Case Study: USDA achieves rapid payments, streamlined grants management, and improved visibility and compliance with Pegasystems' ezFedGrants

USDA holistic grants management solution improves efficiency, visibility, and compliance

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), a large federal enterprise managing roughly $143 billion in annual spending across dozens of agencies, needed a modern, scalable grants-management system to improve customer service, operational efficiency, visibility, and compliance. Existing fragmented processes and systems made reconciliation, auditability, and timely payments slow and labor-intensive, prompting USDA to seek a unified solution that could support internal and external agencies.

USDA implemented ezFedGrants on the Pega platform as a grantee-facing portal integrated with SAP CRM and SAP Financials, automating the full grants lifecycle, reconciliation, and audit trails while preserving separation of duties. The solution reduced human touchpoints to one, cut payment processing from months to three business days, provides online award and payment visibility, is expected to automate 97% of grant programs, and will process an estimated $500 billion over two years—delivering millions in projected cost savings.

USDA

Chris Coppenbarger

Senior Financial and Grants Policy Advisor