Updated
last on 6/01/04
Who can I contact with
questions regarding my P/G?
I Opening
of Project Grant (P/G)
· When will my P/G be available in the ChartField converter?
· When should a sub P/G be established?
· How is a fabrication sub P/G established?
· How do I adjust/allocate my budget?
· What kind of expenses can I charge to my P/G?
· Where do I find support for charges to my P/G?
·
What is Indirect Cost? How is it calculated?
· How do I transfer expenses to or from my P/G?
· How much do I have left to spend?
· How much revenue has been booked to my P/G? Has sponsor paid the invoices?
· What do I do when my P/G is completed?
· Who prepares the financial reports? When are the reports prepared?
·
How do I know when reports are
due?
· What will happen to unspent funding? What if I overspent?
· Why do I receive financial statements after the end of the P/G?
Q. Who can I
contact with questions regarding a P/G?
A. A
question regarding a P/G should be directed to the Sponsored Programs customer
service coordinator listed on the top right corner of the SOA. The coordinators are divided by Department ID
(DeptID). A list of Sponsored Programs
customer service coordinators by DeptID can be found at http://www.umich.edu/~finops/SponsoredPrograms/Sponsored_Coordinator_by_DeptID.xls
I. Opening of Project/Grant (P/G)
Q. When will my P/G
be available in the ChartField converter?
A. Generally, new P/Gs will be available in the ChartField converter within 10 days after the PAN (Project Award Notice) is received by Financial Operations. The Project Director and the Single Administrative Point of Contact (SAPOC) will receive an email message from Financial Operations when the P/G is open and available for use. The information should be available in the ChartField converter on the day after the email is received.
Contracts and subcontracts require additional time because of the review and signature process that takes in place the Contract Administration office. Please allow 14-30 days for P/G information for contracts/subcontracts to be available in the ChartField converter, as indicated on the PAN.
If you have questions or need information in the interim, contact the Sponsored Programs customer service coordinator listed on the PAN or go to http://www.umich.edu/~finops/SponsoredPrograms/Sponsored_Coordinator_by_DeptID.xls to find contact information for your coordinator.
Q When should a
sub P/G be established?
A. Sub P/Gs are established after an award is received. Sub P/Gs are used for various reasons such as to differentiate co-investigators, to allocate the funds for a fabrication, for restricted award supplements such as National Science Foundation (NSF) REUs (Research Experience for Undergraduates) and NIH (National Institutes of Health) minority supplements, or to distinguish funding received for a specific budget period (usually on P/Gs without automatic carry-forward).
The purpose of a sub P/G is to allocate funds, including indirect cost recoveries, to the appropriate academic department/research unit or task. The sub P/G has a direct relationship to the primary P/G (parent P/G) in purpose, duration (the start and end dates must be within the start and end date of the parent P/G), and expenditure authorization.
A form 7471 is used to establish a new
sub P/G. The form, with instructions, is
available at http://www.umich.edu/~finops/FormsReports/Forms/index.htm .
Complete a 7471 for the parent P/G
(showing which budget lines are to be reduced) and a 7471 for each new sub P/G
requested (showing how the sub P/G’s budget should be allocated).
Please note that the signatures of the
Project Director and the Administrator are required on the 7471s. Sponsored
Programs will also accept approval via email. For example, the 7471 can be
attached to an email message sent to the Project Director. Ask the Project
Director to review the 7471 and convey approval via a reply to the message. The
7471 and approval can then be sent to your Sponsored
Programs customer service coordinator
for processing.
Q. How is a
fabrication sub P/G established?
Complete a 7471 for the parent P/G (showing
which budget lines are to be reduced) and a 7471 for the fabrication sub P/G’s
budget. Signatures of the Project Director and the Administrator are required
on the 7471s. Again, Sponsored Programs
will accept approval via email.
In addition to the 7471, a fabrication
worksheet also needs to be completed. The worksheet, “Fabrication P/G
Information,” is a separate tab on the 7471 file, found at http://www.umich.edu/~finops/FormsReports/Forms/index.htm.
NOTE:
·
Expenses must be non-labor.
·
Expenses should include the
materials and supplies necessary to fabricate the equipment.
