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Your SPA representative can  walk you through important aspects of award management, such as changing a PI or scope of work, transferring awards, and managing your budget. Find your SPA representative.

When a PI leaves UGA for another institution, ordinarily the PI may desire to transfer active awards to the PI’s new home. If you are leaving UGA, contact your SPA representative as soon as possible. Because award transfers have many moving parts that can take time, it is never too early to start the transfer process.

You may have questions about financial management of your project.  Find out what to do about some of the most common expenditures.

Application of staff benefits

When building a proposed sponsored project budget that includes staff salaries, PIs must use the most current staff benefit rates to calculate estimated costs of associated staff benefits. However, at project time, actual staff benefits must be charged to the project. The Application of Staff Benefits policy provides current staff benefit rates, which are updated every calendar year, as well as additional guidance to ensure appropriate budgeting and reimbursement of staff benefits.

Cost share

Ordinarily, a proposed budget should include the total of all anticipated costs of a sponsored project. However, when a proposal or award will not fully fund all project costs, UGA may fund remaining costs. This is cost share. The Cost Share Policy sets out when and how to propose and report cost share (also called matching or use of in-kind funds).

Cost transfer

If an error is made in project accounting, it may be necessary to transfer charges between accounts. The Cost Transfer Policy details when these infrequent transfers are appropriate, as well as UGA’s required procedure to ensure compliance with federal requirements and necessary documentation. The preparation and submission of Journal Vouchers (JVs) – which is a type of accounting entry that may be used to effectuate a cost transfer – is also addressed in this policy.

Direct costs

Not all direct costs may be charged to a sponsored project. Before charging a specific direct cost to a sponsored project, the unit administering the project must determine if that cost is allowable, allocable, and reasonable. The Direct Cost Policy defines these requirements so units can make the required determinations.

Payroll Certification

The Principal Investigator/Contact Principal Investigator (PI) of each project is responsible for annually certifying the compensation/payroll of all personnel paid on the project. The Compensation and Payroll Certification Policy details requirements to ensure compliance with respect to confirming the payroll charges are allowable, properly allocated and accurately reflects the work performed.

Program income

Program income may include any income UGA generates in the conduct of a sponsored project, excluding those funds paid to UGA by the sponsor. The Program Income Policy explains in more detail when particular income is considered program income and sets out the requirements for PIs and for SPA in identifying program income, accounting for it, and reporting it to the sponsor.

Compensation of Research Subjects

If your project will involve the use of human subjects, you may desire to offer compensation or monetary/non-monetary incentives to attract and retain an appropriate pool of research subjects. The Compensation of Research Subjects Policy identifies the types of compensation/incentives that are allowed and the procedures for compliance with applicable tax rules and other financial requirements.

The UGA Office of Research and OneSource team have created an improved Project Status Report that provides investigators with a streamlined, user-friendly financial status report for each research project.

Each report provides remaining balance, expenditures and encumbrances to date as well as the ability to drill down to detailed transactions.  The report also displays project burn rates and provides the option to subscribe to the Project Status Report and have your balances auto-emailed to you.  Access to these tools is automatic for all PIs, Co-PIs and co-investigators with active projects (VPN02 is required for off-campus access.).

  • Project Status Report Lite. This report was designed specifically for faculty, and it reads like a bank statement. Summary balances are on top, with recent transactions and payroll below. The info button in the top-right is a quick-start guide. You can set “Views” to bookmark your projects and “Subscriptions” to automatically email you the report at your desired frequency.  (VPN02 is required for off-campus access.)
  • Access the Project Status Report. You can sort by PI or Project ID to find specific information like balances and expenditures on specific projects. Screen shots from the actual report are below. (VPN02 is required for off-campus access.)
  • See the interactive training guide. Instructions to search, download, share and subscribe to Project Status Reports are in this guide.

To support faculty and relevant personnel in the creation and use of Project Status Reports, the Sponsored Projects Administration and OneSource teams are holding 90-minute interactive sessions. Please contact Cathy Cuppett (cathya15@uga.edu) and/or Brad Langford (langford@uga.edu) to schedule an interactive session or check the UGA Calendar of Events Sponsored Projects Group page to see already scheduled sessions around campus.

Project summary with data visualization

Project summary with data visualization

Burn rate

Project burn rate graph

Sometimes the PI (including one or more Co-PIs) must change over the course of an award. Sponsor approval and notification are typically required to replace an existing PI, and occasionally a sponsor may not permit changes.

Your SPA representative will review the sponsor’s specific project requirements, communicate with the sponsor, and formally document any changes, and can also assist in requesting additional time to complete the work if needed. As an initial step, the original PI must provide the following information for the prospective replacement PI:

  • Curriculum Vitae
  • Current and Pending Sponsored Project Support (for each project include the project title, sponsor, award dollars, time committed)
  • Letter signed by the current PI justifying the change

Upon sponsor approval, SPA will initiate a new transmittal reflecting the newly appointed PI in the Grants Portal, and route it for appropriate signatures.

Any modification of project aims, tasks, or deliverables may constitute a change in the scope of work. Frequently budget changes accompany changes in project scope. A change in scope almost always requires sponsor approval and a formal amendment. Contact your SPA representative to determine if sponsor approval is needed to make the desired changes and to formally request and finalize a change in the scope of work.

A no-cost extension extends the end date of a project without additional funding. A no-cost extension may be requested using the Grants Portal, or you can contact your SPA representative to determine what is needed to extend your project period. Ordinarily a no-cost extension will require the sponsor’s approval, but some sponsors permit your SPA representative to approve these requests.

Post-Award Accounting processes all invoice submissions on restricted accounts to sponsors on a monthly, quarterly, or predetermined basis.

  • For cost reimbursable accounts, invoices are submitted to the sponsor based on actual expenditures that have posted.
  • For fixed price accounts, invoices are submitted to the sponsor based on a predetermined amount according to the sponsor’s payment schedule.

Final invoices are due to the sponsor within various times as stated in the award document.

If you desire to take a leave of absence from UGA, your SPA representative will work with you to ensure your sponsored projects are approved for your absence.  Follow these steps to ensure a smooth transition.

When UGA subcontracts for a third party to perform substantive work of a sponsored project, UGA must ensure that the subrecipient complies with all applicable laws, regulations, and terms and conditions. The Subrecipient Monitoring Policy details UGA’s procedure for ensuring subrecipient compliance, including PI requirements and responsibilities.

UGA uses the Grants Portal, an online system, to document administrative changes to awards and subcontracts for sponsored projects. Changes in PI, scope of work, duration of the project and all other non-financial changes are documented in the Grants Portal under the award workspace. Please contact your SPA representative if you have any questions.