Applications & Agreements in ezFedGrants
Frequently Asked Questions - Applications and Agreements in ezFedGrants
The Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) pages provide responses to common questions, concerns, errors, and issues related to ezFedGrants. The FAQs should be consulted prior to contacting the ezFedGrants Help Desk and as a supplement to the other training materials on this website.
Introduction
Once you have gained access to ezFedGrants, you are ready to begin applying to grant award opportunities. These FAQs provide information on the entire application process from creation to submission, including signing and reviewing of award documents and the relationship between Grants.gov and ezFedGrants.
- Grants.gov
- Applications
- Signatory Officials: Reviewing and Signing Applications
- Grant Award Agreements
Grants.gov
Is ezFedGrants replacing Grants.gov?
ezFedGrants is not intended to replace Grants.gov. However, some opportunities are only announced on ezFedGrants.
Do I have to apply on both Grants.gov and ezFedGrants?
No. Some opportunities appear on both Grants.gov and the ezFedGrants External Portal, but you only need to submit one application.
Applications submitted in Grants.gov for opportunities that also appear on the ezFedGrants External Portal are migrated from Grants.gov into ezFedGrants. Therefore, you may submit an application on Grants.gov, but later sign the award documents through the ezFedGrants External Portal.
Applications
How do I create applications in ezFedGrants?
Refer to the Applying to Opportunities in ezFedGrants Job Aid (PDF, 2.3 MB) for detailed instructions on searching for opportunities and creating applications. Your organization must have at least one user with the Grants Administrative Officer (GAO) and at least one user with the Signatory Official (SO) role to submit applications through the ezFedGrants External Portal. If your organization does not have an SO, you must submit your application through Grants.gov or email.
Can I submit unsolicited applications or start an application without an opportunity number?
No. Applications in ezFedGrants must be linked to a specific opportunity number.
How do I delete an application?
Draft applications can be deleted by clicking the Withdraw button on the Application screen. If an application has already been submitted to the Signatory Official, the Signatory Official can void the application by selecting the Withdraw option while reviewing the application.
How do I print applications?
Select the Generate Package button on the Application screen.
I have a question about specific requirements for an application.
Please contact the awarding agency for any specific questions about opportunities.
How do I check the status of submitted applications?
Please refer to the Applying to Opportunities in ezFedGrants Job Aid (PDF, 2.3 MB) for information on checking the status of applications submitted through the ezFedGrants External Portal.
Why can’t I edit or attach documents to a draft application?
Applications accessed through the Applications link on the left-side navigational menu are read-only. You must use the Actionable Items section on the Home screen to access and modify your in-progress (draft) applications.
If an application is in "Draft Pending Signature" status, it has been submitted to the Signatory Official. To edit a "Draft Pending Signature" application, the Signatory Official must return the application by opening the application work item and selecting the Return option.
How do I change the pre-populated information on the SF-424?
Most of the pre-populated information on the SF-424 comes from the grant award opportunity announcement and your organization’s business partner information. Please contact the awarding agency if a pre-populated item appears incorrect.
What is the importance of the Partners fields?
The Partners fields correlate with Partners functions, such as project ownership or responsibility for submitting reports. Specifically, the Administrative Contacts fields indicates who will be able to submit reports for an agreement resulting from the application.
Additionally, if any entry is made in the Primary/Secondary Signatory Official fields, only the designated individuals will be able to review and sign the application. Leave the Signatory Official fields blank if you would like all Signatory Officials in your organization to be able to review and sign the application.
Do I have to complete all the Partners fields?
No. Only the fields with a red asterisk (*) are required.
I have more Partners than the number of fields.
If you need to designate more partners than allowed by the available fields, please attach a document including the names and partner roles of any additional partners.
The system will not accept the names I typed into the Partners fields.
The Partners fields list users in your organization who have access to. These fields will not accept typed names; you must select a name from the dropdown menu.
To view the dropdown menu, select a Partner field and press the down arrow on your keyboard. When the menu appears, select the relevant individual’s name. It may take up to 30 seconds for the menu to appear, depending on how many users are in your organization.
Alternately, you may begin typing a name into a Partner field and wait for a list of suggested names to appear. This may take up to 30 seconds depending on the amount of text provided and the number of users in your organization.
I can’t find a user under Partners field drop down menu to add as a partner to the application, please assist why?