· Component expenses
should be assigned account 614060 for University-owned equipment or account
614330 for government-owned equipment.
Q. How do I
adjust/allocate my budget?
A. Adjust/allocate the budget by completing
a Form 7471. The form, with instructions, is available as an excel worksheet at
the Financial Operation web site http://www.umich.edu/~finops/FormsReports/Forms/index.htm.
The 7471 should
reflect the budgeted items, by category, as approved by the sponsor. NOTE: For Federal P/Gs, adding/increasing
budget categories that are monitored by A-21 requires specific sponsor /DRDA
approval.
The 7471 form
must be completed in its entirety to be processed by Financial Operations; all
signatures are required. Approval via email via email is acceptable. For example,
the 7471 can be attached to an email message sent to the Project Director. Ask
the Project/Director to review the 7471 and convey approval via a reply to the
message.
Forward the completed Form 7471 to the appropriate Sponsored Programs customer service coordinator
Q. What kinds of expenses can I charge to my P/G?
A. For Federal Awards: The U.S. Government has several sets of regulations that recipients must follow when applying costs to a federally sponsored project. Sponsored Programs customer service coordinator must approve some expenses prior to them being charged to a P/G: purchase order requests in excess of $10,000, Hosting Expense Reports, Travel Expense Reports for foreign travel, Personal Service Contracts and all journal entries are approved by Sponsored Programs staff.
OMB Circular A-21 (http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a021/a021.html) is the set of federal principles that determines the allowability of costs incurred by institutions of higher education. A-21 defines which costs are allowable and not allowable to charge directly to a federally sponsored P/G. Please visit http://www.umich.edu/~finops/FormsReports/Forms/index.htm or http://www.research.umich.edu/policies/federal/a-21.html for more information on OMB Circular A-21 and the University’s procedures in relation to A-21.
B.
For Non-Federal Awards: Many sponsors have their own restrictions on
how award dollars are to be spent. The
grant or contract should be reviewed carefully to determine what restrictions,
if any, the sponsor has placed on the award.
Please contact your Sponsored Programs customer service coordinator for
specific questions regarding allowable expenses. To obtain contact information for the Sponsored
Programs customer service coordinator for your department, please visit http://www.umich.edu/~finops/SponsoredPrograms/Sponsored_Coordinator_by_DeptID.xls
Q. Where
do I find support for charges to my P/G?
A. The Statement of Activity (SOA) and Voucher Detail Reports that are included in the monthly report package mailed to SAPOCs contain information regarding transactions posted to a P/G. Both reports are also available to run on an as-needed basis in FinOds and Business Objects. The MAIS website, http://www.mais.umich.edu/reporting/roadmapdb.html, contains instructions on running these reports.
Journal entry and voucher source documents can be viewed in the Financial Operations Optical Imaging System. Please visit the following website for access information: http://www.umich.edu/~finops/Imaging/.
Support for Payroll and Student Financial transactions is mailed to SAPOCs as well, but also can be found in Wolverine Access or Business Objects. The MAIS (Michigan Administrative Information Services) website: http://www.mais.umich.edu/ contains information regarding system access and use.
The Journal ID field on the SOA Report also gives information as to the type and source of transactions. The beginning two or three digit alphanumeric code in the Journal ID field on the SOA identifies the type and source of transactions. The Journal ID Mask Matrix can help to identify transactions appearing on the SOA.
Q. What is Indirect
Cost? How is it calculated?
A. Indirect Cost is the real cost of University operations which is not readily assignable to a particular Project. These costs are determined under the guidelines of OMB Circular A-21. The rates at which Indirect Cost is charged are negotiated with the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the University’s federal cognizant audit agency by the Cost Reimbursement Office. Information on the Cost Reimbursement Office, including contact information, can be found at http://www.umich.edu/~finops/CRO/index.htm. A listing of the University’s current indirect cost rates can be found at the following website: http://www.research.umich.edu/proposals/budgets/indirect_costs.html.
Indirect Cost is applied to individual P/Gs at the appropriate rate (see above) based on certain direct cost activity. For most P/Gs, indirect cost is calculated as a percentage of MTDC (modified total direct cost), which includes all direct costs except tuition waiver, patient care, equipment, subcontracts after the first $25,000 and Specialized Service Facilities charges.
