Effective Grant Financial Management Strategies
Explore post-award grant financial management workshops, URC grants, and procedures for handling grant funding awarded by sponsored programs. Learn about grant accounting processes, pre-award spending, university fund policies, and budget management in a university setting.
- Grant Management
- Financial Strategies
- Sponsored Programs
- University Research Council
- Budget Administration
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Post-Award Grant Financial Management Workshop SANDY AHNE & ANGELA HAYNIE GRANT ACCOUNTING
URC Grants University Research Council Grants Awarded by the University Research Council University funds appointed to faculty doing research Linda Lentz (450-5566) budget administrator
Grant Funding Awarded Sponsored Programs will: Review the grant agreement Obtain all necessary signatures Send an award notice to the PI (Principal Investigator) and Grant Accounting Upon receipt of the award notification, send the grant agreement and other appropriate documentation to the Sponsored Programs Office (SPO).
Grant Funding Awarded Grant Accounting will: Send an e-mail notification to the PI and administrative support with the following: o Banner Index # (and Matching Index # if applicable) o Banner Access Form (required to access grant budget in Self Service) o Request for PAF s (Personnel Action Form) o Instructions for any cash match obligations Schedule a meeting for NEW PI s and/or administrative support If an admin with Banner access to the grant leaves UCA or moves to another department, please submit the Remove Banner Access Form.
Pre-Award Spending If the awarding agency has a delay in sending the award documents but you have written documentation that the grant will be awarded, contact Sponsored Programs to initiate the Pre-Award Spending process. The Request for Pre-Award Spending form (located on SPO website) requires the Dean s signature acknowledging that IF the grant does not receive funding, the department will cover the pre-spent expenses.
UCA Policy on University Funds All funds received must be processed immediately. Funds must be deposited with the Student Accounts / Cashiering office within 24 hours of receiving the funds in the department. Any grant award checks that are received in the department should be delivered to the Grant Accounting office, so the deposit can be made timely and accurately to the appropriate account.
Viewing the Budget My UCA Self Service Finance Budget Queries Budget Status By Account Create Query
Viewing the Budget Check mark these boxes. Then click continue.
Viewing the Budget Fiscal year: 2021 Fiscal period: 14 Enter the index #. Click submit query (twice).
Viewing the Budget Click on the amount in the YTD column to view the Detail Transaction Report.
Viewing the Budget Detail Transaction Report
Budget Organization The Banner Finance Reports only contain information that has been posted by Accounting. Suggested method to keep track of expenditures: o Keep a file with copies of invoices and receipts related to the grant. o Regularly verify expenses with Self Service s Summary Report and move paid invoices/receipts to a paid file.
Financial Responsibility The PI is responsible for ALL financial obligations of their grant agreement. Costs must be in line with the approved budget. Costs must be within the dates specified in the grant agreement. If a No Cost Extension is needed, contact SPO. Costs must be allowable, allocable and reasonable.
Cost Criteria Uniform Guidance 200.403 Allowable costs must be reasonable. o Reasonable costs are necessary for the appropriate and efficient performance and administration of the grant. o Reasonable costs are typically judged by what a prudent person would do given the circumstances when the decision was made. 2. Allowable costs must be allocable to the award. o Allocable means the costs are consistent with the relative benefit received by the program. o If the cost benefits both the award and other work, it can be distributed in proportions that may be approximated using reasonable methods. The full amount can t be charged to the grant and be used for other projects. 1.
Cost Criteria Uniform Guidance 200.403 3. Know the limitations o The spending must be authorized, or at a minimum, not prohibited by Federal, State or Local laws and regulations. 4. Allowable costs must be adequately documented. o Without adequate documentation, the spending could be disallowed and the grant recipient required to pay back the money. 5. Must be consistent with policies and procedures that apply uniformly to both Federal and Non-Federal awards.
Budget Changes Changes to the approved budget generally require prior approval from the funding agency. Budget requirements are typically stated in the grant agreement issued by the funding agency. Some agencies allow budget modifications of 10 25% deviation per category while others aren t so lenient. If a modification is necessary, contact the Grant Accounting Office to discuss your budget situation before contacting the funding agency.
Budget Transfer Electronic budget transfers are NOT allowed for Grants. The Transfer Form requires the following signatures: o PI o Department Head o Dean o Provost A Grant Budget Transfer Form must be completed when a budget adjustment is needed on a grant or matching (Cost Share) budget.
