Managing Billing Agreements in Sponsored Research Programs

Office for Sponsored Programs 1 OVERVIEW: GMAS BILLING AGREEMENTS OCTOBER 10, 2019 Marc Todesco Associate Director of Research Finance, OSP Tracey Westervelt Director of Research Finance, OSP And Kristie Froman, Associate Director of Research Policy, Compliance and Cost Analysis, HSPH ORA Melissa Korf, Director of Grants and Contracts Administration, HMS ORA Colleen Shanahan, Manager of Grants and Contracts Operations, OSP

Incoming Billing Agreements 2 Harvard employees or trainees working at another institution on research related to a sponsored award Harvard is being reimbursed Invoicing $ Payment NOTE: excludes billing done by the HMS Division of Medical Sciences (DMS)

Challenges 3 Decentralized Processes Difficult to identify how many there are University-wide Estimate 75 at SPH and a similar amount at HMS Much fewer at SEAS and FAS Different invoice templates Timeliness of billing and collections Tub/School Shadow Systems For invoicing and collection Dept Dept Dept

GMAS Release: September 9th 4 Entry of incoming billing agreements in GMAS Benefits of New Process Standardized Setup New Project Type: Billing Agreement Ability to Track and Monitor New Funding Instrument: Billing Agreement Centralized Automated Invoicing AR Collections by OSP New Invoice Type: Invoice-Billing Agreement (I-BA) Streamlined Closeout (no checklist) Confirm budget to expenses

The Square Peg, Round Hole Dilemma 5 Goal: Quickly implement a solution to systematically track and manage billing agreements Billing Agreements Disclaimer: There are some workarounds Longer-term solutions being developed Business process is fluid GMAS

General Process 6 Setting Up and Award Managing an Award Closing Out an Award Perform Work and Post Expenditures Execute Agreement Reconciliation Account Setup Invoicing and Collections Closeout

Setting Up an Award Managing an Award Closing Out an Award 7 DEPARTMENT: For Salary For Trainee Stipend Use Standard Templates Obtain BA from other institution Salary Trainee Stipend Review BA for accuracy

Setting Up an Award Managing an Award Closing Out an Award 8 DEPARTMENT: Enter Initial Request in GMAS Enter Billing Agreement: as the Project Title prefix Example: Billing Agreement: [Title of Grant from BA] Select Project type as Billing Agreement Selecting this project type will not generate any person approvals (OAR, COI, PA) Job aid for entry of other fields NOTE: Entry is different from normal processes Send BA to Pre-Award Office for review and partial execution

Setting Up an Award Managing an Award Closing Out an Award 9 PRE-AWARD: Review BA against GMAS Initial Request Partially execute BA and return to other institution Once the fully executed BA is received, forward a copy to the Operations Team to log the Notice

Setting Up an Award Managing an Award Closing Out an Award 10 OPERATIONS TEAM: Log the Notice OPERATIONS TEAM: Process GMAS Revision DEPARTMENT: Update salary coding PRE-AWARD: Submit data sheet for account setup Select Funding Instrument as Billing agreement This will cause the fund type to be NE (200000-249999) Year Logic Accounts (No Carryforward) NOTE: The Root value for trainees should be their PI/Mentor or the PI of the lab they are working in

Setting Up an Award Managing an Award Closing Out an Award 11 DEPARTMENT: Review and reconcile accounts on a monthly basis Spending within budget categories of billing agreement Monitor spending

Setting Up an Award Managing an Award Closing Out an Award 12 OSP RESEARCH FINANCE Monthly invoicing schedule (HUI template) BA Invoices will appear on OBI Scheduled Reports Automated monthly invoicing based on GL expenditures Notify department of any overexpenditures Perform AR collections at 90 days

Setting Up an Award Managing an Award Closing Out an Award 13 DEPARTMENT: Amendments can be made using the Billing Agreement Amendment template Intended for use within a given budget year NOTE: A new BA must be issued for each non-competing continuation funding year (year logic account) Coordinate amendments with the other institution and pre-award

Setting Up an Award Managing an Award Closing Out an Award 14 OSP RESEARCH FINANCE Simplified closeout (No Compliance Checklist) Confirm budget to expenses Submit final invoice Perform collections, if needed Process GMAS Revision to de-obligate any remaining funds No carryforward DEPARTMENT: Update salary coding Perform final reconciliation Validate cumulative expenditures against BA budget CLOSEOUT Fully reconciled accounts will disable 90-days after award end Segments closeout will occur 9-months after award end

Re-Cap 15 Route incoming billing agreements through GMAS and to your pre-award office Identify the GMAS Project Type as Billing agreement Enter the Project Title as Billing Agreement: (project title) Account Setup Funding Instrument: Billing Agreement Default to NE Fund Range (200000-249999) Year Logic Accounts OSP Research Finance Invoice monthly based on GL Close out based on budget to expenses (no Compliance Checklist) De-obligate any remaining balance

Contacts 16 Business Process Documentation being finalized for distribution For pre-award questions and feedback: HMS: melissa_korf@hms.harvard.edu HSPH: kfroman@hsph.harvard.edu UAT: colleen_shanahan@harvard.edu For billing and collection questions and feedback: marc_todesco@harvard.edu or rebecca_looman@harvard.edu