Department Administrator Session #15

February 4, 2015

Agenda• Update - Tri-Agencies Monitoring Review• March 31st Reminders

– Review accounts– AAFC– CFI

• Tri-Council Year End March 31, 2015– General Email to Researcher– Grants ending Mar 31/15

• Reminder – Invoicing from Research Awards• General Research Fund (GRF)• Case studies• Next Session

Update - Tri-Agencies Monitoring Review

• UofG Responses were sent back to Tri-Agencies on January 30th

• Will speak in more detail at the next session about impacts/changes at UofG and implementation plans.

• Here is a high level summary about UofG’s proposed plan

Update – Tri Agency Monitoring Review (continued)

• At the suggestion of Tri-Agencies to review the model set up at USask, UofG will follow a similar model

Update – Tri Agency Monitoring Review (continued)

• Delegation of Authority– New form for Initiation of expense

• Institutional Review for Compliance and Expense Eligibility (especially Pcards and Internal Stores)– Additional audit reviews by RFS– Stay tuned for more details regarding Institutional

Review for other types of transactions• CIHR Research Allowances

– Move from Controller’s office to Research Office.– Will be treated similar to other Tri-Agency awards

Update - Tri-Agencies Monitoring Review• The main areas of the review that require action by UofG are:

– Delegation of Authority• Dept. Administrators can not be a delegate

– Continue with current process until UofG can implement the new plan. The suggested time frame to Tri-Agencies was Dec 2015.

• A new form will be coming and more communication will follow– Compliance

• UofG needs to ensure there is an Institutional Reviewer for all types of transactions (someone other than the Grant Leader or Delegate). For two specific types of transactions (noted below), UofG must clearly articulate its plan;

– Pcards– Internal Stores/Internal Charges

• RFS will begin to sample these types of transactions and do an audit of the selected transactions to ensure it is compliant and the expense is eligible.

• More communication to follow– CIHR Research allowances

• Currently administered through the Controller’s office and this will be shifted to the Office of Research and Research Financial Services

– An account will be set up the same as any other Tri-Agency award within Fund 301– Emerging Certificates

• The Office of Research (Research Support Services) will be addressing this issue

Major Reporting Deadline is March 31

• Review your accounts before March-31• AAFC

1. Forecasting2. Change your payroll account to Yr. 33. Report before year-end4. In-kind Reporting

Upcoming March 31st Reminder – CFI awards

• Lee Bennard will be sending a message to all CFI Account Holders and the respective Department Administrator to remind you– to process your transactions prior to March 31st to

have it included in the current year financial report

– Provide any documentation to Christa Aljoe that may be outstanding

Tri-Council Year End March 31, 2015

• Fiscal Year End Mar 31/15 email will be sent to all researchers reminding them of Year end reporting requirements

– To ensure accuracy of Statement of Account reporting (F300), please process all pending Tri-council purchases and transactions prior to March 2015.

Tri-Council Award Ending March 31, 2015

• For grants ending March 31, 2015, the grant leader will receive the following e-mail and the department administrator will be copied on this message

As you are aware, your NSERC/SSHRC/CIHR grant (UofG grant # 4xxxxx) is ending 31-Mar-2015 (including any extension). No new expenses or previously committed expenses can be charged to this grant after 31-Mar-2015.

Please make sure all your eligible expenses are charged and processed in your grant before 31-Mar-2015. Please make sure the grant does not have any deficit in it. Please be aware that if there is a surplus left in the grant, it will be transferred to UofG's NSERC/SSHRC GRF account (or returned to CIHR).

Tri-Council Year End March 31, 2015

• All researchers with an open Tri-Agency account– will receive general email regarding year end reporting

requirements.• Researchers with grants ending Mar 31/15

(including any extension)– Will receive an email to remind them of their grant end

date and ensure the expenses are processed prior to Mar 31/15

– RFS will follow up with A/P to see if it is possible to state an earlier date (such as submit to A/P by March 15th) to ensure processing by March 31st

NSERC/SSHRC General Research Fund (GRF)

• Tri-Council will approve the surplus balance to UOG GRF

• Researcher will apply for a GRF grant• New GRF grant will be set up (same Tri-council

rules apply)• Please consider the following scenario

NSERC/SSHRC General Research Fund (GRF)

• Researcher had a SSHRC Insight Grant with an end date of Mar 31/15. This date includes the 1 yr automatic extension.

• The balance on Mar 31/15 is a surplus of $5,000 with no commitments

• Final F300 submitted to Tri-Agencies shows surplus balance of $5,000

• Researcher applies to Office of Research and was awarded a GRF award in the amount of $5,000

• A new GRF grant was opened with a start date of April 1/15• Supply invoice dated Apr 30/15 for $500 is sent to you by the

researcher with instruction to charge the expense to their SSHRC Insight grant.

• What should you do?

