Emory University reached a notable milestone on 8/31/13 when we achieved the status of no delinquent financial reports on sponsored programs.  Thanks to everyone throughout the University who contributed to this major accomplishment!

Going forward, it will be important that we continue to ensure that all of our reports are submitted on time.   First and foremost, we want to ensure that we are in compliance with the terms and conditions of the agreements we accept.  Beyond this, we want to avoid A133 findings and, given the recent changes announced by NIH (Click here to access a recent article regarding the NIH changes.) we will be at risk of losing funding if we do not ensure that our financial reports and invoices are submitted by the required due date.

For most awards, the requirement is that the local administrator has reviewed the project and ensured that all charges are on the project by 60 days following the end date (but some awards, including subawards, need to be handled more quickly to meet earlier reporting and invoicing deadlines).  From this point, OGCA can prepare and submit the FFR or final invoice.  Some local administrators have expressed some concern about what or how they should prepare, as well as, the time it takes to pull all the information together.  I am happy to announce that on October 8, a tool will be made available to assist administrators in doing this analysis in a simplified manner.  The tool is called “ARRT – Award Reconciliation and Review Tool”.  It was developed jointly by BPI and OGCA as part of the preparation for RAS.  The key objectives for the development of this tool were:

• Reduce the time and simplify the process taken to collect and analyze relevant financial records
• Reduce errors and the need for rework
• Create a standardized format for documenting adjustments made to award data in Compass and communicating the justification
• Reduce time taken by central Office of Grants & Contracts to review reconciliations and finalize or prepare the FFR

As we recently looked at the need to streamline the financial reporting process, this tool was identified as something that could also benefit those outside of RAS Units.  Rather than making this available only to RAS Unit staff, this tool will be made available to all Emory administrators.  Training will be provided for this tool by OGCA beginning in October.  Training covers how to use the tool and provides an in depth overview of the review and reconciliation process required at the end of an award.  Registration is currently available in LMS and is titled Award Review and Reconciliation Tool.

While attending a training session is strongly recommended, there will also be other online training guides and aides becoming available over the upcoming weeks.  Use of the Tool for ended award review and reconciliation is expected to become mandatory on April  1.  This tool is expected to save time and be of high assistance in completing the necessary award review and reconciliation.

The Tool has been built in Excel and has the following tabs:

• A total award tab that aggregates every project, including manual adjustments.
• A tab for each project that looks somewhat similar to the existing SPP2242 report.
• Two tabs that summarize all projects on the award
• A tab that shows subtotals by account code for each project on the award.
• A tab with all transactions on the award.
• A tab that lists all account codes and those that are questionable as direct costs on a grant

The Project tabs have the following features:

• Data for Budget, G/L Actuals, Encumbrances & Project Resources in two date ranges for each
• A filter that lists expense account codes that are normally disallowed as direct charges to federal grants.
  (e.g. alcohol, employee parking, facilities, general office supplies, etc.)
• A filter that lists direct expenses normally excluded from the F&A calculation.
  The list of account codes ‘normally excluded’ will be stored in the template and easily edited by the user.
  Any expenses on the list of normally excluded will be displayed on each project tab.
• Columns for manual adjustments on each project tab, with automatic roll-up to the Award tab.
• Manual adjustments clearly identified so that corresponding journal entries can be made in Compass.

Training will be offered throughout the fall and into the early winter.  It is recommended that if you are responsible for the post award administration of awards with upcoming end dates, you register soon so that you can take advantage of the benefits and functionality of this new tool.