Q. How do I
transfer expenses to or from my P/G?
A. Journal entries (JEs) are used to transfer expenses and funds between various ChartField combinations. Particular care should be exercised when writing journal entries involving Sponsored P/Gs.
Supporting documentation should always accompany a journal entry transferring expenses to or from a Sponsored P/G. This supporting documentation is preferably in the form of a SOA or Business Objects query results showing the original transaction that is being transferred. When transactions are being transferred more than 120 days after they were incurred, an additional explanation is required as to why the transfer was not processed more timely.
Procedures for writing journal entries, as well as additional support/justification requirements, can be found at the following website: http://www.umich.edu/~finops/index_js.htm, select “General Information”, then “Journal Entry Guidelines”.
Q. How much do
I have left to spend?
A. The Project Grant Budget Status Report (PBSR) is the tool to use to determine the balance of available budget remaining on a P/G. The PBSR is included in the monthly reports package mailed to P/G SAPOCs and is also available to run on an as-needed basis in FinOds or Business Objects. The following website contains instructions for running reports in both applications: http://www.mais.umich.edu/reporting/roadmapdb.html.
The budget amount reflected on the PBSR should match the total authorized amount per the PAN and Project Award Change (PAC) paperwork processed by the Division of Research Development and Administration (DRDA). Please note that this amount might be different than the total anticipated award amount if the sponsor is incrementally funding the Project – the budget loaded by Sponsored Programs will only reflect dollars authorized by the sponsor to date.
Q. How much revenue has been booked to my P/G? Has
sponsor paid the invoices?
A. Revenue received on behalf of a sponsored P/G is generally received in one of the following formats:
· Cash Receipt
· Letter of Credit (LOC)
· Invoice sent to the sponsor
A. Cash Receipt
Some sponsors send payments in advance or based on a set schedule that is agreed upon by the Sponsor and DRDA (on behalf of the University) at the time the P/G is established. Cash receipts appear on the SOA as Sponsor Revenue (Journal ID starts with CR). Some examples of Sponsors that use the Scheduled/Advance Payment method are: Department of Defense, Air Force and Army, Department of Veterans Affairs, and various Non-Federal companies and foundations.
B. Letter of Credit
Some revenue is received via the entity’s Letter of Credit (LOC) mechanism. LOCs appear on the SOA as Fed LOC Revenue (Journal ID starts with LOC). Some examples of sponsors who use LOC are: NIH, NSF (National Science Foundation), and NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration. P/Gs on the LOC payment method receive a monthly revenue allocation equal to the month’s expenses.
C. Invoices
Some sponsors prefer to receive an invoice from the University. Invoices can be sent monthly, quarterly, annually, upon completion of the Project, etc. Sponsored Programs’ preferred method is to send an invoice to the Sponsor for expenses incurred, on a monthly basis (Cost Reimbursable-Monthly). Revenue is booked to the P/G when invoices are sent to the Sponsor. Invoices appear on the SOA as BI Billing (Journal ID starts with BI – Revenue received prior to 11/1/03 may show up with Journal ID starting with AR).
Revenue appears on the SOA. The SOA shows both the amount of revenue received/booked during the current month and the amount received/booked fiscal year to date.
Please note that revenue booked to the P/G doesn’t mean that the Sponsor has paid the invoice. To determine whether or not a sponsor has paid a particular invoice, it is necessary to review an Accounts Receivable aging detail report. The aging report is available in FinOds. Instructions for running this report are available on the MAIS website, http://www.mais.umich.edu/reporting/roadmapdb.html.
NOTE: The report gives information relating only to outstanding invoices. Paid invoices do not appear on the report.
Q. Why doesn’t the Statement of Activity (SOA)
balance match the P/G Budget Status Report (PBSR) Project balance?
A. P/Gs are funded by sponsors in various ways: invoiced on a monthly basis, scheduled payments, Letter of Credit, etc. Revenue is posted to P/Gs as invoices are booked or cash receipts are posted. The SOA report captures data in the General ledger. Expense and revenue transactions that run through the General Ledger are shown on the SOA report. The balance on the SOA report represents the total revenue activity on a P/G less the total expense activity to give you the actual cash balance.
