News To Use

Explanation of Availability Control Update10/02/2007

The level at which budgets will be checked in IRIS will be updated in early October for many grants.  The new configuration will allow more flexibility in direct cost budgeting as requested by the campus community, while retaining the ability to limit unbudgeted items.  Questions regarding these updates may be addressed to Rhonda Hagan or by phone at 257-3662.

Highlights are summarized below:

1. Budget line items designated as direct (salaries, benefits, travel, and supplies) will be rolled together for budget availability checking when processing transactions in IRIS.  This will provide greater flexibility and limit the number budget revisions required.  Items considered “indirect” will still be controlled at the level currently budgeted (secretarial/clerical salaries, phone line charges, etc.)   
2. The total direct cost budget of the grant will be allowed to be overspent by the lesser of 10% or $1,000 without receiving error messages upon transaction entry.  Error messages will result once the grant budget has been overrun by the lesser of these two amounts. 
3. The override of availability control checking for the payroll preliminary documents has been removed and is subject to the same 10% or $1,000 limit denoted above.  Departments with personnel being paid on grants that are overspent will need to update the infotypes in HR for staff to remove these grants prior to the payroll final.  A listing of grants currently overspent by more than $500 in total will be routed through the area fiscal officers for action by the responsible departments.
4. Cost sharing budgets (once entered into IRIS) will be allowed to overspend by $1,000.

Exceptions:

1. Federal or federal flow-thru contracts will not have the budget rolled together.
2. NSF grants have a special budgeting restriction requiring a specific budget for Training Participants (sponsored class: E530170; g/l account: 530170).
3. Training grants will have Trainee Tuition/Fees (sponsored class: E537030; g/l account: 537030 or 537031) rolled to the direct cost budget.

Federal and Federal Flow Through

 

State and Foundations

 

Additional changes - Allowed to overspend Direct Expenses by either 10% or award total or $1,000, whichever is lower.

Position Budget Control - Encumbrances for payroll will have errors if budget is unavailable at time of encumbrance.

Sponsor-specific requirements

- NSF grants have additional requirement for a budget in training participants.

- Training grants are excluded from having a specific budget in Training Tuition/Fees.

- Federal and federal flow-thru contracts will not roll up to Direct Expenses.

Cost-sharing budget rules:

- Budget rule is the same as grant

- Allowed to overspend by $1,000 overall

 

Training Grant

 

 

 

Sponsored Projects Accounting - Year-end Reminders
04/23/2007

All journal vouchers (JVs) related to WBS elements/grants and cost share are due to Sponsored Projects Accounting (SPA) by 4:30 p.m. on the following dates:

June 11, for charges posted prior to June 1
June 29, for charges posted between June 1 and June 15
July 6, for charges posted between June 16 and June 30, and cost share funding journal vouchers

If a budget revision is required in order to process a JV, an acceptable budget revision request must be received in the Office of Sponsored Projects Administration (OSPA) two weeks prior to the JV deadline.

 

If the journal voucher has both cost centers and WBS elements/grants, the SPA deadline applies.

 

Journal vouchers received after the appropriate deadline will not be processed. Each date is a specific deadline according to the timeframe in which the expense was posted. Therefore, if a JV for expenses that posted May 3, 2007, is received after the June 11 deadline, but before June 29, it is considered late and may not be processed.

Any JVs not processed by year-end will be deleted in IRIS and returned to the appropriate department. If the JV is eligible for new-year processing, the department must re-enter the JV in the system and submit it for processing after July 6.

In order to meet the deadline and expedite document processing, GM users should assure that the following guidelines are met:

--Required budget revisions must be processed by OSPA prior to JV submittal. Documents will NOT be held in SPA pending budget revisions; they will be returned.
If the JV is parked using the “Save as Complete” button, the user will be notified of budget problems.

