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SF-425 Federal Financial Report Template

Four documents and three sheets, built so every dollar on the form traces to a voucher and the seven computed lines foot.

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What you get

Pack of 7 files: 4 documents, 3 spreadsheets

SF-425 Federal Financial Report Template
  • How the SF-425 Cross-FootsDocument
  • Report Preparation ProcedureDocument
  • Supporting Schedule NotesDocument
  • Cash on Hand JustificationDocument
  • Federal Share CalculationSpreadsheet
  • Unliquidated Obligation RegisterSpreadsheet
  • Supporting Voucher IndexSpreadsheet
RiverSF-425 Federal Financial Report Template

Federal Share Calculation

Line 10e, built in five layers

Award [number]. Reporting period end [date]. Basis of accounting [cash or accrual]. Cumulative since inception.

LayerWhat it measuresAmount
1Direct cash disbursements for property and services-
2Net increase in amounts owed, on an accrual basis only-
3Indirect expense, rate times base-
4Subrecipients, expended or advanced by basis-
5Deductions: program income, rebates, credits-
Line 10e federal share of expenditures-

The identities, run as checks

10c equals 10a less 10b. 10g equals 10e plus 10f. 10h equals 10d less 10g. 10k equals 10i less 10j, floored at zero. 10o equals 10l less 10m or 10n. 11e equals the rate times the base.

What the ledger does not hold

Line 10f, the federal share of unliquidated obligations, is built from the commitment documents in a separate register, under the rule that nothing already in 10e may appear in it.

River's SF-425 pack is four documents and three sheets for the Federal Financial Report, built around the fact that only four of the form's fifteen figures exist in a general ledger. Cash received, cash disbursed, funds authorised and the required match can be read off. The other eleven are derived, seven are computed from other lines, and one box quietly changes what four of them mean. Federal Share Calculation builds the expenditure line in five named layers, and the reporting calendar says when it is due.

The two figures nobody computes are the ones that cost money. Line 10f, the federal share of unliquidated obligations, is not a balance in any accounting system, so it gets left at zero or filled with everything anyone has planned to buy. And line 10c is not a bank balance. It is federal receipts less federal disbursements, and the instruction behind that line sets its expectation in business days while the box asks for dollars, so nobody ever divides.

Ashford Bridge Housing Coalition holds one award of $1,450,000 authorised and reports on an accrual basis. Its obligation register comes to $147,500: two subawards partly unspent and one signed purchase order. Left at zero, the form would report $318,912 of unobligated balance instead of $171,412, overstating unspent money by 10.2 percent of the award on the one form an agency reads before taking funding back. Which reports are owed at all comes from the award terms.

One ledger, two bases, and the line no accounting system holds

The federal share in layers, the obligation register with its exclusions, and the voucher index behind every dollar.

SF-425 Federal Financial Report Template
RiverFederal Share

Federal Share Calculation

Illustrative, for a fictional housing nonprofit called Ashford Bridge Housing Coalition. Award HD-2024-0417, $1,450,000 authorised, cumulative through the quarter ended 2026-06-30. Filed on an accrual basis. The cash column is the same ledger measured the other way.

LayerComponentAccrual, as filedCash, for comparison
1Direct cash disbursements for property and services$730,220$730,220
2Net increase in amounts owed$67,9600
3Indirect expense at 22.4% of a $707,180 base$158,408$143,185
4Subrecipients: expended, against advanced$174,500$240,000
5Deductions00
10eFederal share of expenditures$1,131,088$1,113,405
10fFederal share of unliquidated obligations$147,500$149,960
10gTotal federal share$1,278,588$1,263,365
10hUnobligated balance$171,412$186,635
10cCash on hand, or 12.1 business days$35,372$50,595

The two bases move 10e by $17,683 and 10f by $2,460 in the opposite direction. The $67,960 of accrued payroll and invoices and the $65,500 of subaward advance not yet spent cancel out entirely between the two lines, which is what the prohibition on reporting an amount twice is for. What survives is $15,223, and that is only the difference the two bases make to the indirect base. So the basis election barely moves the number the agency reads, provided both lines are actually built. Building one of them is what costs.

RiverObligations

Unliquidated Obligation Register

Nine candidates. Three of them belong on line 10f, and the six exclusions each carry the rule that excluded them.

CounterpartyInstrumentOpenOn line 10fWhy
Northgate Legal AidExecuted subaward$119,000$119,000Committed, no expenditure recorded
Willow Creek ShelterExecuted subaward$6,500$6,500Committed, no expenditure recorded
Meridian SystemsSigned purchase order$22,000$22,000Ordered, goods not received
Payroll accrualServices performed$42,1600Already in 10e on this basis
Trade payablesInvoices received$25,8000Already in 10e on this basis
Calder Evaluation GroupDraft contract, unsigned$85,0000No obligation has been incurred
Rowan Street LandlordLease, future periods$96,0000Future commitment, nothing incurred
Hallam LLPLegal engagement$18,6000Committed against unrestricted funds
Vehicle maintenanceBoard-approved budget line$12,0000A budget line commits nobody
Line 10f as filed$427,060$147,500

Three ways to get this line wrong, and all three change what the agency sees. Left at zero, line 10h reports $318,912 of unobligated balance rather than $171,412, overstating unspent money by $147,500 on the form a programme officer reads before proposing to de-obligate. Filled with every candidate, 10f reaches $427,060 and 10h goes to negative $108,148, which the form cannot accept. And double counting the $67,960 of accrued costs in both 10e and 10f puts 10h at $103,452, understating available funds and breaking an identity that is otherwise self-correcting.

