Record Retention
The rule that award records must be kept for a set period: generally three years after the final report.
The Uniform Guidance requires recipients to retain financial and programmatic records for federal awards, generally for three years from submission of the final financial report. Longer retention applies if litigation, a claim, or an audit is underway, or for certain property and income records.
Records have to be available to the sponsor and auditors throughout the period, which is why they're preserved well past an award's end.
Discarding records too early leaves an institution unable to defend charges on audit: a finding in itself.
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