Managing grants is already complicated, but when you add in subawards, immediately you’re not just responsible for your own compliance, you’re also on the hook for how others manage the funding. That’s a tough spot to be in, especially if systems are siloed, reporting is done manually, and your team is balancing oversight responsibilities with limited staff. If that describes your situation, you are not alone.
A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report highlights just how widespread these challenges are. After analyzing more than 3,600 Single Audit findings, the GAO found that over a third pointed to serious issues in how grant recipients manage subawards.
If your team still relies on spreadsheets, emails, and manual reminders such as calendar alerts or Outlook tasks to keep things moving, here’s what you need to know and what you can do to get ahead of the problem.
What’s Going Wrong with Subawards
From 2022 to 2024, three issues showed up again and again in Single Audits of who passed funds to subrecipients:
1. Missing or incomplete subaward reporting
Many organizations failed to report subawards to the Subaward Reporting System (FSRS), which is now integrated into SAM.gov, or they reported late or incorrectly. One audit found that more than $130 million in subawards hadn’t been reported at all. These gaps limit transparency and make it harder to track where public funds go or whether they’re being used as intended.
2. Weak subrecipient monitoring
In nearly half of these cases, recipients lacked internal controls to ensure basic oversight. Some recipients didn’t conduct risk assessments. Others skipped reviewing audit reports or failed to follow up when issues were identified. That creates blind spots and increases the chance that funds will be misused or compliance violations will go unnoticed until it’s too late.
3. Incomplete eligibility checks
Federal rules require grant recipients to confirm that subrecipients aren’t suspended or debarred. But GAO found hundreds of cases where that step didn’t happen or there was no documentation to prove it. That is a direct compliance failure and an open door for potential fraud.
So, what caused all these issues? The GAO tracked root causes for each finding and found that:
- More than 45% were due to weak or missing internal controls
- Roughly 20% came from a lack of understanding of federal requirements
- Others stemmed from staff shortages, documentation gaps, or simple errors
Why These Problems Are So Common
Most grant teams are not trying to cut corners; they’re just stretched thin. Employee turnover, outdated tools, and unclear processes make it easy for things to fall through the cracks.
The GAO report backed this up. Besides internal control issues, many findings were tied to staff limitations, manual errors, and a lack of understanding of federal requirements. It’s not that people aren’t working hard. It’s that they’re working without a safety net.
Federal agencies are starting to respond. In 2024, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) updated its Uniform Grant Guidance (UGG), requiring agencies to:
- Review Single Audit findings for both recipients and subrecipients
- Clarify subaward reporting requirements in award terms
- Hold recipients accountable for complete and timely subaward data
These changes signal that subaward oversight is now a shared priority between recipients and federal agencies. As expectations grow, having the right tools and structures in place will make a major difference in shoring up compliance.
>> Resource: Download our Explainer summarizing OMB’s 2024 updates to UGG and their impact on grant managers.
How a Grant Management System Can Help
The GAO report doesn’t point to one solution, but the gaps it highlights are precisely where a centralized grant management system (GMS) makes a difference.
With a purpose-built GMS such as AmpliFund, you can:
- Record the results ofgov eligibility checks in one place to support transparency, reporting, and audit readiness.
- Monitor subrecipients through structured workflows that guide risk assessments, document site visits, and follow up on any corrective actions.
- Report subawards accurately by linking financial data to subrecipient records and pushing required information directly into reporting formats.
- Review audit findings across your portfolio, not just for your organization but also for each subrecipient, so nothing gets missed.
More importantly, a GMS standardizes the grant management process. It’s no longer dependent on one person knowing where the documents are or remembering to send task reminders. That kind of consistency is what builds long-term compliance and resilience.
What Recipients Can Do Today
If your organization struggles with these same audit issues, you don’t need to overhaul your grant management processes overnight. If reporting, monitoring, or eligibility checks feel unclear (or inconsistent), you’ll want to bring more structure and transparency to these areas.
Here are a few ways to strengthen your subaward process right now:
- Clarify who is responsible for reporting and when it needs to happen
- Create standard steps for risk assessments, approvals, and follow-up
- Centralize documentation—especially audit findings and resolutions
- Assign ownership for each part of the subrecipient lifecycle
- Make monitoring a routine part of your workflow, not a year-end task
When you’re ready, a GMS can support your organization as you scale and sustain these practices. But even before that, small improvements to documentation and process clarity can go a long way.
Need a starting point? Download our Subrecipient Monitoring Checklist and Managing Subrecipients & Maintaining Compliance Guide to build a stronger foundation.
Stronger Oversight Starts with Better Structure
The GAO’s findings are a reminder that when internal controls are inconsistent or unclear, even well-run programs can face unnecessary risks. With federal expectations growing, having a clear, auditable system in place can make the processes more manageable for your team.
To discuss how AmpliFund can support you in this process, schedule a time with a grants management solutions expert.