For a user’s name to appear under Partner field, user must have access to the ezFedGrants External Portal and have the appropriate role to be assigned to a specific Partner field. For example, only users with the Signatory Official role can be assigned to the Primary and Secondary Signatory Official fields. If your organization has more than one Unique Entity ID (UEI) number or registration in the ezFedGrants System, you will only be able to select users who have External Portal access under the same UEI/IDs as yourself.
I am seeing an error message when I try to submit my application.
The following are possible error messages when submitting applications:
- Blank Field/Missing Attachment: A required field is incorrect or blank, or a required attachment has not been included. Correct the field/attachment and attempt to submit the application again.
- The entries in the Partners fields must be selected from the dropdown menu. These fields do not accept typed names.
- No Signatory Officials: You are not required to select specific individuals for the Primary/Secondary Signatory Official fields, however your organization must have at least one user with the Signatory Official role in order to submit applications in the ezFedGrants External Portal.
- Please note: Signatory Official is different from Certifying Official. Please refer to the ezFedGrants External Portal User Roles Quick Reference (PDF, 37.5 KB) for more information on the difference between a Signatory Official and Certifying Official.
- Email 1 is Blank: This indicates an error with the opportunity, not the application. Please contact the awarding agency. The awarding agency will need to withdraw the opportunity, correct the issue, and republish the opportunity. You will then be able to submit your application.
- Other Error: If you are not able to determine the cause of the error, please contact the ezFedGrants Help Desk.
How do I edit a returned application?
Refer to the Applying to Opportunities in ezFedGrants Job Aid (PDF, 2.3 MB) for information on which users are able to edit applications returned by the Signatory Official or USDA agency.
Signatory Officials: Reviewing and Signing Applications
I am a Signatory Official. How do I review/sign an application?
Applications ready for your review are accessed from the Actionable Items section on the ezFedGrants External Portal Home screen. For detailed instructions on reviewing and digitally signing applications, please refer to the Applying to Opportunities in ezFedGrants Job Aid (PDF, 2.3 MB).
Why can’t I select the Complete Signature button?
The Signatory Official must select the Legal Notice button, review the Legal Notice text, check the checkbox at the bottom of the Legal Notice popup window, and select the OK button to unlock the Complete Signature button.
Can a Grants Processor (GP) or Grants Administrative Officer (GAO) sign an application?
Only users with the Signatory Official role can review and sign applications. Switching/reassigning roles in order to sign applications is strongly discouraged for two reasons:
- First, switching roles will break the connection between your user profile and any role-related responsibilities/work items for applications, agreements, claims, reports, etc. This can cause problems, for example, with creating/editing applications, claims, and reports.
- Second, the Signatory Official (SO) does not only sign the initial application. If your organization receives an award, the SO will electronically sign the final award document and any amendments that are produced over the life of the award.
Each organization must have, at minimum, one Grants Administrative Officer and one Signatory Official. If your organization does not have these two roles, then your organization will not be able to submit applications in ezFedGrants.
I am a Signatory Official. Why can’t I edit the application or add attachments when signing an application?
The Signatory Official role does not include permissions for modifying applications. If the application requires editing or has missing or incorrect attachments, reject the application by selecting the Return option. This will send the application back to the application creator for editing.
Grant Award Agreements
Who signs grant award agreement documents?
If the original application was processed through the ezFedGrants External Portal, the Signatory Official who signed the original application will be responsible for digitally signing the award agreement documents in the ezFedGrants External Portal.
If your organization does not have a Signatory Official, the agreement must be signed offline.
How do Signatory Officials digitally sign agreements?
The Signatory Official must access and sign the agreement through the Actionable Items section on the Home screen.
I do not see all my organization’s agreements in the External Portal.
Historical agreement data may not have been migrated into the ezFedGrants System from other grants-related systems or records. For this reason, when viewing your organization’s agreements in ezFedGrants you may have little or no historical information (including currently-active agreements that were initiated prior to adoption of ezFedGrants).
If your organization has multiple unique identifiers (i.e. UEI/CAGE), you will need to link your ezFedGrants access to these additional IDs to see agreements associated with those IDs, as explained in the Working with Multiple Organizations in ezFedGrants Quick Reference (PDF, 73.1 KB).
When I attempt to view the agreement documents, I receive an error message that the document is corrupt.
If you are unable to view your agreement award documents through the ezFedGrants External Portal, please contact the awarding agency. The awarding agency can email you a PDF of the award documents.
