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Federal HHS — Head Start · Federal · Head Start and Early Head Start grantees and delegate agencies
Your Head Start SF-425, with the expenditure lines filled from payroll and invoices.
Head Start reports on the government-wide SF-425 and lives under 2 CFR Part 200 (adopted directly since October 1, 2025) plus the Part 300 Head Start terms. Prove It fills the Federal Expenditures section — lines d through h — and your organization's identity from AI-read payroll and coded invoices, with CACFP nutrition, classroom supplies and children's transportation on their own lines; cash draws, cost share and program income stay yours. You review every line before anything posts.
10 founding-pilot seats for NYC nonprofits · No card · We set it up with you on a 30-minute call
What Head Start checks before it pays
Single Audit required over $1,000,000 in federal expenditures
Counting all federal awards, not just this one.
- Single Audit required over $1,000,000 in federal expenditures
- Subrecipient closeout is due 90 days after the period of performance ends
- The Program Information Report (PIR) is required annually
What Prove It does about it
Imports payroll from ADP, Paychex, Gusto, Paylocity, TriNet, QuickBooks and anything else that exports a file. Common layouts are read instantly; anything else, Claude AI finds the names, gross pay and pay date. You confirm every name before anything posts.
- Download SF-425 Federal Financial Report — The official SF-425 with the Federal Expenditures summary (lines d–h) and recipient identity filled; federal cash, cost-share/match and program income left blank for you.
- Download voucher Excel (voucher number) — Four sheets — Voucher Summary, PSA (monthly), OTPS detail and Certification — laid out by this funder's own categories, from your approved payroll and coded invoices.
SF-425 identifiers
DUNS/UEI, EIN, federal agency, recipient account #, address and the certifying official's name, title, phone and e-mail — typed once.
Coded invoices flow into the OTPS detail: the month's expenses are auto-included in this voucher, you uncheck an item to hold it for a later voucher, and earlier-dated invoices count as prior claims automatically. Categories follow Head Start's own list — Professional Services, Staff Training, Program Consultants, Child Nutrition — CACFP, Supplies — Program & Classroom, Transportation — Children, Equipment, Community Engagement Activities, Printing, Licenses & Permits.
The free voucher checker is a fixed set of rules, not AI: costs Head Start's manual lists as unallowable, fringe above the 35% review threshold the app uses for Head Start, allocations that don't total 100%, totals that don't reconcile, blank contract, provider or period identifiers — plus Head Start's own recurring errors: Single Audit required over $1,000,000 in federal expenditures. The file is read in your browser and never uploaded. Check a Head Start voucher.
Ask a CFO answers "can I charge this?" from Head Start's current fiscal manual, with the source and date cited. AI guidance grounded in your live platform data, 2 CFR 200, and live lookups of current funder manuals — not legal, tax, or audit advice. Confirm consequential decisions with your funder or auditor.
Every voucher Excel carries four sheets — Voucher Summary, PSA (monthly), OTPS detail and Certification — so the backup travels with the claim, and the Print / PDF view gives you the same voucher for a signature.
Head Start at a glance
Free Head Start resources
Your next Head Start voucher, built in Prove It — with us on the call
We're taking 10 New York nonprofits into a founding pilot. You get the full platform for 60 days at no charge, and we set it up with you: in one 30-minute working session we load your contracts, your staff and your last payroll file, then rebuild your most recent Head Start voucher in Head Start's own format. If it doesn't match what you filed — or catch something you missed — you've spent half an hour and owe nothing.
Head Start questions
What does the app fill on the SF-425, and what doesn't it?
Lines d through h of the Federal Expenditures section and the recipient identity block. Federal cash receipts and disbursements, cost share or match, and program income aren't tracked by the app and stay blank for you to complete from your own draw records.
What indirect rate applies to a Head Start grant?
Your federally negotiated rate, or the 15% de minimis if none is on file (2 CFR Part 200; 2 CFR Part 300 for Head Start-specific terms). The app uses a 35% fringe review threshold for HHS and shows the indirect basis on the voucher.
What other Head Start rules does Prove It keep in view?
A Single Audit over $1,000,000 in federal expenditures — the checker's HHS advisory — plus subrecipient closeout 90 days after the period of performance ends and the annual PIR in the rule list, and the HHS unallowables the checker flags: religious activities and entertainment.
Does Prove It submit my Head Start voucher for me?
No. Prove It builds the voucher and the backup from your live numbers; a person on your team reviews every line and submits it the way you do today. Nothing is filed automatically, and nothing guarantees acceptance — what you get is the funder's own format, filled from the same payroll and invoices you already have, with the recurring errors flagged before you send it.
Other funders
New York City
New York State
Federal
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