NSERC/SSHRC General Research Fund (GRF)

• Although the SSHRC Insight Grant may still exist in FRS, the April 30th transaction of $500 is an ineligible expense for the SSHRC Insight Grant and should be recorded in the new GRF grant

• After submission of the F300 to the Tri-Agencies, they will approve the surplus balance be transferred into the UofG GRF– RFS will prepare this transfer– The SSHRC Insight Grant will then be closed in FRS

NSERC/SSHRC General Research Fund (GRF)

• Proposal: admins can email RFS to close the account to ensure no transactions are posted to old grant

• RFS will look into the idea of closing these accounts once March 31st passes to help simplify the process

Invoicing for Research Accounts

• General reminder that all invoicing that is to be deposited to a research account should be done by Research Financial Services

• If the amount is less than $5K and will be deposited in the GPR account than the invoice can be done by the department

Case Study#1 Paying Outstanding Commitments

Dr. Adam King has received NSERC Engage grant. The term of the grant is for 6 months (from January 1, 2014 to June 30, 2014). Dr. King hired a graduate student for a 6 month period and has asked you to setup a payroll starting April 1, 2014 until September 30, 2014. Due to some unforeseen reasons, the student was not hired on the start date of the grant. In addition, following are some of the expenses charged to this grant:

Please note that as per Engage grant guideline “A grace period of one month is allowed for the purpose of paying outstanding commitments”

Please list issues or observations you notice in the above case.

Type and cost of Expense Order Date Invoice Date Material

received Date Payment Date

Lab supplies A ($500)

May 20, 2014 June 27, 2014 June 29, 2014 July 5, 2014

Lab supplies B ($850)

July 02, 2014 July 12, 2014 July 15, 2014 July 21, 2014

Case Study#1 Paying Outstanding Commitments

RFS NotesPayroll:• August and September payroll expenses are ineligible• We learned from our recent conversation with NSERC that July payroll would actually be ineligible too

– As per Tri-council message, “the institution should have the mechanism in place to ensure the salaries/stipends are paid up to the end date of the award/grant…”.

– Tri-Agencies are making a distinction between: • end date

– which allows new expenses and commitments to be incurred• grace period

– which allows time for previous incurred expenses to be processed – NO new expenses to be incurred

– RFS will get more definite answer on this and communicate it with researchers and department admins

• If payroll goes beyond grant end date, the researcher can request for an extension from NSERC

Lab Supplies:• Lab supplies A are eligible expenses as they were ordered and received before grant end date and the

payment is considered as paying outstanding commitments in grace period• Lab supplies B are ineligible expenses as the order date, invoice date, material received date and the

payment date is after the grant end date

#2 Researcher Leaving UOG• On Jan 5, 2015 you learned that Dr. Jeff McDonald has accepted a

position at University of Waterloo and his last day at UofG is January 31, 2015. Dr. McDonald holds following grants at UofG.

FRS summary as of 31-Jan-2015

What actions would you take in this case?

Case Study

Grant Start Date

End date

Award Amount Revenue Expen

ses

Proj-to-date actual

balance

Commitments

Total Balance Notes

CRC01-Apr-2014

31-Mar-2019

500,000 100,000 80,000 $20,000 10,000(Payroll) $10,000

Payroll COMM until 31-May-15

NSERC Engage Grant

01-Sep-2014

28-Feb-2015 25,000 25,000 27,000 -2,000 3,000

(Equip.) -$5,000

NSERC Discov. Grant

01-Apr-2014

31-Mar-2019

200,000 40,000 45,000 -5,000 5,000(Payroll) -$10,000

Payroll COMM until 31-May-15

GPR Acct.

01-Apr-14 - - 50,000 40,000 10,000 0 $10,000

Case Study

#2 Researcher Leaving UOG

RFS notes:

• We didn’t mention this in our session but the first thing that should happen is that the Office of Research and Research Financial Services should be informed about Jeff’s resignation– http

://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Professors-Professeurs/FinancialAdminGuide-GuideAdminFinancier/AnnualFunding-FinancementAnnuel_eng.asp#continuing

• the institution must notify the Agency……………as soon as a grantee's eligibility changes at any time during tenure of the grant.

CRC:• Will end January 31, 2015• Jeff can get up to 6 months of phase out period from CRC to charge commitments (made

prior to 31-Jan-2015) for Operating costs. No more salary costs will be incurred in the CRC Salary account.

• Tri-agencies commitment form - F303 (prepared by researcher) should capture all commitments made prior to the departure date (max. up to $20,000 – actual balance on that day)

• Unspent balance after the 6 months phase out period (31-Jul-2015) will be returned to CRC

Case Study

#2 Researcher Leaving UOG

RFS notes:

Engage Grant:• Remove over-expenditures (of $2,000) and remove commitments• Grant will be closed.

NSERC Discovery Grant:• As per NSERC - Because Jeff has received full 14/15 payment, no more payment will be received from NSERC. In order

to close the grant, there are two options: (1) Move over-expenditures to other account or (2) Invoice UWaterloo for $10K

• Speak with Jeff to understand if any students are transferring with the researcher• RFS is going to inquire with NSERC on why we cannot get portion ($10K) of the next year’s (15/16) installment at

UofG since these were eligible costs that incurred as part of the project.• Should we advise researchers to only spend their annual award amount

– There is an expectation that researchers spend according to their budget and ideally they would only spend up to their annual award amount.

