Manage Award

Summary

The award management process begins once you have met your funding source's compliance requirements, the program provisions are complete, and once the award is available and set up in PeopleSoft.

Throughout the project term, some of the following changes may occur:

Changes in key personnel
Award end dates
Budgeted amounts
International travel
Specialized equipment

The UTSW financial system must reflect accurate award limitations and restrictions. This critical stage receives regular audits throughout the project life cycle.

How to Manage Your Award

Get Started with Accuracy

Confirm Award Details

Review your Grant Notification Report (GNR) to confirm that your award details are accurate and let SPA know of any issues you might need to be addressed.
Ensure an Accurate Budget

Verify funding to ensure accuracy of your setup-fees budget, award start date, and payments received for incremental budget increases.

Review the terms and conditions listed in the negotiated agreement. Contact SPA through ServiceNow to correct inaccuracies.
Confirm Compliance Requirements

Confirm compliance requirements such as spending, reporting, and disclosures throughout each project stage. Failure to obtain an approved Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) or Institutional Review Board (IRB) protocol may result in restricted funding categories and delay in proceeding with projects as anticipated.
Monitor Subrecipients

Make sure your agreement is executed and a purchase order has been created. Check with your subrecipient to ensure they are invoicing on a regular basis. Monitor your purchase order, encumbrance balance, and accounts payable on the SCi005 - Invoices Vouchered by Accounts Payable report in Orbit.
Source Your Employees

Source your employees working on your project and review regularly for updates.

Ongoing Review for Your Success

Review Encumbrances

Regularly review your monthly encumbrances to ensure SPA can accurately help you manage your award. Work with Accounts Payable, Purchasing, and SPA’s Contracts Team to clear obstacles for your award.
Review Budget Errors

Review your Chart of Accounts (COA) to ensure you are using the correct information that pertains to your specific award. If the COA is inaccurate, contact SPA’s Clinical Trial Finance team for assistance with your budget error.
Review Expenditures

Review expenditures ensuring all study costs are captured and any needed cost transfers are completed. Making necessary corrections in a proactive manner allows for addressing issues earlier in the financial management stage, rather than at the end of the award. We recommend monthly financial reviews.
Control Deficit Spending

Control deficit/over-the-limit (OLT) spending of the project's total funded amount.
Communicate Early Terminations and Relinquishments

Communicate early terminations and relinquishments to SPA by submitting a ServiceNow ticket.

Incorporate Best Practices

Submit Award Amendments

Enter all award amendments to SPA through ServiceNow and provide the correct award modification type. The UTSW financial system must reflect accurate award limitations and restrictions.
Invoice for Industry Clinical Trial

These invoices (not billed in PeopleSoft) should contain the award number, project ID, PI name, and full study title (not abbreviated). The startup invoices are billed in Velos.
Use Accurate Identifiers for Cash Management

Use your award number (award number begins with OPA) as an identifier if you are creating your own invoices within the Department for easier cash applications. Please do not include the department invoice.
Create a Financial Management Process

Form a system for managing your project's financial, human resource, and operational aspects.
Examine Scientific Progress

Observe scientific progress throughout the project and report necessary modifications with the sponsor for approval when pertinent.
Prepare for Site Visits

You will need to maintain a study binder with protocol-related activities, updates, study-activity progress, and upcoming visits. Make sure your records are up to date by ensuring collection supplies are not expired, visit logs are complete, and consent forms are up to date.

Financial Reporting Process

Our Clinical Trial Finance team manages start-up billing and invoicing for clinical trials, ClinCard administration, and clinical trial budget reviews and maintenance in collaboration with a designated department administrator. Managing these processes include the following tasks:

Complete Agreement

Complete Service Order Agreement (SOA) for affiliate research.
Identify Subjects and Enroll Patients

Identify subjects and enroll patients in Velos for clinical trials.
Finalize Budget Negotiations

Finalize budget negotiations with sponsors.
Report Expenses

Report clinical trial expenses to SPA.
Finalize Clinical Trial Agreement

Execute final Clinical Trial Agreement (CTA) in conjunction with SPA’s Industry Contracts team.
Submit ClinCard Forms

Submit a Request Form via ClinresClinCard@utsouthwestern.edu for access to the ClinCard system.
Request ClinCard Waivers

Request all ClinCard waivers via ClinresClinCard@utsouthwestern.edu.

