Close-out of Sponsored Program Accounts

This memorandum provides guidance and procedures to be followed for adjustments to sponsored projects and the write-off of overdrafts and disallowances as provided in policies 2002-25 (PDF) and 2002-34 (PDF).

The grants office (fiscal services/research) is responsible for preparing and filing required fiscal reports to awarding agencies. As part of that responsibility the grants office may also perform special reviews and issue reports to sponsoring agencies. In doing so, these procedures should be followed:

The fiscal report is prepared and forwarded to the PI/other responsible person for review and approval.

In preparing the report, the grants office will identify adjustments that are required to be made. These adjustments may represent allowable cost transfers to other sponsored programs and/or unallowable expenses represented by budget overruns and other charges that are not allowed under the terms of the agreement.

The PI/other responsible person must review and approve the fiscal report and return a signed copy to the grants office together with the transfer document and other required documentation to support the transfer of expenses.

The grants office will review the documentation and file the report, based on the documentation received, which may require the department to obtain additional approvals from the Chair and/or Dean’s office.

The PI/other responsible person must follow through and make sure the additional approvals are obtained and original documents returned to the grants office.

The approved transfer documents must be received within 30 business days after the fiscal report is filed. Failure to do this will result in the adjustment being transferred to the department DCAA account.

In instances when salary and fringe expense must be transferred to a DCAA account, the grants office will prepare and process a reallocation (REAL) entry.

In instances when supplies and other expenses must be transferred, the grants office will prepare and process a transfer voucher.

The above procedure should also be followed when expenses are charged to an FRS account after the fiscal report has been filed or after the account is closed. The grants office will notify the responsible person in the department/center and if the approved transfer documentation is not received within 30 days of notification, the grants office will charge the department/center DCAA account.