The PBSR is a report that compares budget to actual expense activity. The Project balance on this report represents the amount of spending authority (budget) remaining.
The PBSR now also includes Total P/G Revenues and compares that to the Project to Date Expenditures amount to get to the P/G Actuals Balance. The P/G Actuals Balance shown at the bottom of the Project to Date Expenditures column on the PBSR for P/Gs opened after 7/1998 does match the SOA balance.
A. Cost sharing is the financial support contributed by the University to sponsored projects. The policy of the University is to assume a cost sharing commitment only when required by the sponsor. All cost sharing commitments must be included on the Proposal Approval Form (PAF) and must be approved by the University Department responsible for the funds.
A General Fund shortcode will be assigned to all P/Gs with cost share requirements. Most cost share expenses should be charged to this General Fund shortcode. In all instances cost share expenses must be allowable under the cost principles applicable to the award.
The General Fund shortcode is funded by journal entry transfers of funding from the ChartField combination of the Department that committed the cost share funding on the PAF. It is the awarded Department’s responsibility to ensure that journal entries are initiated and processed to move cost share funding to the cost share shortcode.
At the time of final reporting and/or closeout of a P/G (or earlier if an interim cost share report is required by the sponsor), Sponsored Programs will review all cost share expenditures to verify that the University has met its cost share commitment.
Please see the Sponsored Programs website http://www.umich.edu/~finops/FormsReports/Forms/index.htm; or the DRDA website http://www.research.umich.edu/funding/related/cost_sharing.html for more information regarding the University’s cost share policies. Your Sponsored Programs customer service coordinator is also able to answer cost share questions.
III. Closing and Financial
Reporting of a Project/Grant
Q. What
do I do when a Project is completed?
A. The Project Director will receive a letter from the Sponsored Programs customer service coordinator via email three months prior to the end date of the Project. This letter will detail procedures for the closure of the P/G. Upon completion of a Project, discontinue all charges being applied to the P/G. This includes payroll, service unit billings, journal entries, etc. For a list of issues to be addressed at the conclusion of a project, please reference the Sponsored P/G Closeout Checklist at http://www.umich.edu/~finops/FormsReports/Forms/index.htm . Applicable charges incurred prior to the project end date may still be applied to the P/G. If necessary, Financial Operations will prepare the Final Financial Status Report and Closeout worksheets and send to department for approval. The standard P/G Closeout will be prepared by Financial Operations within 270 days of the P/G end date. If a sponsor requires a Final Financial Report, usually due 90 days after the end of the award, the Closeout will be completed concurrently.
If the Project is completed ahead of schedule, please complete the Sponsored P/G Closeout Checklist. Forward the completed Checklist to your Sponsored Programs coordinator.
Q. Who
prepares financial reports? When are the reports prepared?
A. Sponsored Programs reporting staff accountants prepare sponsor-required financial reports with assistance /cooperation from project directors and unit administrators. Reports are prepared based on the frequency/due date requirements established by the sponsor and written in the award document. This may include final as well as interim reports. Sponsored Programs accountants will report charges to date and analyze all late charges for appropriateness to the Project. Unallowable late charges, incurred after the end date of the Project, must be transferred off of the P/G.
Q. How do I
know what reports are due?
A. Required reports can be found in FinOds through the MPathways system. Click on Go/Define Business Rules/Design ChartFields/Use/Project Grant. Enter the P/G number and click on the Sponsored Programs Reports tab. A list of reports and required due dates will be displayed.
A query can be found in Business
Objects listing required reports for a P/G.
Click on File/Retrieve From/Corporate Documents. The query is located in the FN01 Universe. It is titled “FN01 RevExp Sponsored Project
Report Tracking by Project Grant.”
Open/import the file, click refresh, and enter the desired values for
Begin Date, End Date, and Project Grant.
A list of reports and required due dates will be returned.
