Contents 

• Overview
• What is an Award Amount Reduction? 
• ⚠️ Important Notes
• Step-By-Step Instructions
  • Initiate the Amendment Process
  • Decrease the Award Amount
    • Void Disbursements or Expenses (if required)
  • Notify the Awardee
• What Happens After the Amendment is Issued
• Related Articles
   

Overview

This guide shows Program Admins how to reduce the total award amount on an active award agreement in Next by initiating an amendment. 
 

What is an Award Amount Reduction? 

Reducing an award amount lets you lower the total on an active agreement. Use this when:

• A milestone was missed or a requirement wasn't met.
• The overall grant funding has been reduced.
• A mistake was made in the original award amount.

Who can reduce an award amount:

• Organization Owners
• Program Owners
• Program Managers

⚠️ Important Notes: 

• You may need to void disbursements or expenses before saving if they push the total over your new amount. The system will automatically walk you through this if it’s required. 
• You cannot reduce below what has already been paid out or reduce to 0. 
• Post-award activities will be paused during the amendment review process to prevent conflicts with changing terms.
   
  • Progress Reports: 
    • Awardees cannot start new reports, but drafts already in progress can still be submitted.
    • Program Admins can continue to approve or reject submitted reports, but cannot request revisions on a report until the amendment process is completed. 
  • Disbursements: 
    • New disbursements cannot be started until the amendment process is complete.
  • Expenses: 
    •  Awardees cannot log expenses until the amendment process is completed. 

Step-By-Step Instructions 

Initiate the Amendment Process

1. Open the program and click Amendments in the left-hand menu. 
   
   
    
2. Locate the agreement you want to amend. Click the hyperlink next to the preview (eye) icon to open the agreement.
   
   
    
3. Click Initiate Amendment in the upper-right corner.

4. In the pop-up, click Initiate Amendment. 
    

Decrease the Award Amount

1. On the agreement, click Actions in the upper-right corner. Select Modify Award Amount. 

2. In the pop-up, you'll see four fields: 

a. Current Award Amount: The amount the awardee is currently approved to receive.

b. Total Amended Award Amount: The new total award amount you want the awardee to receive after the decrease.

c. Remaining Program Balance: The amount of unallocated funds still available in your program.

d. Net Change in Award Amount: The difference between the Current Award Amount and the Amended Award Amount.
 

3. Enter the new total award amount In the Total Amended Award Amount section.

• The Net Change in Award Amount will automatically update based on the value you enter. 
• The new amount cannot be lower than what has already been paid out in disbursements and expenses. If it is, you'll see an error and will need to enter a higher amount before continuing.

4. Click Save in the bottom-right corner. 

➜ If the new award amount is lower than your scheduled disbursements or recorded expenses, the system will walk you through a void process. 

➜ If no voids are required, the system will return you to the Award Agreement page, where the Award Amount in the upper-right corner will reflect the reduced amount. 

Void Disbursements or Expenses (if required)

If your disbursements and expenses are more than the new award amount, a Reconciliation Required window will open to guide you through two steps. 

Step 1: Void Expenses and Disbursements

1. Review the amount shown in the red message at the top — this is how much you still need to free up.
   
   
    
2. Use the Expenses and Disbursements tabs to switch between the two.
3. Click Void next to the expense(s) or disbursement(s) you want to void. (Click the down arrow next to an expense to expand its line items and void them individually). 
   
   
    
4. Track your progress using the Freed Amount tracker at the bottom of the screen.
   
   
    
5. Once the full amount has been freed, click Save & Review Changes in the bottom-right corner.
    

Step 2: Review Reduction Changes

1. Review the summary of all changes before confirming. 

You'll see:

a. The current and amended award amounts, with the net change highlighted in red.

b. A Reduction Summary showing the total change to expenses and disbursements.

c. Expense Changes listing each affected expense request.

d. Voided Expense Line Items and Voided Disbursements sections showing each individual item that was voided.

2. When you're ready, click Save Changes in the bottom-right corner.

• If you need to make changes, click Back to go back and unvoid items.
• To exit without saving any changes, click Cancel. 

3. A confirmation will appear in the bottom right that your changes are saved. The system will return you to the Award Agreement page, where the Award Amount in the upper-right corner will reflect the reduced amount. 

Notify the Awardee 

1. When you're ready, click Notify Amendment in the upper-right corner. A confirmation pop-up will appear.
2. In the confirmation pop-up, enter notes about the reduction for the awardee. This field is required.

⚠️ Important Notes: 

Once you click Notify:

• The amendment is final and cannot be changed, discarded, or reversed.
• All voided disbursements and expenses become permanent.
• The award balance updates immediately to reflect the reduced amount.

3. Click Notify on the pop-up to issue the amendment. 
4. A confirmation message appears that the awardee was notified.
    

What Happens After the Amendment is Issued

Once the amendment is issued: 

• The status changes to “Issued” for both the Program Admin and the awardee. 
• The Award Amount and budget table update to reflect the reduced amount. 
• Voided disbursements and expenses appear as “Voided” on their respective lists. 
• The awardee can view the amendment but cannot accept or decline it.
• All post-award activity is unpaused:
  • Progress reports can be filled out and submitted.
  • New expenses can be logged up to the new cap for each budget category. If a category is already at or over the new cap, the system will block the submission and explain why.
  • Disbursements can be initiated according to the schedule.

Related Articles 

➡️Increase Award Amount
➡️Initiating General Amendments to Award Agreements

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