Overview
First 15 mins: Shutdown Update, Outlook, and What To Do About It
Before we dive into the technical content, we’ll start with a critical update on the latest federal shutdown developments, what’s happening, what’s next, and how to protect your funding pipeline in the weeks ahead.
This event is a two-part line-up:
- Thought leadership webinar; Q&A
- Confidential office hours with your industry-specific representative
Winning and sustaining federal funding is about more than strong science, it’s about demonstrating operational excellence in your processes that support the funding for your R&D development. In Beyond the Books: Grant Accounting that Wins More Grants, we’ll show you how high-performing organizations turn their accounting systems into a competitive advantage. Agencies like NIH, DoD, and NSF are not only evaluating your research, but also your ability to manage funds responsibly. The difference between securing millions in awards, or missing out, often comes down to the strength of your accounting practices.
High-performing organizations consistently:
- Keep auditors satisfied every time
- Use clean, defensible accounting to strengthen future proposals
- Leverage allowable rules to optimize your indirect rate
- Utilize current funding to get future funding
- Maximize flexibility while staying fully compliant
- Avoid the quiet red flags that reduce competitiveness for the next award cycle
This session is designed to be practical and actionable. You’ll walk away with clear strategies to safeguard current awards and position your organization for future funding. We’ll cover how to:
- Build audit-proof time tracking that inspires funder confidence
- Structure direct and indirect costs to protect your flexibility
- Reconcile burn rate to stay aligned with budget and compliance requirements
- Implement audit-prep systems that make reviews routine rather than stressful
Meet Your Speakers
Sam Tetlow is Founder & CEO of Grant Engine. Grant Engine has a proven model of delivering funding to leading life science companies through the NIH SBIR program as well as DARPA, BARDA and other DoD sources. Sam has successful experience as an entrepreneur and investor in life sciences companies such as EpiCypher (named best University Startup of 2016 by U.S. Congress), ILS Genomics, Immunologix, Gentris Corporation, and Tranzyme Pharma (IPO April, 2011) among others.
As a leader within companies Sam has a functional focus on product development, sales, finance and corporate development. Sam continues to build on his venture capital experience by investing into compelling companies as an Angel. Sam seeks results and has a proven track record. Sam has generated a 5.8x return on invested capital, with 76% cash realization in his last 14 years of investing.
Sam holds a MBA from UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School (Beta Gamma Sigma, 2003) and a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Honors, 1993). He has been on Mt. Everest, is a former competitive triathlete, and an avid proponent of doing good while doing well.
Neil is the Senior Director of Operations at Grant Engine, where he specializes in helping small and medium-sized businesses build compliant systems for managing federal, state, and other government awards including the SBIR/STTR program. With over 13 years of experience in finance and operations, Neil has supported both early-stage companies and large multinational organizations, bringing deep expertise in financial compliance and operational efficiency. A graduate of the University of Virginia with a B.A. in Economics, Neil has spent nearly eight years focused specifically on government funding with a focus on the particular rules and dynamics of SBIR/STTR funding. He is known for his hands-on approach, tailoring systems and processes to meet the unique needs of each company he works with. His ability to bridge compliance requirements with practical, scalable solutions has made him a trusted partner for businesses navigating the complexities of federal funding. Outside of his professional work, Neil is an avid soccer player and enjoys competing at a high level.