Post-Award
Award and Account Setup
Once a sponsor makes an award to an institution the award document establishes the legal and regulatory parameters for the researcher to access and track funds and other project details. This becomes the primary financial management tool that restricts awarded funds for use on only the funded project. The proper setup of the awarded budget and other details contributes to overall effective management and administration.
Growth Pathway
Level 0: Untrained
Description: Unfamiliar with accounting practices for sponsored funds, and unfamiliar with institutional practices for setting up project accounts to manage finances and administrative details. Needs to be trained on the institution’s financial system.
Level 1: Beginner
Description: Some familiarity with sponsored fund accounting practices, and able to create a basic account in the institution’s financial system under close supervision. Able to transfer the awarded budget into the financial system, and able to identify and record project report deadlines and other required data elements for the account. Able to transmit new account information to researchers using standard templates and procedures. Able to manage tracking of expenditures against budget for allowability, allocability, and appropriateness.
Level 2: Intermediate
Description: Can independently set up new accounts of all types and distinguish among cost reimbursement, fixed price, milestone-based, and other types including cost share. Navigates sponsor guidelines, award documents, and institutional policy to establish a strong basis for ongoing award management. Competently communicates with the researcher to resolve questions and concerns.
Level 3: Advanced
Description: Competent in restricted fund accounting practices and capably sets up complex accounts, such as multi-year, multi-investigator projects. Possesses expertise in the institution’s financial system and contributes to establishment and maintenance of staff training. Assists with creation and maintenance of institutional policy and procedure. Assists with resolution of errors.
Level 4: Expert
Description: Leads training for staff and researchers on award elements and financial regulations, allocates available unit resources such as people and budget, and develops financial policy and procedure for sponsored funds. Resolves issues and problems related to this function.
Award Management
Effective award management requires attention to sponsor guidelines, institutional policy, regulatory requirements, timeline management, and financial monitoring. Excellent management also requires resource allocation, risk mitigation, and effective communication to achieve project goals within budgetary limits. Both the research team and sponsored programs staff have award management duties.
Growth Pathway
Level 0: Untrained
Description: Unfamiliar with roles and responsibilities of those involved in award management, and needs training in related policy, procedure, and use of institutional tools.
Level 1: Beginner
Description: With supervision, can review budgeted expenses against actual expenditures, monitor the project timeline and anticipate upcoming deadlines, and process standard forms using standard procedures.
Level 2: Intermediate
Description: Independently monitors expenditures to ensure that expenses are reasonable, allocable, and allowable under sponsor policy. Able to determine if sponsor prior approval is needed for budgetary or programmatic changes, monitors and revises budgets including cost sharing, prepares invoices and makes cash draws in accordance with sponsor procedures. Research staff also balances accounts on a regular basis and securely maintains expense documentation.
Level 3: Advanced
Description: Reviews and resolves unusual, questionable, or high-risk transactions. Works with researchers, other financial staff, procurement, and other stakeholders to help ensure compliance with financial and programmatic expectations. Assists with training staff and researchers on financial regulations and award management best practices and institutional procedures. Resolves issues and problems related to this function.
Level 4: Expert
Description: Leads award management activities. Develops policies and procedures to promote financial compliance and best practices. Engages with researchers, leadership, auditors, and other stakeholders to resolve questions and concerns, and investigates allegations of financial misconduct. May serve as the institutional signatory for invoices and other financial documents.
Project Reporting
Both financial reports and programmatic reports are typically required by sponsors on a periodic basis as well as at the end of the project. These reports support the transparent and accountable review of research projects and associated expenditures. Required reporting also provides a defined time for thorough review of the research trajectory and the budget so that course corrections can be made in a prompt and transparent way. Compliant and thorough reporting paves the way to ongoing and future support of a research program and the institution.
Growth Pathway
Level 0: Untrained
Description: Unaware of financial and programmatic practices in research, and needs training on policy, procedure, and institutional resources.
Level 1: Beginner
Description: Under close supervision can generate an expense report for a project using the institution’s standard operating procedures. Can communicate with researchers and others using existing templates and procedures.
Level 2: Intermediate
Description: Can independently prepare complex financial reports, working collaboratively with financial staff and research staff to address discrepancies and correct errors. Monitors reporting deadlines and alerts researchers to programmatic report deadlines and content requirements.
