After the close of each quarter of the Federal fiscal year, the Federal Assistance Award Data System (FAADS) produces a file of standardized data records on all types of financial assistance awards made by Federal agencies to all types of recipients during the indicated quarter. Each Federal fiscal year begins on October 1 of one calendar year and ends on September 30 of the year indicated.

Each transaction record identifies, by the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) program code number and name, the type and amount of financial assistance, the type and location of the recipient and the geographic place of performance. The recipient name and other selected data fields are blank in county-area summary records.

The recipient location and place of performance are identified by name and by the geographic code for the state/territory, county area and/or place. The Federal agency that made each award is identified by code and by name. Programs not listed in the Catalog are identified by a similarly constructed pseudocode. Each record also contains information on the date of the transaction, as well as the scheduled start date and end date of the project or the award.