OSU GCG 201-02: Award Administration During Award Period

Purpose

To properly record all revenue of Oregon State University (OSU) in the appropriate fund where expenditures were incurred to produce that revenue.

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Policy

Proceeds from any activity sponsored by OSU, evidenced in part by the use of OSU letterhead, and/or using state resources such as employee time and effort, state facilities, state vehicles, etc., are deemed to be State of Oregon revenue and must be deposited into an OSU fund. (e.g. Proceeds of short course workshops, testing services, and sales of products generated from university instruction or research projects.)

State revenue must not be diverted to foundations or any other non-state entity. To divert state revenue into a non-state fund is the same as directing state revenue into a personal bank account. Unauthorized bank accounts must not be used for university activities. Such an action not only jeopardizes the tax deductibility of gifts, but also can cause serious liability problems for those administering the funds.

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Procedure
202-01 Program Income

The only miscellaneous revenue that may be deposited into a grant or contract is program income. Program income is revenue that is directly generated by a supported activity or earned as a result of the award. Program income includes, but is not limited to:

• Income from fees or services performed
• The sale of commodities or items fabricated under an award
• Workshop fees paid by participants of a funded workshop
• Sale of residual goods that were originally purchased on the award.

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202-02 Depositing Revenue as a Reduction of Expense

Revenue deposited as a reduction of expense is very limited under Oregon Executive Department rules. If the vendor was overpaid and a refund was received, the refund is to be credited to the fund and account code to which the purchase was charged. An overpayment may be the result of returning prepayments, the return of defective merchandise, or credit for early payment.

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202-03 Revenue Transfers

Revenue should NOT be transferred from one fund to another fund using a journal voucher by debiting an expense account code and crediting an income account code. This causes both income and expense to be inflated. Income account codes should be credited in restricted funds only in the following circumstances:

1. When the cash is received from outside the institution;
2. When revenue is moved from one fund to another (a correction), and the debit is also to an income account code (reference original "F" document number);

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202-04 Electronic Receipt of Grant Funds

Several federal agencies have granted permission to the university to electronically request funds in payment for expenditures made on grants and cooperative agreements. This allows for prompt reimbursement (typically the next day after the request is submitted). Only selected individuals in Business Affairs are given authority to make these draws, and considerable password security has been established.

Excel spreadsheets are maintained for each of the agencies, detailing grant number, OSU index, authorized amount, payments received to date and remaining balance. When payments are requested, these spreadsheets are updated and used to efficiently create journal vouchers to post payments as they are received. All draws must be made within ninety days after the official end date of the award.

Quarterly or semi-annual reports of expenditures are provided to each of the agencies reconciling the records of the university with those of the sponsors.

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202-05 Monitoring Receipt of Scheduled Payments

Some sponsored agreements contain automatic payment schedules. The Office of Post Award Administration is responsible for ensuring that all payments are received on time. The Principal Investigator is responsible for completing all project requirements of the agreement so the sponsor will make the task or scheduled payments according to the award terms.

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202-06 Invoicing Grants and Contracts

Invoices are prepared by the Office of Post Award Administration staff from financial data that is supported in FIS Banner. A standard invoice includes a detail sheet generated from FIS Banner. Invoice detail includes: budget, current period expenditures, cumulative expenditures, encumbrances and available budget

The invoices are prepared according to grantor instructions. This includes the timing of the invoice and any required supporting documentation. Invoices are not generated more often than monthly for any individual award.

If a grantor requires supporting documentation such as receipts or special reports, the PI or Project Director's department will be responsible for obtaining the information and providing it to the Office of Post Award Administration to be included with the invoice.

All invoices for sponsored grants, contracts and cooperative agreements are submitted and mailed by the Office of Post Award Administration, Office of Business Affairs.

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202-07 Accounts Receivable

As each invoice is processed, it is entered in the Office of Post Award Administration accounts receivable database.

At the beginning of each month a report is generated that ages the receivables. The report sorts by index number order and groups the receivables into categories of 30 days, 60 days, 90 days and over 90 days old.

The report is given to the Office of Post Award Administration Manager for review. Receivables that are 90 days and older are further reviewed for collection.

• Past due notices are sent to the sponsor with a copy of the invoice at 90 days past due. If the invoice is still unpaid one month later, another past due notice is sent.
• If the receivable is not paid after two past due notices are sent out, the sponsor is called to find out why payment is being withheld.
• The Principal Investigator, Department Head and Department Accountant are notified after two past due notices have been sent and the receivable is still unpaid.
• If all award requirements have been met and the grantor is a commercial company, the receivable will be forwarded to the Collections Manager at OSU to pursue collection. If it still is not collected, it is forwarded to an outside collection agency.

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