The Office for Sponsored Programs liaises with external sponsors on award negotiation and acceptance while ensuring institutional and regulatory compliance. OSP also facilitates all post-award administrative changes throughout the project. OSP routes all awards, amendments, and post-award changes to Contract & Grant Accounting for financial account set-up.
Contract & Grant Accounting assists when any financial changes are made throughout the life of a research project. If a faculty member is contacted by the sponsor for award fiscal review, please contact CGA.
Data Management & Reporting
Subawards
- Procurement Services Guidelines: These are professional services for external sources do no qualify as a subrecipient (i.e., vendor, consultant, contractual service, etc.).
- Subrecipient Monitoring (Video): Principal Investigator (PI) PI’s have the primary responsibility for subrecipient monitoring; maintaining regular contact with the subrecipient’s PI; monitoring subrecipient’s technical and programmatic activities; and collecting, reviewing and retaining subrecipient’s technical/performance reports as required by the terms of the subaward.
- University Guidelines for Subrecipient Monitoring
International Travel
Financial Forms
- Contract and Grant Tuition Form
- Cost Transfer Request Form: Complete this form for cost transfers on sponsored projects, and attach it to the correcting journal voucher or ePA. All cost transfers require supporting documentation of the expense being transferred.
- Signature Authority Form
- Other Financial Accounting Forms
Reporting
Effort Reporting
The University of Alabama (UA) employs an after-the-fact effort reporting system as the principal means for certifying that salaries charged to sponsored projects are reasonable and consistent with the portion of total effort committed to sponsored projects.
The effort reporting process allows UA to document that actual effort in direct benefit of sponsored projects is certified and appropriately allocated when considered in the context of all institutional activities. Principal Investigators (PIs) and other faculty and staff paid from sponsored projects must confirm, after the fact, that salaries charged to sponsored projects are consistent with the actual effort that was contributed during the certification period.
Federal Requirements
The federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (2 CFR 200) require that each grantee maintain a system of distributing salary charges to federal awards that results in a reasonable allocation to each award. The salary distribution system must include a periodic review to confirm the reasonableness of salary charges to federal projects.
Internal Controls
Contract & Grant Accounting manages the Effort Reporting System (ERS) and process to ensure that faculty, student, and staff salaries charged to externally sponsored grants and contracts are reviewed and certified.
UA policies and procedures set forth internal controls on effort reporting that comply with federal regulations. The actual effort devoted to each sponsored project during the certification period must be the determining factor in allocating the appropriate salaries to those sponsored projects.
All employees involved in certifying effort must be aware of these requirements and the importance of compliance. As a reminder, sponsored effort committed during the academic year cannot be deferred or “charged” to the summer period.
- Additional resources and access to the Effort Reporting System (under Post-Award)
- Effort Reporting Procedures
Technical or Progress Reports
Refer to the award document for the frequency and type of report required by the sponsor. Progress reports provide an overview of the status, advancements, and achievements of the project and any challenges or obstacles that have occurred.
Financial Reports
Financial reports are prepared by Contract & Grant Accounting. CGA prepares invoicing and financial reporting to sponsoring agencies in accordance with the terms and conditions defined within each award. Included in this task is the performance of Federal Letter of Credit (LOC) draws and reconciliations.