--Required original signatures are on the document according to timeframe. <90 days: Approval signature
91-120 days: Principal Investigator and Department Chair/Director
>120 days: Principal Investigator, Department Chair/Director and Dean
Any signature authority notices should be submitted to SPA prior to year-end or attached to any applicable JVs.

--Required documentation is attached. Copies of procurement card edits, DAVs, travel vouchers, invoices/payment confirmations, etc.

--Detailed explanation is included on the document or attached as a memo, with answers to the following: What was the error?
When did the error occur?
How did the error occur?
What steps have been put in place to prevent this error from occurring again?
If charging a grant, how does the expense benefit the project?

Due to the large volume of journal vouchers to be processed at year-end, SPA will be unable to notify users regarding problem documents. Instead, the documents lacking required information/documentation will be returned.

Users are encouraged to access these resources for guidance:

Business procedure manual for JVs: http://www.uky.edu/Regs/BPM/E-4-1.pdf
Frequently-asked-questions: http://www.uky.edu/EVPFA/Controller/spahome/spafaqidiv.html
Cost transfer policy: http://www.uky.edu/Regs/BPM/Append2.html

Additional questions should be directed to Becky Tharp, rlthar2@email.uky.edu or 257-3662.

 

PI Grant Budgeting Overview Scheduled
12/04/06

FI_GM_200, PI Grant Budgeting Overview, will be offered in January and February, as follows:

January 23, 2007
9:30 – 11:30 a.m.
230 Student Center

 

February 13, 2007
1:30 - 3:30 p.m.
230 Student Center
Registration is not required. Participants will sign in at these sessions to receive course credit. Principal investigators and co-investigators are strongly encouraged to attend the course to learn about Grants Management functionality.

Grant Release Notes
10/20/06

There are several steps to creating and releasing a Grant in the account set -up process.  This process should not be considered complete until the Office of Sponsored Projects Administration releases the Grant information. 

While Grants are visible in GMGRANTD when the master data is created, users should not assume that the Grant is through the set-up process and ready to accept charges. To avoid payroll processing issues, do not use the Grant/WBS element in HR/Payroll until it has been released to you from the Office of Sponsored Projects Administration.

New T Codes for Grants Analysis Role
10/20/06

ZGM_LOOKUP has been released to the Grants Analysis role.  This transaction will allow users to conduct a quick search for the Financial Administrator or the Research Administrator by using WBS Element, without going to GMGRANTD.

Enter ZGM_LOOKUP in the Command field.

• Enter a grant number in the Grant field.
• Choose the Responsibility Type.
• Execute

 

The results will be displayed in this format:

ZPRIME also has been released to the Grants Analysis role.  This transaction will allow users to look up the scope projects associated with the prime grant.  ZPRIME is similar to screen 045 previously used in FRS.

Enter ZPRIME in the Command field.

• Enter the grime grant number in the Prime Grant field.
• Execute

 

The results will be displayed in this format:

 

Grant Ledger Sheet Instructions Posted
05/08/06

Review the steps for running a Grant Ledger Sheet in BW. [more]

Grants Management News
12/19/05

Grants Analysis role released

The Grants Analysis role has been released and will be available tomorrow. December 13.

UK employees who completed the FI_GM 300 Grants Analysis class and demonstrated competency are eligible for the Grants Analysis role. Their information/access will be automatically loaded this evening. No other action is required.

New Report Transaction available

With the release of the Grants Analysis role comes a new report transaction – GMAVCOVRW. This report is similar to the FRS screen 019.  GMAVCOVRW will display budget and actual expenses by sponsored class.

Variant News for S_ALN_01000003

Users should be aware of EXP_ONLY, a variant that will display budget and expenses by line item. This variant excludes conversion and revenue sponsored classes.

Ledger Simulation ready for viewing
12/05/05

The BW Intro to Ledgers simulation provides step-by-step instructions for producing four basic Business Warehouse reports: Ledger Summary, Ledger Detail, Grant Summary, and Grant Detail.  Information on how to fill in variables, obtain desired detail in a summary report, and export data to Excel is included.