U.S. Department of Justice 

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services 

 Fact Sheet www.cops.usdoj.gov

Program income means 

any gross income received 

by the recipient or subrecipient 

that is directly generated by 

an award-supported activity 

or earned as a result of a federal 

award during the award period. 

Contact COPS 

If you have any questions 

regarding the federal 

requirements on program 

income, please contact 

your COPS Program 

Manager and/or COPS State 

Accountant. 

For more information 

about the COPS Office 

programs and resources, 

please contact the COPS 

Office Response Center at 

800.421.6770 or via email 

at AskCopsRC@usdoj.gov, 

or visit COPS Online at 

www.cops.usdoj.gov. 

Program Income 

What is program income? 

Program income is defined in 28 C.F.R. Parts 66 and 70, governing the uniform 

administrative requirements for grants and cooperative agreements. Program 

income means any gross income received by the recipient or subrecipient 

that is directly generated by an award-supported activity or earned as a result 

of a federal award during the award period. Program income includes, but 

is not limited to, income from conference registration fees, exhibit booths, 

website advertisements, services performed, the use or rental of real or personal 

property acquired under federally funded projects, the sale of commodities or 

items fabricated under an award, or license fees and royalties on patents and 

copyrights developed by the recipient or subrecipient. 

How do I know if my COPS award generates 

program income? 

Contact your COPS Program Manager to determine if revenue generated 

from your COPS Office award constitutes program income. They will help 

you assess whether or not the income is generated as a result of the awardsupported activity. 

How can program income be used? 

Program income must be used in accordance with the standards set forth 

in 28 C.F.R. §66.25 and 28 C.F.R. §70.24, as applicable. Program income 

generated from an award can be: 

1.	 Added to funds already committed to the project to further eligible project 

or program objectives 

2. Used to finance the non-federal share of the project or program 

3.	 Deducted from total allowable project costs to determine net allowable costs 

on which the federal share is based 

Unless otherwise specified in the award terms and conditions, or approved by 

the COPS Office, earned program income will be used to reduce the federal 

share (Option 3). For example, if you were awarded $100,000 in COPS funding 

to support a conference and earned $5,000 in program income from registration 

fees generated from that conference, an excess of $5,000 would remain in 

award funds at the completion of the project. The $5,000 would be returned to 

the federal government, thereby deducting costs from the federal share of the 

project. In some cases, grantees can work with their COPS Program Manager to 

identify additional project-related allowable costs that could be supported by the 

remaining funding (Option 1). 

Earned program income can be spent only on allowable project costs incurred 

during the award period. Program income cannot be commingled with other 

awards and cannot be used for purposes outside of the scope of the award that 

generated the income. 

There are a variety of circumstances that can affect how program income is 

treated. If you anticipate generating program income, please contact your 

COPS Program Manager and/or COPS State Accountant for guidance. 
 

 

 

 

 

How should recipients report program income? 

You are required to report gross program income earned and expended on the Federal Financial Report (SF-425) submitted each 

quarter. How you complete the report will depend on when you earn and spend the program income, as well as the status of your 

award. Using the example above where you earned $5,000 from registration fees, you would enter the total amount of program 

income earned ($5,000) on 10l and the total amount of program income expended on line 10m.1 

Program Income: Do not complete this section if reporting on multiple awards. 

10l Total Federal Program Income Earned Enter the amount of federal program income earned. Do not report 

any program income here that is being allocated as part of the 

recipient’s cost sharing amount included in Line10j. 

10m Program Income Expended in Accordance 

With the Deduction Alternative 

Enter the amount of program income that was used to reduce the 

Federal share of the total project costs. 

Program income earned and expended must be reported on a cumulative basis. You must manually enter these cumulative 

amounts each quarter, as the SF-425 form does not automatically calculate these amounts. For example, if $5,000 in program 

income was earned in the 1st Quarter and $10,000 was earned in the 2nd Quarter, you would add those amounts together and 

enter $15,000 as earned on line 10l of the 2nd Quarter’s SF-425. Similarly, if you spent $5,000 in program income in the 1st 

Quarter and an additional $10,000 of program income in the 2nd Quarter, you would enter $15,000 as expended on line 10m of 

the 2nd Quarter’s SF-425. 

Your agency should maintain detailed records that identify the specific project activity source (e.g., conference 

registration fees) and amount of all program income generated, in the event of an audit or other grant compliance 

review. Line 12 (“Remarks:”) on the SF-425 can be useful to provide narrative explanations supporting the financial 

information entered. 

Can recipients keep program income as a “cash reserve” for future project costs? 

NO. Funding recipients should expend earned program income before drawing down award funds, 28 CFR §66.21 and §70.22. 

How much time is available to spend program income? 

Allowable project expenses can be supported by earned program income only if the funds are encumbered during the open award 

performance period. Funds cannot be drawn down for expenses that are incurred after the award end-date. 

Avoid retaining earned program income for extended periods of time. If you anticipate a significant lapse of time occurring 

between earning and spending program income, contact your COPS Program Manager. Excess program income should be 

deposited back into your COPS grant account in order to reduce your federal share.2 These funds can remain available for later 

use on allowable project expenditures incurred before grant expiration. 

If you anticipate having unused program income remaining toward the end of the award period, you may submit a request to your 

COPS Program Manager for a no-cost extension to provide additional time for your agency to spend program income. No-cost 

extension requests must be submitted prior to the award end date. 

Unused program income remaining 90 days after the award end date must be returned to the COPS Office. Please contact your 

COPS Program Manager for guidance on how to return excess program income and complete your SF-425. 

In the event that you earn interest on program income, please contact your COPS Program Manager and/or COPS State 

Accountant for guidance on how to complete your SF-425 to account for interest earned. 

Important: awards must be open and active in order to incur expenses paid for by program income. 

1. For examples of when lines 10n and 10o on the SF-425 are used, contact your COPS Program Manager. 

2. It can take up to 6 weeks for the returned program income to appear in your COPS account. 

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