Post-award Support

Responsible parties: Project PI, Pati Sluys, Sharon Murphy, Shirley Thompson, Grace Siegel

Monitoring project and fiscal activities, once the funds are awarded and an index assigned, is the responsibility of the principal investigator and/or Sharon Murphy in collaboration with the assigned research accountants, usually Grace Siegel and Shirley Thompson.

• Review award
  Upon receipt of award or amendment, the PI or designee reviews the agreement for special restrictions, start date, end date, cost sharing agreements, and non-financial reporting requirements.

• Initiate Expenses
  Using the award index, the PI or designee initiates transactions necessary to accomplish the tasks/goals of the award.

• Initiate payroll documents
  Upon notification by the PI, Sharon initiates new hire policies and paperwork from HR, and writes letters and processes the appropriate forms to reflect effort expended on the award. These could be notices of appointment for adjunct researchers or adjunct instructors, wage agreements, speaker stipends, and the set-up and approval of electronic timesheets. Pati Sluys initiates and monitors Labor Distribution Forms (LDF) to redistribute current effort to the award.
  HR Forms & Policies

• Initiate Purchase Orders (PO) and Personal Service Contracts (PSC)
  Upon requests from PIs, Sharon Murphy originates a Purchase Order ((PO) long form PSC) or a Personal Service Contract (short form PSC) for all non-payroll encumbrances. Purchase Orders must be entered in Banner to show the budget commitment for subcontracts and PSCs, and routed for signatures from the Project PI, the Department Chair, and the Vendor or Contractor receiving payment. Sharon then photocopies the signed PSC for her records, and routes the original to Shirley Thompson in RA.
  PO (PSC Long Form)
  PSC Short Form
  Purchasing Policy

• Initiate Travel Authorizations
  The PI or project personnel who will be traveling, fills in the online Travel Authorization form and then gives the printed, and signed version to Sharon Murphy who will ensure that the form is correct and complete, and that it has any necessary accompanying paperwork. She then routes the form for signatures. If the traveler is not the PI, the PI will sign. If the traveler is the Project PI, then the Department Chair must sign in his or her place. The Dean will sign the form last. After obtaining these signatures, Sharon makes a photocopy for her files, and routes original with accompanying forms, if any, to Shirley Thompson in RA.
  Travel Authorization Form
  Travel Policy

• Initiate Travel Reimbursements
  The PI or project personnel who needs reimbursement for travel fills in the online Travel Authorization form and then gives the printed version to Sharon Murphy who will ensure that the form is correctly filled out, that the travel was within the specified time limits, and that it has the necessary accompanying paperwork. She then routes the form for necessary signatures, makes a photocopy for her files, and routes original to Shirley Thompson in RA.
  Travel Reimbursement Form

• Initiate Cash Reimbursements
  The PI or project personnel who needs reimbursement for personal funds spent on PSU business fills in the online Personal Reimbursement form, prints it out and signs it, then gives it to Sharon Murphy who will ensure that the form is correctly filled out, and that it has the necessary accompanying paperwork. She then routes the form for necessary signatures, makes a photocopy for her files, and routes original to Shirley Thompson in RA.
  Reimbursement Request Form
  Reimbursement Policy

• Initiate orders for equipment, books and supplies, and conference registrations
  Sharon follows vendors guidelines for purchasing (e.g., creates a PO, orders online, over the phone, etc.) The PI will do his or her own conference registration, travel arrangements, etc., but Sharon will be requested to create a purchase order and fax it to the conference facilitators to confirm the registration.
  • Prepares required invoices to sponsors
    For awards that require Portland State to submit paper invoices, the Research Accountant prepares and submits the invoices. The accountant records the revenue to the award at the time the invoice is sent and monitors the receivable for payment.
  • Receives sponsor payments
    Sponsor payments are received in the Research Accounting Office and are deposited to the award.
  • Maintains accounts receivable
    The Research Accounting Office maintains a report of outstanding receivables and works with PI and agencies to collect amounts owed.

• Reconciliation of Expense
  Sharon Murphy runs periodic reports to reconcile the entries in Banner with the hard copy records she maintains in file. She will work with the Research Accountant to resolve any questioned expenses discovered during the monthly reconciliation/review. Accounts must be reconciled at least quarterly. The department of Research Accounting recommends monthly reconciliation for large awards.

• Monitor expense compared to budget
  As part of the month end expense review and reconciliation, the PI or Sharon Murphy, must compare actual expenses with the budget by category. If necessary, the PI will work with ORSP to request a budget revision.

• Initiate cost transfers
  When errors are discovered during reconciliation or budget monitoring, the PI must request a cost transfer from either Pati Sluys or Grace Siegel. When cost transfers move expense between two federal awards or result in additional expense to a federal award, an explanation of how the error occurred as well as a justification for charging the new award is required. When payroll is moved, the same explanation and justification is required.

• Review subcontractor invoices
  Payments to subcontractors must be approved by the PI or a designee prior to processing in Banner. The subcontractor invoices must be reviewed for cost reasonableness as compared to progress towards work accomplished. After the PI signs off on the invoice, then Sharon Murphy enters it into Banner, writes the document number on the invoice and sends it to Shirley Thompson in Research Accounting, keeping a copy for her files.

• Personnel Activity Report (PAR) Certification
  Upon receipt of the quarterly PAR forms from the Pati Sluys, the PI or designee is responsible for timely certification of those reports. Accurate reports must be signed by the employee or PI and returned to Pati Sluys, who then verifies forms are correct and signed, and forwards to the Research Accounting Office. Any report that does not accurately reflect effort on the award must be changed, the form signed, changes initialed, and appropriate documents initiated and submitted to HR through Research Accounting.

• Cost Share (Match)
  If there is cost share on an award, the PI or designee is responsible for charging appropriate expenses to the cost share index associated with the award. When the cost share is "in-kind" the PI must approve the documentation of that cost share. All documentation should originate from the provider and be signed by the PI to certify that the value shown as cost share has been received on the award.