RED Grants Reporting Guidelines
You’ve received a grant
You have just found out that your grant application has been a success – congratulations!
To receive a grant, you must agree to the funding terms and conditions and enter into a Grant Agreement with the State Government. You will have the opportunity to discuss these terms prior to signing the Agreement.
Our grants team will be in touch shortly to explain next steps.
What happens next?
Your project and any associated requirements must be approved, and a Grant Agreement signed by both parties before any payment can be made.
Once we have the information required to develop an Agreement, we will advise you of payment arrangements, reporting milestones and the expected outcomes as a result of the grant.
Grant funds are paid by electronic funds transfer only. You will be required to submit a form with your bank account details, and you may be contacted by a representative of the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) to verify these details. If you have any concerns regarding this process, please contact SWDC for more information.
Note: Retrospective payments are not permitted. Any expenditure incurred prior to the execution of a Grant Agreement is ineligible.
Managing your grant
Your Grant Agreement will detail any conditions that need to be met, the timing of reporting obligations and the approved items of expenditure.
It is important that you meet your reporting deadlines and provide requested information in a timely manner. This helps inform government on the use of public funds and enables us to brief our Minister and the Board on the benefits of your project.
You will receive an email from Smartygrants in advance of the reporting due date with a link to the respective template. Report templates include progress, completion, and final acquittal reports.
Please follow the prompts and provide comprehensive detail to inform us of the status of your project. We may also contact you at any time to request an update or seek information in relation to your funded project.
Reporting is your opportunity to showcase how your project is tracking and demonstrate the achievements of the grant. Share with us your evaluation reports, stories, feedback, photos and media coverage – we may even share your good news through our social media channels.
What if things change?
We understand that things don’t always go to plan. You may experience a delay that impacts the project timeline, or you may discover a more efficient or cost-effective means of achieving the same, or better result.
If you need to request a timeline extension or wish to make a change to the approved items of expenditure as detailed in your Grant Agreement, just call us and we will help you with the grant variation process.
Remember, a Grant Agreement is a written contract so if things change you must let us know. Please contact us if you have any queries about your grant – or to request a variation – we are happy to assist.
We understand that sometimes things don’t work out exactly as planned, and that’s okay. Just let us know what’s happening and we will work with you to find the best possible solution.
Measuring success
Your Grant Agreement will outline the expected outcomes of your project and how to measure its success. Importantly, we need to know that by supporting your project we are generating positive economic benefits for the South West region.
You will be required to report against the nominated objectives of the RED Grants Program and provide qualitative and quantitative data to evidence how you met the target outcomes specified in the Grant Agreement. This may include the number and type of jobs created during and after the project is completed; the increase in efficiencies or productivity; the number of people to acquire new skills; or the ways in which the project has helped expand or diversify industry.
Evaluating the success of your project helps us understand what worked well and what did not. The lessons learned may provide valuable insights for future decision-making and help inform government on the value of grant funding.
Keeping records
At the conclusion of your project, you must account for the grant by providing a final acquittal report with evidence of all expenditure – including those paid from the grant funds and your contribution to the project. Keep a copy of all invoices related to the project as you are required to submit these together with a signed Income and Expenditure Statement.
We recommend that you set up a separate cost code in your finance system for all income and expenditure related to the funded project. This will save you time at the end of the project and make things simpler at acquittal.
Note: If you receive a grant over $50,000 you must engage a qualified auditor to conduct an audit of the project and provide written certification that the grant was expended in accordance with the terms outlined in the Grant Agreement.
The auditor must be independent of your organisation and a member of CPA Australia, the Institute of Public Accountants in Australia, or the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia.
Your auditor will require you to provide the following:
- Grant Agreement and any subsequent variation/s
- Project Income and Expenditure Statement that aligns with the budget in your Grant Agreement
- Copies of invoices, receipts, bank statements, general ledger, etc.
- Information relating to the outcomes of your project
Note: we recommend that you complete and save a PDF copy of your final acquittal report and provide this to your auditor. The form allows you to save your progress, then login again and submit the form when the audit is complete.
A few important tips:
- The audit relates to the project only and should not include your usual business activities. Expect an audit to cost in the vicinity of $1,000-$2,000.
- Please ensure that your details are kept up to date on our system. If your organisation’s details change, just drop us a line so we can update our records.
We’re here to help
If you have any questions, or need help with your grant, please contact our team on 9792 2000 or email grantscoordinator@swdc.wa.gov.au .