Project Management

Objectives

• • • Understand the roles and responsibilities for grants management Provide tips and tools for the day-to-day tasks involved Discuss the most commonly misunderstood concepts

Decentralized vs. Centralized

• • Decentralized means that the department has more control over the financial management of the project It also means the department has more responsibility for the financial outcome of the project

Stages

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Proposal Preparation

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Pre-award

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Post-award

Proposal Preparation

• Assist the Principal Investigator with budget preparation • Review proposal routing form for: –Budget Accuracy –Cost sharing –Subawards

Pre-Award/Post Submission

• • • Award Release – Award notifications must go through the Central Office – All updates of pending grants must go through the Central Office Advance Account Setups – Strongly encouraged to prevent expenses from hitting the wrong account Subaward management

Post-Award

• • • • • • • • • • • Grant Account Setups Procurement Reporting Staff Funding Allocations Amended Payroll Certification (APC) Review Expenditures Budget Modifications Miscellaneous Billing Grant Transfers Subaward Management Account Closeout

Grant Account Setups

• Establish Signature Authority • Review grant award and confirm that the proposed budget and awarded budget match • Provide Cost Share account when required

Procurement

• • • • • Ensure that purchased items are considered allowable costs to the grant Purchased items must be received during the grant period Use the correct G/L or expense object code Know the threshold for capital equipment (UAMS is $2,500).

Ensure that all purchases are received and paid for before the project period expires

Reporting

• • • Grant Financial Summary Reports Grant Financial Detail Reports The department grant manger is responsible for ensuring that reports are distributed to the Principal Investigator in a timely manner

Staff Funding Allocations

• • • • Review the personnel listed in the grant proposal Verify with the Principal Investigator the percent of effort for all grant personnel Significant changes should be reported to the funding agency as soon as possible The grants manager should review the staff benefit reports on a monthly basis to verify the correct personnel have been charged to the grant

Salary Corrections

• Salary corrects must correspond to the effort reported on the grant • Correction to salary are not allowed for the purpose of spending down the grant funds

Review Expenditures

• Procurement Issues – Each month review IDTs, service center charges, and rechargeable services – Compare budget to actual expenses – Review open purchase orders – Notify rechargeable services when the account number changes – Interdepartmental transfers must be done in a timely manner

Review Expenditures (cont.)

• Compliance Issues – All prior approval requests must be submitted to the funding agency – Comply with institutional procedures – Forward all grant agency communication and decisions to the central office when required – Cost share must be reviewed monthly as well

Review Expenditures (cont.)

• • F&A Cost Postings – Review F&A cost postings each month MTDC – capital equipment, patient care costs, scholarships, fellowships, trainee costs, and subcontracts in excess of 25,000

Review Expenditures (cont.)

• Cost Transfers – Reasonable, allocable, consistent treatment – Transfers to NIH grants by grantees should be done within 90 days of when the error was discovered – Know the rules of the granting agency and the institution regarding allowability of cost transfers

Budget Modifications

• • • Track budget revisions Must be authorized by the Principal Investigator Some grants require prior approval for all budget revisions

Miscellaneous Billing

• • • Grants Accounting is responsible for billing on most accounts Invoicing must be done according to the requirements of the grantor Grants Accounting is generally responsible for ensuring that the invoices have been sent and that payments have been received for reimbursement

Grant Transfers

• Between Departments – When a PI transfers to another department – administration of the PI’s grants also transfers – The current Department Administrator should contact the new Department Administrator to facilitate the transfer – The central office may need to be notified when a transfer is occurring – All cost share issues should be resolved prior to the transfer

Grant Transfers (cont.)

• From Institution to a New Institution – Complete a Relinquishing Statement (PHS 3734) for NIH grants – Provide a Cost Summary Report to Grants Accounting – Grants Accounting will do the FSR – Prepare an inventory list of all UAMS tagged equipment purchased on the grant

Grant Transfers (cont.)

• To Institution from another Institution – Obtain a copy of the Relinquishing Statement – Prepare an new application – Transfer subcontracts – Possibly set up an Advance Account

Subaward Management

• • • Proposal Stage – Subawards should be incorporated into the proposal Post-award Stage – Prepare subaward agreement – Create a Purchase Requisition – Technical Monitoring Closeout – Final payment made before CSR completed

Account Closeout

• • • Cost Summary Report is the Key Make sure everything is received an paid for by the end of the project period Prepare the final invoice for payment within the terms of the award

Tips and Tools

• • • • • Reconciliation of expenses Commitment management Personnel management Rebudgeting Inventory

Questions?