RiverVoucher Index

Supporting Voucher Index

Every dollar of line 10e against the documents behind it. The total foots to the line or the difference gets named, because a balancing row is the finding.

Voucher classItemsDollarsShareInvoice behind it
Payroll registers24$498,48044.1%Registers and timesheets
Subrecipient expenditure reports14$174,50015.4%Their reports, their vouchers
Indirect cost rate schedule1$158,40814.0%None. It is a computation
Participant payment file412$150,00013.3%Lease, ledger and payment per household
Vendor invoices186$90,3008.0%Yes
Equipment invoice1$41,0003.6%Yes, plus the property record
Travel reimbursements61$18,4001.6%Claims with receipts
Total699$1,131,088100.0%
Line 10e as filed-$1,131,088foots

Two things this counting produces that a total cannot. First, $831,388 of the expenditure line has no invoice behind it, because payroll, subrecipient reports and indirect expense carry schedules instead, and that is 73.5% of the total. A reviewer who expects invoices for all of it will spend a week looking. Second, the thinnest class per dollar is the rate schedule: one document standing behind 14.0% of everything reported. That is where a sampling review lands, and knowing it beforehand is the reason to count the documents rather than the dollars alone.

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What is in the pack

01

Federal Share Calculation

The expenditure line built in five named layers, each one still visible, so the total can be decomposed rather than just asserted.

02

Supporting Voucher Index

Every dollar of the expenditure line tied to a source document, footing to the line exactly, with the classes that carry a schedule instead of an invoice named.

03

Unliquidated Obligation Register

The one figure no accounting system holds, built from commitment documents, with each exclusion as its own row and the rule that excluded it.

04

Cash on Hand Justification

The balance converted into business days, the remark if it is over three, and the list of reasons that do not survive being checked.

05

How the SF-425 Cross-Foots

Which lines are inputs and which are derived, what the basis election changes, and what each way of getting line 10f wrong costs in dollars.

06

Report Preparation Procedure

The order that avoids rework, starting with the subrecipient reports because they gate the expenditure line and have the longest lead time.

07

Supporting Schedule Notes

Seven notes that answer a reviewer's questions before they are asked, including the indirect base a reviewer will try to reverse out of the amount charged.

How it works

  1. 1

    Send the ledger and the award

    Ledger detail rather than a category summary, the executed agreement, the indirect cost rate agreement, and the record of cash draws. Subrecipient reports too, if they have arrived.

  2. 2

    Build the share in layers

    Direct disbursements, the accrual bridge, indirect, subrecipients, deductions. Never from the cumulative draw, because the draw is a request and the expenditure line is a measurement.

  3. 3

    Index the vouchers, then the obligations

    The index foots to the expenditure line or the difference gets named. The obligation register is built separately, from the commitment documents, and tested against the approved budget.

  4. 4

    Run the identities and write the notes

    Seven computed lines checked, cash on hand converted into days, then the notes that travel with the form. Portal tagging rules apply the same way as at submission.

Frequently asked questions

Is this free, and what format are the files?

Yes. The download is four Word documents and three CSV spreadsheets, which open in Word, Pages, Excel, Numbers and Google Sheets with no conversion. Edit with AI opens the same pack as a working space instead, where the sheets recompute and the figures come from your own ledger.

Does this file the report for me?

No. The report goes through whichever system the agency designates, and the authorised certifying official signs it under a false statements warning. This pack produces the figures, the vouchers behind them and the notes that travel with the form, so the person signing can read the numbers back to source documents.

How do I know whether to report on a cash or accrual basis?

The award or your own accounting policy decides, and one basis applies to the whole award. What matters more is that expenditures mean different things on each. An unpaid invoice is an unliquidated obligation on a cash basis and an expenditure on an accrual one, and it belongs on exactly one line.

What actually goes in the unliquidated obligation line?

Commitments the organisation has made and not yet liquidated. Executed subawards net of what the subrecipient has spent, signed purchase orders, work ordered under a contract. Not a budget line, not a quote, not an unsigned contract, and never anything already counted as an expenditure. In the example nine candidates produce three rows.

Why does cash on hand matter if the number is small?

Because the expectation is stated in days rather than dollars. Advance payments have to be timed to actual, immediate cash requirements, and $35,372 is twelve business days at Ashford Bridge's rate. A reason usually exists. It just has to be written down before somebody at the agency does the division.

When is the report due?

Quarterly and semiannual reports are due no later than 30 calendar days after the reporting period, annual reports 90 days, and a recipient's final report 120 days after the period of performance ends. A subrecipient files its final report at 90. What happens once that report is filed is a separate closeout checklist. Those are outer bounds, so awards often set something tighter.

Does this prepare the single audit?

No, and the schedule of expenditures of federal awards is a different artifact with a different unit of account. This pack reports one award for one period. Tracking federal expenditure across every fund and programme so that schedule assembles is separate work, and so is what each agreement obliges you to file.

Sources

  1. apply07.grants.govThe instruction behind that line (opens in a new tab)
  2. eCFR2 CFR 200.1 (opens in a new tab)
  3. eCFR2 CFR 200.305 — Federal payment (opens in a new tab)
  4. eCFR2 CFR 200.328 — Financial reporting (opens in a new tab)

Written by

Chandler Supple

Co-founder & CEO, River

Chandler has spent the last six years working in AI, building tools for millions of users and Fortune 100 companies. In 2025, he co-founded River to build a new kind of operating system for AI agents.

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Reviewed by

Brian Joseff, Co-founder, River

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