Level 3: Advanced
Description: Reviews financial reports for accuracy and clarity, and resolves questions, concerns, and errors. Ensures revenue has been received and applied to the correct account. Provides training to staff and researchers on policy, procedure, and best practices. Resolves issues and problems related to this function.
Level 4: Expert
Description: Leads financial and administrative activities to help ensure that reports are clear, accurate, and submitted on time. Leads development of institutional policy and procedure that supports a culture of accountability and transparency. Interacts with sponsors, leadership, auditors, and other stakeholders to solve problems and improve processes.
Award Closeout
Besides final reports, some sponsors also require submission of forms, certifications, or other types of documentation. Award closeout also includes closing of institutional accounts and associated activities. This is a collaborative activity among researchers, research staff, and sponsored program staff.
Growth Pathway
Level 0: Untrained
Description: Unaware of sponsor or institutional policy and processes for proposer closeout of a sponsored project.
Level 1: Beginner
Description: Can complete some closeout forms such as standard sponsor forms and invention disclosure reports under close supervision. Able to communicate with researchers, technology transfer staff, and others to gather closeout data, using existing templates and procedures.
Level 2: Intermediate
Description: Can independently compile and submit closeout packages that are accurate and on time. Ensures cost share requirements have been met, unallowable costs have been removed, subaward expenses are accounted for, and encumbrances have been cleared from the account. Communicates clearly with researchers and others as appropriate to gather necessary information and documentation.
Level 3: Advanced
Description: Provides training to staff on processes and procedures required for account close activities. Works with staff and researchers to resolve account problems and correct errors. Balances complex budgets, and ensures that billings and payments are complete. Determines the disposition of residual balances and issues refunds to sponsors or transfers to other non-sponsored accounts per institutional policy.
Level 4: Expert
Description: Leads all closeout efforts as part of sponsored programs financial services. Develops and delivers training to staff and researchers on closeout procedures and ensures that internal and external deadlines are met. Provides expertise on sponsor regulations, and collaborates with researchers, other financial staff, leadership, auditors, and other stakeholders to resolve questions and concerns. Resolves complex agency, regulatory, reporting, and financial issues relating to project close-out.
Effort Reporting
This function is designed to provide documentation that the research team has devoted a reasonable amount of time to a funded project by comparing budgeted effort promised in the proposal with actual effort devoted to and billed to the project. The goal of Effort Reporting is the accurate tracking and review of a project’s personnel labor effort.
Growth Pathway
Level 0: Untrained
Description: Unfamiliar with Effort Reporting principles or processes, and requires training on regulations, policy, and institutional practices for recording and reporting of salary and wage data.
Level 1: Beginner
Description: Under close supervision, able to prepare project labor cost reports using existing institutional processes. Able to communicate with researchers and others using existing templates and procedures. Able to securely store verified reports (if stored separately from an electronic system).
Level 2: Intermediate
Description: Independently collaborates with researchers to answer questions, follow up on delinquent reports, and make corrections to labor charges. Retrieves completed reports as needed for sponsors and auditors or other stakeholders.
Level 3: Advanced
Description: Provides training to staff and researchers on effort reporting regulations and institutional policy and procedure. Collaborates with researchers, payroll staff, and others to solve problems and make corrections.
Level 4: Expert
Description: Leads the Effort Reporting function for the institution. Stays abreast of changing regulations and options for best practices for reporting with the goal of accurate and prompt reports. Follows up with researchers who are delinquent with their reports to provide education and coaching. Works with staff, researchers, leadership, auditors, and other stakeholders to resolve questions and concerns. Develops, maintains, recommends, and integrates internal systems and controls, and improvements. Provides audit oversight for compliance issues.
Subrecipient Monitoring
Subawards issued for significant project work require monitoring of activities and expenditures to ensure compliance with sponsor guidelines and terms and conditions of the subaward agreement. Monitoring is an ongoing, collaborative effort among researchers, research staff, and sponsored program staff.
Growth Pathway
Level 0: Untrained
Description: Unfamiliar with subaward monitoring regulations and institutional policies and practices.
Level 1: Beginner
Description: Can identify the inclusion of a subaward in a research project; can gather subaward documentation using standard procedures. Under close supervision, can identify necessary data to prepare subaward agreements that will be issued to other experienced research organizations using standard templates and processes, and can identify and enter data to meet Federal Reporting Requirements.