Grant Salaries PAFs The following salaries paid from a grant require a PAF o Faculty/staff Anyone paid from a department AND a grant must submit a revised PAF to split the salary. If a PI is being paid from one or more grants, a revised PAF must be submitted each time a grant ends. o Extra Help Employees (Account code 660900) o Graduate Assistants (Account code 640900) Must be sent to Graduate Office and signed by Mackenzie Taylor (450- 5064) UCA employees cannot be paid stipends must be paid through payroll
Grant Salaries PAFs For other education webinars and the link for SPO please see the below web address: https://uca.edu/sponsoredprograms/videos-and-webinars/
Salary Reports After each pay period, a salary report will be emailed to the PI for any salaries paid out during that pay period. These can be saved in order to understand your salary confirmation at the end of the grant life (or fiscal year). Review the report to verify the correct personnel have been charged to the grant. If there is a discrepancy, complete a Salary Report Discrepancy Form (HR website) online and alert your Grant Accountant immediately.
Adjunct Replacements An Adjunct Professor is someone who is hired by a college to teach but isn t full time faculty. The Adjunct replaces the PI in one or more classes in order to free up time for the PI to work on the grant project. Amounts needed to cover the cost of adjunct replacements for release time should be included in the budget of the grant award. Adjunct replacements cannot be paid directly through the grant, because they are not doing any work FOR the grant. Salary and fringe benefits for the adjunct replacement will be transferred to the department using the Salary and Fringe Expense Transfer account codes: 620990 Salary Expense Transfer 680490 Fringe Expense Transfer A Grant Budget Transfer form will need to be submitted to initiate the transfer process.
Fringe Benefits Fringe Benefit rates: 32% of salaries during the academic year o 20% of salaries during the summer for 9 month faculty (May 16 August 15) o 8% of salaries for Extra Help / Part-time employees o .3% of salaries for Student Workers / Graduate Assistants o If fringe benefits were not budgeted for a state employee, the fringe must be deducted from the total amount paid. o Example: $2,000 / 1.32 = $1,527 (salary for PAF) $ 473 (fringe) o Fringe amounts are not entered on the PAF.
Common Salary Account Codes 610960 Teaching on grant 630900 Classified salary on grant 620900 Replacement salary on grant 630990 Classified salary expense 620920 Summer salary on grant transfer 620930 Agency approved incidental 640900 Graduate assistant on grant pay (Overload pay) 650900 Student help on grant 620940 FT employment on grant 680450 Fringe benefits 620950 Summer salary on Match 680490 Fringe benefits expense 620990 Salary expense transfer transfer
Grant Scholarships / Awards Check with Financial Aid to determine the eligibility of a student to receive a grant scholarship or stipend. The Grant Funded Scholarship/Stipend Form must be filled out and submitted in order to process the funds through Financial Aid. If the student is a graduate student, send to Mackenzie Taylor for verification before sending to Grant Accounting. The Grant Funded Scholarship/Stipend Form can be found on the Grant Accounting website. Common account numbers: 710170 (Tuition Exp) & 750300 (Stipend Other) Refer to the UCA Student Financial Aid Office Guide for Processing Funding for Students.
Purchasing Guidelines All purchases made through a grant are subject to the same rules and guidelines as set forth by the UCA Purchasing Dept. Visit the Purchasing website for details regarding: o Professional Service Contracts o Contract Information o State Contracts o Purchasing Manual
Grant Purchasing Options Purchase Order o Submit a requisition, using the grant index and account number. o Check Banner prior to completing a PO to make sure there are funds in the line item. If not, complete a Grant Budget Transfer prior to completing the PO to keep it from showing NSF. o Grant Accounting will approve or disapprove the requisition based on the grant budget, funds available, and Uniform Guidance guidelines. o Once approved, the purchasing process will follow the standard procedure for PO s and payment of invoices.
Grant Purchasing Options UniversityCredit Card / P-Card o Purchases that need to be charged to the grant can be made on the department s P-Card, following the same P-Card Guidelines provided by Purchasing. o To transfer the charge from the department to the grant, complete a P-Card Reallocation formand send to Grant Accounting with a copy of the invoice. o The PI must approve all charges as financial manager of the grant. o The P-Card Reallocation form can be found on the Grants website and is only to be used for grants. o A journal entry will be posted to move the charge to the proper index number.
Grant Purchasing Options Reimbursement o If a PI purchases supplies with personal funds, a requisition for reimbursement should be submitted. o Standard purchasing guidelines will apply for all reimbursements. o Email a copy of the receipt to the Grant Accountant. Approval of the PO will not be granted until a copy is received. o Send original copy of the invoice to Purchasing.
