Managing a Grant Award
Office of Grants & Contracts Accounting
Managing a Grant Award
Award Notification
Fund Authorization
Expenditure Activity: How to Charge Expenses to a Grant
List of Expense Accounts
Monitoring Expenses
Reporting to Sponsors
Negotiation with Sponsors:
Cash Management
Time and Effort Reporting
Teachers College Policies
Award Notification
Upon receipt of an official written notification, fully executed contract, or a check from a sponsor, the Office of Grants & Contracts Accounting will begin the process of establishing the new grant on TC's accounting system, Banner. Please note that the award notice from the sponsor should specify the dollar amount of the award and the project period.
Fund Authorization
A Fund Authorization form will be sent to the project director once the new award is established on Banner. The Fund Authorization form is the official notification from the Office of Grants & Contracts Accounting that a new award has been received and established on our accounting system. It authorizes the project director to begin spending against the grant. The fund authorization lists the index number and provides additional information regarding the awards.
Expenditure Activity: How to Charge Expenses to a Grant
The Index number is the mechanism that TC uses to track expense by project. All expenditures related to a grant must be charged to that index number. Project directors or their staff must verify that the expense is a valid expense for the project and is allowable under the budget submitted to the foundation
Personnel Expenses
- Project directors must work with their department associates and the Human Resources Department to appoint new full-time and part-time staff and graduate assistants to work on a grant. In general, a personnel action form (PAF) must be completed to appoint new staff. The PAF must be submitted through the project director's academic department to the Controllers office. For interim, hourly staff, timesheets must include the index number of the grant.
- To begin a search for new employees, the project director must complete an Authorization to Recruit form. After it is reviewed and approved by the academic department, the form must be submitted to the Personnel Office.
- To redistribute the salaries of existing staff, a Revision of Labor Distribution form must be submitted to the Controller's Office. The project director should sign this form. In addition, the project director should submit a memo to explain, certify, and justify the appropriateness of all retroactive labor redistributions.
Non-Personnel Expenses
- Purchase orders to buy supplies, equipment, or other items may be charged to a grant. The Purchase Order Requisition form must list the index number and be submitted to the Purchasing office.
- Check requests to claim reimbursement for program expenses may be submitted to the accounts payable office. The check request forms must list the index number for the grant.
- Journal voucher forms may be used to transfer actual expenses from one index to another. Journal voucher forms must be signed by the Project Director and should be submitted to the Controller's Office.
- For reimbursement of small amounts of cash, fill out an Office Cash Paid Out Form, get the appropriate signature, and submit it to the cashier for payment.
- Internal charges, such as duplicating, telephone, or postage, which relate to a grant, should list the grant index on the related paperwork. These charges are billed to grant indices monthly.
Transferring Expenses
Transfers of expense can only be made in accordance with sponsor regulations and must be for actual work done and allowed on the grants. Charges charged or transferred from federal sponsors must be certified and justified by the Principal Investigator. Total expenses charged to the grant over total budget must be transferred to another funding source.
a) Salary Transfers from one grant to another grant or index.
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1. Fill out Revision of Labor Distribution, get appropriate signatures, provide a brief memo to explain, certify, and justify why the transfer is appropriate, and submit it to the grants and contract accounting office.
b.) Expense Transfers from one grant to another grant of index
1. Fill out a Departmental Expense Inquiry/Transfer Form, get the appropriate signatures, provide a brief explanation supporting the transfer, and submit it to the grants and contract accounting office.
List of Expense Accounts
It is important to ensure that expenditures are accurately recorded on the College's accounting system in the appropriate general ledger accounts. The attached extract of the College's Chart of Accounts lists all relevant expense accounts. Please refer to this list when preparing paperwork to charge expenses to grants.
Monitoring Expenses
Monthly Reports
Monthly reports, which summarize the current expenditures charged to the grant, will be sent out to the project director and the department administrator each month. The monthly reports include a summary report, a detail report, which provides information on the individual transactions recorded in a given month, and a labor report, which lists all employee salaries charged to a grant during a particular month.
Banner Access
In addition, project directors may request a Banner Account to access the financial records of their grants on a real-time basis. Department administrators are automatically given security to view all grant indices within their department.
Reporting to Sponsors
The Office of Grants & Contracts Accounting works with project directors to ensure compliance with the sponsor's reporting requirements.
a.) The Principal Investigator is responsible for submitting all progress reports related to program, including all narrative reports.
b.) The Office of Grants and Contracts Accounting is responsible for submitting all financial reports and invoices. This will be coordinated with the Principal Investigator or the Budget Administrator.
Negotiation with Sponsors:
Revising the Budget:
If it becomes necessary to incur expenses that were not in the originally approved budget, there are two possible courses of action to be followed:
a.) If sponsor approval and notification is required, a formal request and justification must be submitted to the sponsor in writing. Upon sponsor approval, a copy of the approval notice and a Teachers College Request for a Budget Change Form must be submitted to the Office of Grants and Contracts Accounting for processing.
b.) If sponsor approval or notification is not required, a Teachers College Request for a Budget Change Form must be submitted to the Office of Grants and Contracts Accounting for processing.Grant Extensions:
If it becomes necessary to extend a grant or contract beyond the original termination date, the following course of action may be taken:
a.) If sponsor approval and notification is required, a formal request and justification must be submitted to the sponsor in writing. Upon sponsor approval, a copy of the approval notice and the original extension request submitted to the sponsor must be delivered to the Office of Grants and Contracts Accounting for processing.
b.) If sponsor approval or notification is not required, a formal request with justification must be submitted to the Office of Grants and Contracts Accounting for approval and processing.
Cash Management
Payment from Sponsor
The Office of Grants and Contracts Accounting is responsible for ensuring that the College recovers payment in full for all work done on sponsored projects. All checks received in payment for work done on a grant or contract should be brought to the Office of Grants and Contracts Accounting (422F Thompson Hall). We will ensure that the check is deposited and properly credited to the correct account.
We will notify both the Project Director and the budget administrator if we encounter problems in collecting payment on a grant or contract.
Refund Payments from Vendors
If a refund payment from a vendor is received, please bring the check along with a copy of the original check request used to pay the vendor to the Office of Grants and Contracts Accounting (422F Thompson Hall). We will deposit the check in TC's account and ensure that the refund is properly credited to the correct index and account.
Time and Effort Reporting
Time and Effort Reports are prepared three times a year to certify that the salary amounts charged to a grant or contract correlates to an individual's effort on a specific program. This effort certification is required under federal policies.
Teachers College Policies
All expenditures on grants must be done in accordance with Teachers College's policies. Attached please find links to the college's policies: