Subaward Agreement Template: Required Terms, the FDP Template and Fixed Amount Subawards

A subaward agreement template is only as good as the terms it carries. Start with what the regulation requires the agreement to say, then choose the form that carries it: a Federal Demonstration Partnership (FDP) template or your own. A subaward agreement is the written document through which a recipient passes part of a federal award to another organization that carries out part of the work.

The rule is 2 CFR 200.332 as revised on October 1, 2024 (eCFR, current as of October 2026). OMB proposed a rewrite on May 29, 2026 (91 FR 32198, proposed rule, Federal Register); it is not in force, so the current text controls.

Quick Answer: What Is a Subaward Agreement Template?

A subaward agreement template is a standard written agreement a pass-through entity completes to give a subrecipient part of a federal award. Under 2 CFR 200.332(b), every subaward must be identified as one and carry 14 award data elements, the flowed-down requirements, the indirect cost rate, records access and closeout terms. The Federal Demonstration Partnership publishes standard templates.

Free download: Subaward agreement outline and checklist as Word .docx. No email address required.

What Is a Subaward Agreement? Subaward vs Contract

A subaward agreement is the legal instrument that carries part of a federal award from a pass-through entity to a subrecipient, and a contract is a different instrument for buying goods or services. The label on the document does not decide which one you have. The substance of the relationship does.

2 CFR 200.1 defines a subaward as an award for the subrecipient to contribute to the project's goals by carrying out part of the federal award, and says it may be provided "through any form of legal agreement consistent with criteria in with § 200.331, including an agreement the pass-through entity considers a contract" (eCFR, current as of October 2026). Section 200.331 requires a case-by-case determination by the pass-through entity, because "the substance of the relationship is more important than the form of the agreement" (eCFR, October 2026). The characteristics on each side, and how to record the determination, are in the pass-through grant management guide.

For the document, two consequences follow. An agreement titled a contract still needs every term 2 CFR 200.332(b) requires if the relationship is a subaward. And the FDP keeps the two instruments apart: its subaward templates are for subawards under federally funded grants and cooperative agreements subject to the Uniform Guidance, while its subcontract sample is for work under federally funded contracts subject to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FDP Subaward Templates and Tools page, read October 2026).

Federal Subaward Agreement Template: Required Terms Under 2 CFR 200.332(b)

A federal subaward agreement must be clearly identified as a subaward and must include the information in 2 CFR 200.332(b). Where information is not yet available, the pass-through entity gives the best available information and supplies the rest when it is obtained. The Uniform Guidance overview covers the rest of 2 CFR 200, including the subrecipient-versus-contractor line these terms depend on.

The table groups the required content clause by clause. Older documents, including the FDP FAQs, cite the pre-October-2024 numbering "200.332(a)(1)"; the current paragraph is (b)(1) (eCFR, October 2026).

Write the rate, its base and its source into the indirect cost clause: a federally negotiated rate, which the pass-through entity must accept; a rate agreed with the pass-through entity; or the de minimis rate (2 CFR 200.332(b)(4) and 200.414(d), eCFR, October 2026). For how the MTDC base treats subawards, see the guide to modified total direct costs, and for the rate options, the indirect cost rate for federal grants.

FDP Subaward Agreement Template: What Exists and Who Uses It

The Federal Demonstration Partnership publishes standard subaward agreement templates that member and non-member institutions use, and any institution may download them. They are PDF forms to fill in, not Word documents to edit.

The FDP's templates page lists a Cost Reimbursement Subaward and a Fixed Amount Subaward, both revised October 2025, contact attachments, bilateral and unilateral amendment templates revised May 2025, foreign subaward samples, a fixed-rate clinical research subaward, and subcontract samples (FDP, read October 2026). The page describes the templates as PDF-fillable and says "Do not complete templates in your browser. Download first, save the file, then complete."

The FDP Subaward Templates and Samples FAQs, version 9 from May 2024, explain the structure. Each template has a face page with general terms that cannot be edited, and numbered attachments: certifications and assurances, federal award terms and conditions, contacts, reporting and prior approval terms, statement of work with budget or milestones, and the notice of award. Attachment 2 is where the pass-through entity adds project-specific terms, state law, and conditions from its risk assessment (FDP FAQs ver. 9, May 2024). The current revisions may number attachments differently, so check the form you download.