Level 2: Intermediate
Description: Can independently evaluate proposed subrecipients to ensure the entity meets the definition of a subrecipient rather than a vendor. Conducts subrecipient risk assessments and issues subaward agreements. Communicates with researchers for assessment of subrecipient progress and for review and approval of subrecipient’s invoices. In collaboration with the researcher, is able to assess invoices for inclusion of only reasonable, allowable, and allocable costs. Communicates with the subrecipient to resolve questions.
Level 3: Advanced
Description: Negotiates terms and conductions of subawards as necessary. Assists with determining additional terms for a high-risk subrecipient, and evaluates and arranges for any subrecipient training needs. Communicates with researchers and subrecipients to resolve problems and concerns. Ensures annual or other assessment of subrecipients’ audits according to institutional policy. May serve as the institutional signatory for subaward agreements.
Level 4: Expert
Description: Leads subrecipient monitoring efforts for the institution. Develops and delivers training on regulations, policies, and procedures to staff, researchers, and subrecipients as needed. Evaluates high-risk assessments and determines appropriate subaward terms and responses to subrecipient audit findings. Collaborates with researchers, subrecipients, leadership, auditors, and other stakeholders in resolving questions and concerns. May serve as the institutional signatory for subaward agreements.
Indirect Cost Rate Development
: Indirect costs, also called Facilities and Administrative (F&A) costs or Overhead, are included as a line item in most research budgets. They ensure that both sponsors and research institutions pay their fair share of research costs, and that those costs are defensible based on applicable regulations and institutional policy. The specific indirect rate used is approved by the federal government through a Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA) and is based on a set of complex calculations. Rate development considers such things as research space, research expenditures, and institutional administration necessary to support the research function. Some institutions prepare their indirect cost rate proposal in house and some hire expert consultants.
Growth Pathway
Level 0: Untrained
Description: Unfamiliar with indirect cost rate development principles and calculations; needs training on policy and procedure.
Level 1: Beginner
Description: Under close supervision, is able to access institutional data sources to gather reports on institutional space and expenditures. Also, under supervision, can transfer relevant data to appropriate spreadsheets and other calculation tools.
Level 2: Intermediate
Description: Can aid with identification and calculation of research space square footage through direct observation, discussion with researchers, or other methods. Can identify and locate research equipment using institutional reports and observation, and can identify and locate other institutional data for inclusion in the rate calculation.
Level 3: Advanced
Description: Able to identify general maintenance and operational costs, administrative costs, and other costs that support both research and other institutional functions and then calculate a reasonable research cost. Analyzes discrepancies and unusual data, investigates, and makes corrections as needed.
Level 4: Expert
Description: Leads the indirect cost rate development activities for the institution. Working with other financial and information technology staff, ensures ongoing data collection and reporting. Interacts with researchers, other staff, consultants, and the cognizant federal agency reviewing the indirect rate proposal to answer questions and resolve problems and concerns. Keeps leadership informed and presents them with alternatives and rate negotiation information as applicable.
Internal Controls and Audits
Strong internal controls are designed to safeguard assets; prevent fraud, waste, and abuse; and promote accountability and public trust. Research institutions must establish an environment of robust internal controls that supports the integrity, accuracy, and compliance of financial and administrative policies and procedures related to sponsored research. Internal and external audits are a major control activity.
Growth Pathway
Level 0: Untrained
Description: Unfamiliar with an internal control framework or principles.
Level 1: Beginner
Description: Familiar with one or more of the internal control principles: control environment, risk assessment, information and communication, monitoring activities, and existing control activities. With supervision, is able to identify existing policies and procedures and some basic control practices. Can receive and securely store information and documentation required for a financial or administrative audit.
Level 2: Intermediate
Description: Familiar with most of the internal control principles. Independently applies existing policies and procedures, and suggests changes and improvements to reduce risk and strengthen the control environment. Able to competently explain policies and procedures to others. Able to gather documentation and information for auditors from multiple sources.
Level 3: Advanced
Description: Ensures that internal control principles are considered and upheld in policies and procedures, thus providing reasonable assurance that the research function is operating with integrity. Manages internal and external audits and responds to auditor questions. Conducts periodic assessments of operational components to identify risks in operations, reporting, policy, and compliance.
Level 4: Expert
Description: Leads the internal control and audit function. Supports an organizational structure in line with strong internal controls and management philosophy and operating style. Participates in audit entrance and exit meetings. Consults with leadership and other stakeholders to prepare written responses to any audit findings. Prepares and implements plans to correct deficiencies.