Setting Up Admin Budgets
Before any expenditures can be processed, the unit financial officer must request a new fund number from the Research Accounting Office. This is done through an IBIS form (AURA). Your unit Financial Officer (FO) will need a copy of the PIAF or AIAF and the contract. In addition, the principle investigator, as well as any co-investigators, will need to supply the FO with their Penn State identification numbers. This information is needed to complete the IBIS form. Once the fund number is assigned, another IBIS form (BARA) is generated by the finance office to set the budget for the fund. The budget in IBIS must match the budget obtained within the contract or grant agreement.
Please note: Advanced funds can be set up prior to the signed agreement but this practice is highly discouraged within Outreach.
Cost centers will be established within the contract parameters to ensure invoicing format requirements.
Budget Calendars
The University fiscal year begins July 1 and ends June 30. Restricted funds do not have to follow the same fiscal year guidelines. In fact, the terms of the contract will determine the restricted fund’s contract period.
Research Accounting
Your unit finance office will maintain communication with the Research Accounting Office. Typically it is Research Accounting (RA) that generates, submits, and tracks any invoicing requirements of the contract. Occasionally, when the invoicing requirements are burdensome to the RA office, the unit finance office will generate the invoice. This type of arrangement is rare. When it does occur the invoice generated by the unit finance office must match the totals reported by Research Accounting.
Budget Changes/Amendments
Occasionally, after there is a signed agreement, changes need to be made to the original budget. Typically these kinds of changes cannot be made without the sponsoring agencies prior approval. A formal request will have to be made within the parameters of the contract. The unit financial officer will work with the principal investigator, upon the PI's request, to generate a new budget for submission. A revised BARA will need to be generated by the finance office to account for the budget changes. In general, state agencies will allow you to move 10 percent without an amendment, but there are times when they will require one for any changes, or they may request written notification of the move(s). Amendments can significantly slow down the speed by which the University is reimbursed for project expenses and can disrupt the project execution.
Subsequently Available Funds
The sponsoring agency on occasion may offer additional funding to expand the scope of work to a current contract. A budget amendment would need to be generated in this situation. A secondary AIAF will need to be generated for the additional funds and a revised BARA will be generated by the finance office.
No-Cost Extensions
At either the sponsor's direction or the principal investigator's appeal, a no-cost extension can be requested. In this situation a budget revision is not needed.
Budget Cuts
- With some contracts, governmental especially, the language states that subsequent budgets may be reduced based on the availability of funding. Basically, this means that the budget can be reduced by the sponsoring agency at any point throughout the contract.
Any verbal notifications of budget cuts should be followed up with written documentation. A revised budget and scope of work will need to be generated by the principal investigator.
Budget Closeout
The contract will specify a begin and an end date. Upon reaching the end date of the contract, the Research Accounting Office sends an "Authorization to Close" request to the unit financial officer. The finance office will contact the PI to ensure that all expenditures have been posted to the budget. Typically, the contract language includes a period of time after the close date that expenses have to be posted to the account or a date in which the final invoice must be submitted to the sponsor. It is the PI's responsibility to make sure that all expenses have enough time to be processed before this date. Any expenses incurred and/or posted after the budget has been closed will have to be posted to a general funds budget.
Reporting
Financial
Each individual contract will define what the reporting requirements are to the sponsor. The University has no default report that is required of all agreements but may request something specific on a case-by-case basis. Unit directors may also require some type of report on a routine basis.
Project Updates
The reporting requirements are often clarified in the Request for Proposals or the actual agreement. Often you will have both fiscal and project execution reports. For federal projects, completing reports on time is a high-stakes issue and can threaten the University's ability to collect payment for projects other than your own.
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