Who Must Use the FDP Template

Use is a condition of FDP membership. The FAQs say the templates must be used between member institutions when the federal prime award comes from a federal awarding agency that is an FDP member, and are "highly encouraged" between members otherwise (FDP FAQs ver. 9, May 2024). Non-members may use them as written. The FAQs say templates are not to be edited; an institution that edits one anyway does so at its own risk and must remove every reference to the FDP, so it is clear the standard language was altered. Forms labeled "SAMPLE" are meant to be edited.

The FDP also states plainly that it makes no representation about suitability, and that the pass-through entity "is responsible for ensuring all required terms and conditions flow down to a subrecipient" (FDP, read October 2026). The templates are a starting point, not legal advice.

What Sponsors Add

Sponsors add their own required elements. NIH's subaward policy page says a consortium agreement must address the lead investigator, procedures for directing and monitoring the research, how each participant is reimbursed, which financial conflict of interest policy applies, data ownership and disposition, data sharing and inventions policy, and authorship, property, program income, reporting and audit provisions (NIH, page updated May 18, 2026). It also says the agreement must be approved by the Authorized Organization Representative at both institutions.

Fixed Amount Subawards: Limit and Prior Approval

A fixed amount subaward pays an agreed sum for agreed results instead of reimbursing actual costs. Under 2 CFR 200.333, a recipient may provide subawards based on fixed amounts up to $500,000 with prior written approval from the federal agency, and each must meet the requirements of 200.201 (eCFR, October 2026).

Section 200.201(b) sets the conditions. The project scope needs measurable goals and objectives, and accurate cost, historical or unit pricing data must exist to set a fixed budget based on a reasonable estimate of actual costs. Accountability rests on performance and results, so no financial reporting is required, though record retention and audit access remain. A fixed amount award must not be used in programs that require cost sharing. At the end, the subrecipient certifies in writing that the project was completed as agreed or identifies the activities that were not, and the amount is reduced for activities not carried out (eCFR, 2 CFR 200.201(b), October 2026).

Payment is tied to milestones: several partial payments with the milestone for each agreed in advance, a unit price, or one payment at completion (eCFR, 2 CFR 200.201(b)(1), October 2026). The FDP version swaps the budget for a payment schedule, makes payments "generally inclusive of all costs, including F&A," lets the subrecipient keep any residual balance, and requires a certificate of completion (FDP FAQs ver. 9, May 2024). The FAQs note that most subawards between FDP institutions are cost reimbursable, and warn that issuing a cost reimbursable agreement to avoid the prior approval requirement is not appropriate.

The FDP FAQs describe fixed amount approval as applying "up to the Simplified Acquisition Threshold," wording from May 2024, before the October 2024 revision. The current regulation says $500,000. A fixed amount subaward also differs from a fixed-rate one, where a negotiated cost per unit, such as a per-patient price, is set and the total may be unknown (FDP FAQs ver. 9, May 2024).

Amendments, Incremental Funding and Invoicing

A subaward agreement usually changes after it is signed, through amendments that add money, extend a period or change terms. The FDP separates two kinds. A unilateral amendment may be used only when the face page of the original subaward allows it, and only for non-substantive changes to the budget period and the funding added with it. Anything else needs a bilateral amendment, and the subrecipient must concur in the designation (FDP FAQs ver. 9, May 2024).

Incremental funding is a data question first. The FDP says the estimated period of performance and the "Incrementally Estimated Total" should always be completed on the face page: both answer required data elements, they let the subrecipient track anticipated funds, and the total is an estimated commitment that depends on the prime award and on performance (FDP FAQs ver. 9, May 2024). Its worked example is a three-year, $400,000 project funded at $100,000, $100,000 and $200,000.

The table follows the FDP's worked example, and the year 3 row continues its arithmetic (FDP FAQs ver. 9, May 2024). The FAQs also separate funds obligated from funds authorized: whenever carryover of an unobligated balance is authorized, in full or in part, the subaward should state the dollar amount and the period it may be spent in.

Invoicing terms belong in the agreement too. The FDP templates call for invoices not less frequently than quarterly for allowable costs incurred, with no invoice needed in a quarter without costs unless the pass-through entity requires zero-dollar invoices. A proper invoice shows current and cumulative costs by major category, the subaward number, and the certification required by 2 CFR 200.415(a). The final statement of cumulative costs is due 60 days after the subaward ends, which the FDP says leaves the pass-through entity time to meet the agency's financial closeout requirements (FDP FAQs ver. 9, May 2024). The grant closeout checklist covers the steps that follow.

Sample Subaward Agreement: A Composite Budget With Indirect Lines

A sample subaward agreement budget shows two things: the subrecipient's own costs with its indirect line, and how the whole amount enters the prime recipient's budget. The composite uses Example State University (composite) as the prime and Example Community Research Institute (composite) as the subrecipient.

First, the subrecipient's year 1 budget, with indirect costs at its own rate of 20 percent of MTDC, which is the base the definition in 2 CFR 200.1 describes.

Second, how that subaward enters the prime recipient's base. MTDC includes only "up to the first $50,000 of each subaward (regardless of the period of performance of the subawards under the award)," and excludes the portion over $50,000 (eCFR, 2 CFR 200.1, October 2026). The prime's own rate in this example is 50 percent.

Illustrative figures, not data from a real organization.

Because the definition counts the first $50,000 of each subaward regardless of its period of performance, a multi-year subaward uses that allowance once, so the prime charges no indirect costs on this subaward in later years. The subrecipient's rate and base go into the agreement; the prime's treatment of the subaward belongs in the prime's own budget justification.

Tracking Subaward Periods, Amounts and Invoice Dates

Every subaward adds dates and amounts that have to line up with the prime award: the subaward period, each funding increment, the quarterly invoices and the final statement of costs. Each feeds the prime recipient's own reports, so the agreement's dates belong in the same calendar as the prime award's.

GrantCue holds those dates as tasks and deadlines, and every plan, Free included, also holds post-award budgets and payment schedules, so a subaward's increments can sit beside the prime award's budget (grantcue.com pricing, October 2026). It is not a contract management system and does not draft or sign subaward agreements. See GrantCue for research institutions.

FAQ

Does a Subaward Need the Federal Agency's Approval?

Sometimes. Prior written approval is required for subaward activities not proposed in the application and approved in the federal award, and a change of subrecipient needs approval only if the award terms require it (2 CFR 200.308(f)(6), eCFR, October 2026). Fixed amount subawards always need the agency's prior written approval (2 CFR 200.333). At NIH, prior approval requirements for scope and other significant changes also apply to subrecipients, who ask through the prime (NIH, page updated May 18, 2026).

What Is the FDP Subaward Template?

It is a set of PDF-fillable subaward agreements published by the Federal Demonstration Partnership, a Cost Reimbursement template and a Fixed Amount template, with amendment forms. Members must use them with each other when the prime award comes from an FDP member agency, and other institutions may use them as written. The FDP says users take them at their own risk (FDP, read October 2026).

What Is a Fixed Amount Subaward?

A fixed amount subaward pays an agreed sum for agreed results rather than actual costs. Federal rules allow them up to $500,000 with prior written approval from the federal agency, and they cannot be used in programs that require cost sharing (2 CFR 200.333 and 200.201(b), eCFR, October 2026). The subrecipient certifies completion in writing at the end.

When Is the Final Invoice Due Under a Subaward?

The FDP templates set 60 days after the subaward end date for the final invoice or statement of cumulative costs, and the FDP says that period should not be changed except in rare, extenuating circumstances (FDP FAQs ver. 9, May 2024). A 45-day option exists only for lower-tier pass-through entities. An institution's own form sets its own date, so read the invoicing clause.

Who Signs a Subaward Agreement?

The regulation does not name a signer. NIH requires that a subaward (consortium) agreement be approved by the Authorized Organization Representative at both institutions (NIH, page updated May 18, 2026). For other sponsors, follow the signature authority policy of your own institution and any sponsor terms.

Can a Subaward Be Amended After It Is Signed?

Yes. The FDP templates provide a bilateral amendment, signed by both parties, and a unilateral amendment that works only when the original face page allows it and only for non-substantive budget period and funding changes (FDP FAQs ver. 9, May 2024). The agreement itself should say which kinds of change each route covers.

Assembling the Agreement, Step by Step

Build the agreement in this order:

1. Confirm the relationship is a subaward and pick the type: cost reimbursement or, with the agency's prior written approval, fixed amount.
2. Choose the form: an FDP template if both institutions use them, or your own form that carries the same content.
3. Fill every required data element, using the best available information for gaps and noting that the rest follows.
4. Write the indirect cost rate, its base and its source into the agreement.
5. Add the award's terms and any conditions from your risk assessment, then the invoicing schedule and the amendment route.
6. Route the agreement for signature under each institution's signature authority and any sponsor rule.

The free outline and checklist has fill-in tables for the required terms, the flowed-down requirements, the indirect cost rate, payment, invoicing and amendment terms, records access and closeout, and signatures, plus a composite budget worksheet and a pre-issue checklist. It is a starting point to adapt, not legal advice.