Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A PI submits the F-RPPR within 120 days of the NIH project end date.
- Is an instance
A Horizon Europe coordinator submits the final report and final financial statement at closeout.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
An interim periodic report during the project is not a final report.
- Not an instance
A press release at project end is not the formal final report.
Editorial commentary
The final report is the one report a recipient files exactly once: at or shortly after the end of a project’s period of performance, summarizing the entire project’s achievements against its aims and closing out the sponsor’s technical and financial record of the award.
What it has to show
A final report combines a cumulative technical narrative — what was achieved across the full project period, not just the last reporting period — with final expenditure information. It carries no continuation request, because by definition there is no further budget period left to fund.
Deadlines
For NIH awards, the Final RPPR functions as closeout documentation and is due no later than 120 days after the project period ends, per 2 CFR 200.344. That 120-day figure applies to federal awards issued on or after October 1, 2024, following an OMB Uniform Guidance revision that raised it from 90 days; awards issued before that date may still carry the earlier 90-day term in their own award documents, so the applicable deadline should be checked against the specific award rather than assumed. Horizon Europe requires the final technical report and the final financial statement to be submitted together, within 60 days of the project’s completion date, set out in the Grant Agreement.
What it is not
A final report is not the whole of the closeout phase — closeout also covers reconciling unliquidated obligations, disposing of equipment, and resolving any outstanding compliance items, of which the final report is one required piece. It is also not the same as project closure documentation, which is the fuller pack of records (closure checklist, equipment disposition, data-archive certificate, lessons learned) that closeout produces — the final report is one document inside that pack, not the pack itself.
What happens if it’s late or missing
Under 2 CFR 200.344, non-compliance with closeout requirements, including a missed final report, must be reported by the federal awarding agency as a material failure to comply with the terms of the award — a materially different consequence from a late interim report, which typically only delays the next continuation award.
Also known as
Final progress report · End-of-project report · Final scientific report
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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