Award Setup Procedures

Awards and award lines, including related grant numbers are issued by ORA, Post-Award, upon receipt of the original award document or an approved request for an advance account.

Table of Contents:

Advance Account

Award and Award Lines

Award Setup

Budget Allocations

Spend Restrictions

Award Setup

ORA, Post-Award will obtain key information from the award (funding source, award type, billing and reporting requirements, revenue recognition method, etc) to properly setup the award. Federal and state awards need a Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) or Catalog of State Financial Assistance (CSFA) number and, when not provided in the award notification, proper due diligence is required to obtain this information or confirm whether the CFDA or CSFA number is required. Federal contracts and state vendor relations do not have a CFDA or CSFA number.

Workday (WD) is the university’s Financial Accounting and Human Capital Management system and includes a grants management module to create, maintain, and manage the financial transactions for all university’s sponsored awards. All awards, award lines, and related grant numbers are created in WD. Each sponsored award (supported by a Notice of Award, executed contract, or related Advance Account Request) requires an award in WD.

In Workday, all awards start with a prefix of AWD-xxxxxx. ORA, Post-Award, creates awards in the following manner:

  • Collect the appropriate documentation, including the proposals, awards, modifications, certifications, correspondence, internal forms, or other documents applicable to the award.
  • Create the award in WD.

    If applicable, after-the-fact proposal documents will be processed by the Principal Investigator and forwarded to ORA, Pre-Award. These documents include:
    • A completed proposal transmittal sheet and any other applicable internal forms
    • An award notice (and check, if included)
    • Copies of correspondence with sponsor
    • A description of project and statement of work (if not included with the above)
  • Award numbers are released by the Award Setup team and are relayed to the Principal Investigator and appropriate personnel in the department. If applicable, personnel on the project will have to complete the required Conflict of Interest (COI) certification prior to the account information being released to the PI. Studies including human and animal subjects require an approved protocol prior to account information being released to the PI.

Awards and Award Lines

The award defines the business rules to correctly bill, collect, and report activities related to the award. It is the “umbrella” that captures key award information including the sponsor, award type, spend restrictions, etc.

Each award includes one or more award line(s), which define various components to be managed during the award. Each award line has a unique grant number (GRXXXXXX) assigned. Grants capture the cost and related revenue. One award line must be designated as the primary award line. This is where the major expenses related to the award will be incurred. Different conditions of the award may result in
the need to capture expenses in different award lines. A separate award line will be required for each of the following circumstances:

  • Multiple PI’s with a need to maintain and track separate budgets
  • Salary over the cap. If funded by multiple cost centers, a unique award line is required for each cost center.
  • Cost share. If funded by multiple cost centers, a unique award line is required for each cost center.
  • Sub awards. If there are multiple sub awards, a unique award line is required for each sub award.
  • Carryover not allowed. When carryover is not allowed, all award lines will need to be created for each budget year

Advance Account

If the PI has a need to start the work prior to receiving the Notice of Award or executed award document, an advance account can be issued by ORA by following the steps below:

  • Complete an “Advance Account Form” based on an associated proposal. If the proposal was not previously submitted, the form should accompany the proposal.
  • The form must be signed by both the principal investigator (PI) of the anticipated award and the Chair/Dean or designee of the department that owns the university gift or program being used to guarantee the charges.
  • Once the Advance Account Form has been completed and signed, submit through IBISResearch. Once logged into IBISResearch, find the Funding Proposal you want to request the Advance Account for. Use the send Email Activity and attach the Advance Account Form.
  • ORA, Strategic Initiatives will review, approve if appropriate and create the Advance Award in WD which will subsequently be forwarded to ORA, Post Award for final processing.
  • As applicable, COI clearance and approved IRB/IACUC protocols are required prior to creating the advance award.
  • The PI and designee will be notified via email when the award has been established. Advance awards should typically be setup to cover a brief period between anticipation and receipt of an award and should normally not be in advance status for an extended period of time. The status of advance accounts will be monitored by ORA, Post-Award on a monthly basis.
  • The typical life cycle of an advance award should not exceed 90 days. If the award notice is not received within the 90 days, or if the grant/contract is not actively being negotiated by ORA, the award will be frozen and all expenditures and commitments will be transferred to the guaranteed gift or program listed on the form.
  • If the proposed grant/contract is still actively being negotiated, the life cycle of the advance award may exceed ninety days based on a case by case review and approval from ORA, Post-Award leadership.
  • If the negotiations have reached an impasse, the advance award will be frozen and no new charges can be incurred pending favorable resolution of the impasse.
  • If negotiations on the proposed grant/contract have terminated, or there is written or verbal evidence that the award will not be funded, then ORA will advise the Principal Investigator and the department administrator that the award will be closed and all expenditures be transferred to the gift or program provided on the Advance Account form by ORA.

Budget Allocations

Once the award has been created, the Award Administration team will setup the budget. The budget period and the amounts are determined by the sponsor.

  • All budgets are setup consistently based on the award document/contract:
    • Budgets for multi-year awards are released, based on the award document and budget (i.e., incremental funding, additional funding, etc. are released consistent with the amount and related period indicated in the award/contract).
    • For clinical trials with payments based on case reporting, the full budget is released, based on the contracted amount.
  • Award Administration is responsible for the distribution of the budget into the proper object classes. A Budget Control Sheet is prepared by Award Administration and distributed to the department. A copy is placed in the award folder in OnBase.
  • Award Administration is also responsible for redistributing all changes to the original budget as requested by the PI and subject to the sponsor’s guidelines.
  • Rebudgeting (Budget Amendment) is processed if the sponsor requires this.
  • The PI/designee should work with ORA to determine rebudgeting requirements and process the IPAR if applicable.
  • ORA will review your request for rebudgeting and will either approve or disapprove. In some instances, it may be necessary to submit the request to the sponsor for approval.
  • Once approved, ORA will update WD to reflect the approved budget changes.

Spend Restrictions

Spend restrictions are used to specifically allow or disallow object classes. When spend restrictions are turned on, the system will prevent the user from incurring expenditures against unallowable object classes.