it said it would. It usually covers outcomes, spending with evidence, any changes, and a signed declaration. The funding agreement sets what is required and when, so read it before designing the form.

Does a registered charity need an audited acquittal for a Commonwealth grant?

Often not. The ACNC explains that under the Commonwealth Grants Rules and Guidelines, if an organisation has already given a regulator an audited financial statement, an audited financial acquittal should not be required unless the grant is higher risk. State and local funders set their own rules, so check the agreement.

Should an acquittal ask for every receipt?

For a small grant, a budget against actual table plus receipts for the larger items is usually enough, and many funders accept a financial statement instead. Asking for every receipt on a five thousand dollar grant creates work for both sides. State the evidence rule in a paragraph block above the upload so recipients gather the right documents first.

How should unspent grant funds be reported?

As a number, with a clear statement above the question of what happens next: returned, or carried over into an approved variation. Recipients sometimes spend the remainder hastily to avoid returning it, which helps nobody. A plain question about unspent funds, asked without penalty, gets more honest reports and cleaner budgets.

What if the project changed from what was funded?

Ask directly, with three answers: no change, a change approved in writing, and a change without approval. Most funders would rather hear about an unapproved change in the acquittal than discover it later. A follow up question describing the change lets the assessor decide whether it needs a formal variation after the fact.

How does the spend table come out in the export?

The response export is a CSV with one column per question, and a table question arrives as a single column holding the filled rows as a JSON list. An assessor comparing many acquittals can split that column with a short script or a spreadsheet formula, then total actual spend across every recipient in one sheet.

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