A. An A-21 Report is an internal report used to analyze charges to Federal P/Gs in order to ensure that the University maintains compliance with the requirements established by OMB Circular A-21. OMB Circular A-21 is a set of Federal principles that determine the allowability of costs incurred by institutions of higher education. Charges accrued at Administrative Salaries, Clerical Salaries, General Supplies, Postage, Telephone, and Hosting budget categories are analyzed for appropriateness to the Project. Inappropriate charges must be transferred off of the Project. Additional information regarding A-21 guidelines can be found at http://www.umich.edu/~finops/FormsReports/Forms/index.htm or at http://www.research.umich.edu/policies/federal/a-21.html.
Q. What will
happen to unspent funding? What if I overspent?
A. Unspent budget authorization must be deobligated and the funding returned to the sponsor for all Projects not identified as fixed price awards. Any unspent budget will be deobligated via the Final Financial Status Report.
The department must cover any overdraft. The overdraft will be transferred to a departmental discretionary ChartField combination by journal entry at the time the Closeout report is completed by Financial Operations. Sponsored Programs’ policy regarding the resolution of an overdraft can be found at http://www.umich.edu/~finops/SponsoredPrograms/OverDrafts.htm.
Fixed price agreements may retain unspent funding at the completion of the Project. The remaining unspent balance, if less than twenty percent of the total budget, may be transferred to a departmental discretionary ChartField combination with Dean/Director approval. If the balance is greater than twenty percent of the total budget, only the direct cost portion of the balance may be retained by the department. The indirect cost portion will be transferred to the University indirect cost pool.
Q. Why
do I receive financial statements after the end of the Project?
A. Monthly financial statements will continue to be mailed after the end date of the Project. The statements are generated automatically until the P/G number is inactivated in the MPathways system. This is accomplished through the Closeout report prepared by Financial Operations. The P/G cannot be inactivated until the SOA balance is zero.
Journal ID Mask
|
Source |
Generated |
Resources |
|
|
AP |
Accounts Payable |
Generated on Sundays |
Accounts Payable-Travel Office |
|
Accounts Receivable *BI after 11/1/03 |
Monthly |
Financial Operations |
|
|
BE |
Batched & Electronic Journals |
Daily |
Financial Operations Imaging System |
|
Accounts Receivable |
Daily |
Financial Operations |
|
|
BRD |
Benefit Recharge Distribution |
Monthly Allocation |
Payroll Office/Financial Operations |
|
Cash Receipts Interfaces |
Daily |
Financial Operations Imaging System |
|
|
CRA |
Cash Receipts-Ann Arbor |
Daily |
Financial Operations Imaging System |
|
CRD |
Cash Receipts-Dearborn |
Daily |
Dearborn Accounting |
|
CRF |
Cash Receipts-Flint |
Daily |
Flint Accounting |
|
CRH |
Cash Receipts-Hospital |
Daily |
Hospital Accounting |
|
CRN |
Cash Receipts-North Campus |
Daily |
Financial Operations Imaging System |
|
DAC |
Development Office Credits |
Daily |
Financial Operations-Gift Fund Area/Development |
|
HIN |
Hospital Material Svcs Inventory |
Generated on Sundays |
Hospital Accounting |
|
HHQ |
Hospital Health Quest |
Monthly |
Hospital Accounting |
|
IDC |
Indirect Cost Allocation |
Monthly Allocation |
Financial Operations |
|
JU |
Journal Upload |
Monthly |
Financial Operations |
|
Letter of Credit Allocation |
Monthly Allocation |
Financial Operations |
|
|
PCD |
P-Card |
Monthly |
Accounts Payable - P-Card Group |
|
PYB |
Payroll Interface for Bi-Weekly |
Bi-Weekly |
Payroll Office |
|
PYM |
Payroll Interface for Monthly |
Monthly |
Payroll Office |
|
PYW |
Off Cycle-Corrections |
Weekly-As Needed |
Payroll Office |
|
SFN |
Student Financials |
Weekly |
Student Financial Operations |
|
SUB |
Service unit Billing |
Daily |
Originating Service Unit |
|
YE |
Year End Allocation |
Year End Allocation |
Financial Operations |
|
0000 |
Online Journal Entry |
Entered as Needed |
Financial Operations/Flint Accounting |