Cost Transfer A Cost Transfer occurs when an expense that was charged to one fund is transferred to another. A Cost Transfer Formmust be completed and submitted to Grant Accounting when correcting an expense. Please include the PO# and check # of the original charge. Common example: The department paid for supplies that should have been charged to the grant.
Office Supplies Uniform Guidance (2CFR 200) Unallowable to be charged as a direct cost unless it can be documented that these items are ONLY used for grant purposes. Includes: Computers (under $5,000), printers, monitors, fax machines, printer paper, toner cartridges, pens/pencils, legal pads, clips, rubber bands, post it notes, books, individual subscriptions to journals, notebooks, etc. (These would be indirect costs)
Postage Stamps Uniform Guidance (2CFR 200) Postage costs associated with the normal administration of a project are generally not allowable as direct charges to the project. (Ex. Routine correspondence with the sponsor, colleagues, and potential publishers and students) Costs of overnight S/H are allowable assuming they are directly associated with the conduct of the project. The latter can be directly assigned to a particular project with a high degree of accuracy.
Travel Employee travel expenses are reimbursed at current IRS rates. o Personal vehicle mileage will be reimbursed at $.42 per mile. o Meals with an overnight stay are reimbursed at actual cost up to the maximum per diem. First day and last day maximum is 75% of per diem. o Meals without an overnight stay are reimbursed at actual cost up to $38.25 when you are away from your official station more than 12 hours. Itemized receipts and a completed Day Travel Without Overnight Stay form must be attached to the TR-1. o Lodging requires a receipt showing a $0 balance from the hotel. The complete Travel Procedures guide can be found on the Purchasing website under Travel. Travel procedures for grants follow the same guidelines as all other UCA travel. Both must follow state guidelines.
University Department Charges Authorized departments include but are not limited to: o Motor Pool o Mail Services o Physical Plant o Phone Services o Printing Services (Copy Center) Departments can directly charge a grant for services just let them know the Grant index number and account number.
Common M&O Account Codes 717100 Individual Travel 717110 Group Travel 717111 Individual Travel (Student) 717115 Conference Travel 718100 Prof Services > $20,000 718125 Prof Services < $20,000 719100 Contract Food Service 719200 Food Purchases 730200 Equipment (Furniture) 710101 Supplies & Services 710110 Printing & Stationary 710115 Advertising 710117 Promotional Materials 710130 Building rental 710145 Equipment rental 713100 Instructional supplies 713200 Health/Behavioral Science Lab Supplies 715100 Postage
Important Reminders When doing a blanket PO for supplies, etc, a PO must be completed for EACH grant. For grants, the fund and index numbers are the same. The Food Service Policy must be followed for food consumed on campus. Do not personally pay for software, or equipment prior approval is needed. Office supplies can only be purchased through GMS (see supplies slide) If an item has a warranty, do not purchase with personal funds and request reimbursement from UCA Warranty is held by the original owner and will be voided when reimbursed o A University credit card or Purchase Order should be used in order for warranty to belong to UCA. o
Salary Certification Salary Certification, formerly known as time and effort reporting, is the federally mandated method of certifying that the salaries and benefits charged to a federal grant are accurate. The language and requirements in this federal regulation have gone through various modifications in order to provide more flexibility in the process and reduce the administrative burden. The primary focus of the revised time and effort requirements is for strong internal controls to exist for the reporting of salaries and wages, ensuring that the payroll charged to various grants matches the actual time spent.
Salary Certification In place of the Time & Effort Reports that were sent out quarterly, the Grant Accounting office sends out Cumulative Project Payroll Confirmationsfor each grant at the end of the Fiscal Year and at the end of the grant. The Cumulative Project Payroll Confirmation should be reviewed and signed by the PI, verifying that the salary paid to each recipient does not exceed their proportionate share of work performed on the project. Uniform Guidance requirements: o Time distribution records must be maintained for all employees whose salary is paid in whole or in part with federal funds or is used to meet a match or cost-share requirement for a grant. o Payroll allocations among grant awards cannot be based on budgeted distributions alone, but rather the allocation of salaries and wages among grant programs needs to be supported by actual hours worked. o If budgeted numbers are used to allocate salaries and wages, the entity s system of internal controls should include an after-the-fact review of the grant.
Facilities & Administrative Costs (F&A or Indirect Costs) The F&A rate is the mechanism used to reimburse the University for the infrastructure support costs (overhead) associated with grant projects. Examples of F&A: o Operating and maintenance costs such as utilities, security and custodial costs o Common administrative functions such as payroll and purchasing Not all Awarding Agencies reimburse the University for F&A costs at the negotiated rate. In order for F&A to be excluded from a grant, it must be specifically disallowed by the Awarding Agency. F&A is calculated and applied to the appropriate accounts on a monthly basis.