– That being said, there is an understanding that some situations may lead themselves to a positions where a person spends slightly ahead or behind their budget and as long as that is acceptable to the sponsor and UofG than we can only suggest that the researcher spend within reason of their budget. If they have spent a small portion of their following years installment, probably not an issue. However, if they spent a significant portion of their following years installment (or greater) than that should be flagged as an issue with the researcher.

GPR account:• Transfer balance to department and close GPR account.

Case Study

#3 – Change of Status Dr. Mike Smith was awarded an NSERC Discovery grant on April 1, 2012. The length of this award is 5 years with an end date of March 31, 2017. In April 2012, Dr. Smith hired a Post-Doc Chris Kelly to assist with his research. Chris will be on payroll until March 31, 2015. Effective April 1, 2015 Chris will receive a 3 year CL faculty position at UofG. Dr. Smith wants to continue paying Chris from his grant. Please list any issues with the above scenario.

Case Study

#3 – Change of Status

RFS Notes:

• Post-doc position for 3 years maximum: Was Chris hired from outside Canada and did Dr. Smith provide written justification to hire Chris? If one of the answers is “No” Chris can only be paid maximum for 2 years.

– http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Professors-Professeurs/FinancialAdminGuide-GuideAdminFinancier/FundsUse-UtilisationSubventions_eng.asp - (look under stipends section)

– If Dr. Smith wants to continue paying Chris beyond the 2 years then Chris could be charged as something other than Post Doc (for e.g. Support Staff, etc).

• Chris is eligible to apply and hold tri-council funds effective April 1, 2015 because he has a contract position of 3 years. Therefore, he cannot be paid from Tri-agencies’ grants

• http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/NSERC-CRSNG/Eligibility-Admissibilite/faculty-corpsprof_eng.asp - (Look under Eligibility Criteria for Applicants and Co-Applicants section)

• http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Professors-Professeurs/FinancialAdminGuide-GuideAdminFinancier/FundsUse-UtilisationSubventions_eng.asp - (Look under ‘Non-eligible expense’ heading of Compensation-Related Expenses category

– We did not discuss this but if Chris was hired on a 1 year or 2 year contract (something less than 3 years) than he is not eligible to hold any research awards so he could remain on the account.

• Therefore, the last day of payroll for Chris should be March 31, 2015

Case Study

#4 – Computers, Smart phones, Software etc. & NSERC RTI grant

Researcher Christine Jones wants to purchase an IPhone5 with 3 year data plan from Rogers Wireless (wireless and data plan). The reason Dr. Jones required this purchase is that she needs a cellphone to check e-mails and to communicate with her students while travelling for conferences. Phone interviews with news channels are also conducted during travel. Dr. Jones wants to charge this expense to her NSERC Discovery grant which commenced on April 1, 2014.

In addition, Dr. Jones has a NSERC RTI grant which commenced Jan 1, 2015 for $90,000 for the purchase of Computerized Touchscreen Operant Chambers. The actual invoice received from the supplier was approximately $200 less than the award amount. Dr. Jones submitted receipts for an Antivirus Software ($100) which she intends to install on her laptop (which was purchased last year from her NSERC Discovery grant) and chemical supplies ($100). These expenses are to be charged to the NSERC RTI grant which will zero and close out the grant.

What are the implications/issues with the expenses mentioned above?

Case Study

#4 – Computers, Smart phones, Software etc. & NSERC RTI grant

RFS Notes

iPhone5 and data plan purchase• For iPhone 5 and data plan, a researcher needs to provide

adequate justification before purchase. If we (RFS) have see similar case previously and if we know the obvious answer, we would approve/disapprove the expenses. Otherwise, we would forward the justification to Tri-council for their approval.– http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Professors-Professeurs/FinancialAdminGuide-G

uideAdminFinancier/FundsUse-UtilisationSubventions_eng.asp - (See ‘Computers and Electronic Communications’ section)

Case Study

#4 – Computers, Smart phones, Software etc. & NSERC RTI grant

RFS Notes

Expenses in RTI grants• RTI grants must be used to purchase only the specific type of equipment for

which the grant was awarded. • http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Professors-Professeurs/RTII-OIRI/RTI-OIR_eng.asp -

(See ‘Description’ section – paragraph 4)

• For the above reason, the Antivirus software and chemical supplies are ineligible expense for RTI grant

• In addition to this, we cannot charge the Antivirus software to other NSERC grants as it’s not specialized software required for research. – http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Professors-Professeurs/FinancialAdminGuide-Guid

eAdminFinancier/FundsUse-UtilisationSubventions_eng.asp - (See ‘Computers and Electronic Communications’ section)

Next Session

• Suggested Topics• Suggested Case studies• Next Session Date

– We will schedule something for early March and the one following that will be in May