The Continuum of Care Program is governed by 24 CFR Part 578: eligible cost categories are fixed by regulation, draws and the Annual Performance Report go through HUD's own systems, and there is no downloadable voucher workbook. This guide covers the rules that shape a CoC budget and its draws.
No voucher template — draws and the APR run through HUD's own systems
Upload a completed budget or voucher and we'll flag unallowable costs, fringe above the ceiling, allocations that don't total 100%, and totals that don't reconcile — against HUD CoC's own rules.
Who this applies to
Nonprofit recipients and subrecipients of CoC Program grants — permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing, transitional housing, supportive services only, HMIS and CoC planning projects.
Key requirements
Funder
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development — Continuum of Care Program (24 CFR Part 578)
Jurisdiction
Federal
Fringe
Treated as a direct staff cost of whichever eligible activity the position carries out (24 CFR 578.43–578.57); no published percentage cap
Indirect cost basis
Indirect costs under 2 CFR Part 200 Subpart E — a negotiated rate or the de minimis — allocated across the eligible activities consistently with your indirect cost rate proposal, and added to project administrative costs when testing the 10 percent project-admin limit (24 CFR 578.63 and 578.59)
Allowable OTPS categories
The categories HUD CoC recognizes on a budget. Wording outside this list is a routine cause of returned submissions.
Leasing
Rental Assistance
Supportive Services
Operating Costs
HMIS
Project Administrative Costs (≤10%)
Unallowable costs
Project administrative costs above 10 percent of the grant (excluding CoC planning and UFA costs)
Match drawn from CoC Program funds or from a source statutorily prohibited from being used as match
In-kind third-party services without a memorandum of understanding signed before grant execution
Costs of an activity beyond its expenditure limit once indirect is added (24 CFR 578.63(c))
Rules worth knowing
Eligible cost categories are fixed by regulation (§§578.43–578.57: acquisition, rehabilitation, new construction, leasing, rental assistance, supportive services, operating costs and HMIS, plus §578.59 project administrative costs) — budget against the line items in your grant agreement
Project administrative costs are capped at 10 percent of any grant awarded (excluding CoC planning and UFA costs) — general management and oversight salaries, monitoring travel, third-party accounting/legal/audit services, and goods and services needed for administration; staff and overhead costs directly related to carrying out an eligible activity belong in that activity instead (§578.59(a))
Recipients that are not Unified Funding Agencies must share at least 50 percent of project administrative funds with their subrecipients (§578.59(b)(2))
Match: all grant funds except leasing must be matched with no less than 25 percent in cash or in-kind from other sources, grant by grant; cash match may come from any source including other federal sources other than CoC Program funds (§578.73(b)); in-kind third-party services must be documented by an MOU before grant execution and valued at rates ordinarily paid for similar work (§578.73(c))
Timeliness: a recipient must distribute funds to subrecipients in advance of their expenditures, no later than 45 days after an approvable request, and draw down funds at least once per quarter of the program year after eligible activities commence (§578.85(c))
Records must be kept for the greater of 5 years or the period the regulation specifies for that record type (§578.103(c)); use of funds is reported in an Annual Performance Report (APR) plus anything else HUD requires (§578.103(e))
Indirect charged to an activity with an expenditure limit (CoC planning, UFA costs, project administration) is added to that activity's direct costs when testing the limit (§578.63(c)) — indirect can't be used to slip past the 10 percent project-administration cap
Free voucher checker: upload a completed voucher and it flags unallowable costs, fringe above the ceiling, allocations that don't total 100% and totals that don't reconcile before you file. No signup; the file never leaves your browser.
Why vouchers get returned: the six checks behind most returned vouchers, and what each one looks like in a real file.
One budget, every funder
Prove It Financials tracks HUD CoC contracts alongside every other funder you hold — allocation, fringe and indirect validated against each one's own rules as you enter them, with monthly vouchers generated in each funder's own format.