How to Manage Financial Reporting

Review Agreement Documents

Periodically review your agreement documents to ensure that you know upcoming due dates and check your project ahead of the grant year-end dates for any reconciliation or cleanup your award might need.
Review Expenses Incurred During Performance Period

Review all expenses incurred within the period of performance for allowability. Your department needs to ensure all expense invoicing has been received. If there is a subcontract, the department should ensure all invoices have been received for financial reporting during the period.
Transfer Disallowed Personnel Expenses

Transfer any disallowed personnel expenses by the direct retro process for Maintenance Award group approval. If disallowed other expenses, transfer off using the non-salary cost transfer (NSCT) tool.
Review Encumbrances

Review encumbrances and, if necessary, work with Purchasing to clear them.
Use the Financial Reporting Template

Ensure that your team uses an accurate sponsor financial report template for reporting. If your department receives the template from the sponsor, please send it to the SPA Reporting team.
Request a No-cost Extension, if Needed

If you are going to request a no-cost extension, please notify SPA through ServiceNow.
Review and Approval

Once the SPA Reporting team has completed the financial report, using the eGrants process, the financial report will be sent to the PI/Department for review and approval signature.
Certify and Submit to Sponsor

After the PI has uploaded the report and performed the certification in eGrants, the report will route to the Financial Officer for approval and submission to the sponsor.

Terms and Definitions

Award Budget: An estimate of income and expenses for a set period during a research project.
Award Documents: Documentation from the sponsor (including terms and conditions) describing the financial contribution to support a project.
Budget Period: The period during which authorized funds may be spent, per the Notice of Award (NOA).
Direct Retro (Salary Cost Transfer): The transfer of a payroll expense between accounts.
Non-Salary Cost Transfers (NSCTs): An expense transferred between accounts after the expense was recorded in the UT Southwestern financial accounting system.

View All Terms & Definitions

Expert Tips

How to Be a Good Steward of Your Award

What should I do if a funding source sends me a check?

If you receive a check from a funding source, please do not send it through interoffice mail. We ask that you send the funds to the Accounting Cash Management Window and include the award and invoice number.

You will also need to review the allocated amount to ensure your budget is increased based on the cash receipt and monitor your deficit spending.
How can I locate my funds?

If there are funds that you believe have been received from the Sponsor but have not yet been applied to your Chart of Accounts (COA), please review the Unapplied Cash Spreadsheet.
What should I do when I want to close out my clinical trial or study?

Notify SPA through ServiceNow when the award should be closed prior to the performance award end date.

Notify SPA through ServiceNow when the department receives a closeout notification and let us know if the project or award should remain open for any reason.
How do I manage monthly budget changes?

During the award performance period, the department is responsible for managing monthly budget changes to ensure an accurate clinical trial/study budget, confirm award start and end dates, and review your award budget monthly. You must view your funding details each month. For additional assistance and guidance, please consult with the Clinical Trial Accounting team.
How do I manage indirect cost funding shortfalls?

UT Southwestern policy states that the Institution will fully recover the costs (direct and indirect) associated with conducting research or providing services under sponsored agreements and contracts.

A shortfall can occur when the sponsor (funding source) does not pay enough indirect costs to meet the 10 percent requirement mandated by UT Southwestern (for non-industry-sponsored grants and contracts).

During the agreement proposal stage, an unrestricted departmental COA String must capture the 10 percent indirect cost shortfall. You must enter this information in eAgreements in section 12.0.
How do I manage Clinical Trial Agreement (CTA) revisions?

SPA’s Industry Agreements team will review and approve all sponsor clinical trial agreement changes through ServiceNow.