Facilities & Administrative Costs (F&A or Indirect Costs) F&A costs are distributed as follows: 25% - University 24% - Sponsored Programs 20% - College 20% - Department 8% - PI (16XXXX) 3% - Grant Accounting The current UCA negotiated F&A rate with DHHS is 33.22% of salaries and wages. This rate is effective until 06/30/24 o o o o USDE F&A rate is 8% of total modified direct costs. o o The NEW F&A Rate Agreement will soon be found on the Grant Accounting website.
Invoices ALL financial invoicing must be completed by the Grants Office. Invoices will be completed and e-mailed to the PI for review. The PI will sign and return to Grant Accounting for submission to the Funding Agency.
Financial Reporting Grant Accounting will prepare and submit ALL financial reports and cash requests. The financial report will be e-mailed to the PI for review and signature, and returned promptly. Any financial data prepared by the PI must be submitted to the Grant Accounting Office for approval PRIOR to submission to an external organization.
Cost Share / Match Cost share occurs when a portion of the costs of the award are not paid by the Awarding Agency, but paid instead using resources within a department, school/college, or other party. Grant Accounting sets up a separate index from the original grant, referred to as the Match Account (xxxMxx) Funds are transferred from the department to the Match Account via a Grant Budget Transferform.
Sub Awards A sub award is a collaborative arrangement between a grantee institution (UCA) and another institution or organization (sub awardee) in support of the grantee s research project. The sub awardee performs research activities on behalf of the grantee. Funds from the grantee organization (UCA) must flow directly from the grantee to the sub awardee. A blanket PO is created in order to process payments to the sub awardee. The subaward index # is the grant index # with an S replacing the 4th digit (Ex. 223S30)
Sub Awards PI responsibilities: o Ensure that the sub award objectives are proceeding as planned and as described to the Awarding Agency. o Monitor the quality of work being submitted and identify issues that arise in a timely manner. o Monitor the budget. o Review and approve the invoice received from sub awardee. o Send the approved invoice to Accounts Payable for payment.
In Kind Contributions An In-Kind Contribution is another form of a match and represents any non-cash donation of a good or service that can be given value and is used in achieving the project objectives. An In-Kind Contribution may be in the form of real property, equipment, supplies, or other expendable property and the value of services directly benefitting the project. A Documentation of In-Kind Cost Sharing formmust be completed for any in-kind donation and sent to the Grant Accounting Office (form located on the Grant Accounting website).
Grant Closeout Responsibilities Near the grant end date, Post Award will send the PI and administrative support a Notice of Project Closing. Verify that all salaries have been paid correctly. Submit new PAF for any person who received salary through the grant. Review the budget for available funds. Check to see that all orders have been received and paid for by the end of the project period and no encumbrances remain. Spending JUST to spend out the grant is not allowed. Spending during the last days of the grant will be closely scrutinized. Auditors are very suspicious of end of grant spending.
Grant Closeout Responsibilities If funds remain, contact Grant Accounting to return the funds to the funding agency. If a No-Cost Extension is needed, contact Post Award, (Suveyda) PRIOR to the end date of the grant to request an extension. You will fill out a Request for No-Cost Extension. When grant work is completed, contact your Grant Accountant for the final financial report. Complete the FINAL progress report and send a copy to Sponsored Programs and Grant Accounting for our files.
Unacceptable Practices Purchasing items simply to exhaust excess funds. Assigning charges to a project with a remaining balance to avoid the loss of carry-forward funds. Charging the budgeted amount (in contrast to the actual usage amount). Charging an expense exclusively to a single award when the expense clearly has supported other activities. Transferring an overdraft from one sponsored project to another, without sponsor approval.
Grant Accounting Website Grant Accounting is under the Financial Accounting Department Grant Accounting Grant Forms Monthly Newsletters (will resume shortly) (If you are not signed up to receive the Grant Accounting monthly newsletters, let us know and we will add you to the e-mail list.)
Important Phone #s Sponsored Programs (split by colleges) Suzanne Wiltgen - 450-5789 o Matthew Smith - 852-2410 o Purchasing - 450-3173 Travel Cassandra McCuin - 450-5014 o Dharmi Patel - 450-3620 o Accounts Payable Alex Brown 450-5023 o Felissa Scott 450-5025 o Josyphine Chen 450-3245 o
