Creating
Awards or Installments & Funding Projects (Budget)
Does
the Award Manager get an email when an installment is
created?
No, the Award Manager will get an email when new project
funding has been approved IF the Award Manager initiated
the new funding.
Can
you have a different level of Budgetary Control at the
Task level than at the Award?
Yes, but U.Va. Standard is to have Award set at Advisory,
Task set at Advisory, Resource Group set at None and
Resource set at None. To change from the U.Va. Standard
you would need to request a change from the Central
Office. This is not something a department can do independently.
Why
is the [required] checkbox not checked in the Personnel
alternative region when Award Manager is a required
field?
The
Award Manager is a system-required field; the field
is grayed to highlight this as a system requirement.
Can
you have Transactions prior to enabling budgetary controls?
No, budgetary controls must be enabled before transactions
can go through.
What
are the Allowed Cost Schedule definitions?
All costs includes all costs. State includes all costs
EXCEPT alcohol. Grants and Contracts have very specific
allowed cost schedules (ACSs), and those are still under
development at this time, and are subject to the requests
of the individual sponsors.
Are
negative funding amounts acceptable?
Negative funding and negative installment amounts are
not acceptable as the Integrated System doesn't fully
acknowledge them
and they can cause problems with budgeting.
BACK TO TOP
When
should I NOT connect an award to a project receiving
transactions from the Labor Distribution module?
See
the payroll
schedule posted on the Human Resources web site.
Every effort should be made to avoid initiating workflow
on any projects around these
dates. If you do initiate workflow around these dates,
the project might be in an unapproved status when the
labor comes in, causing the labor to go to the organization's
labor suspense project. Correcting this requires substantial
effort on the part of the labor scheduler, and has
resulted
in several departments having an unacceptably high
amount in suspense - something to which the auditors
are paying
an increasing amount of attention. Therefore, take
payroll dates into consideration when creating any
new linkages
to projects.
How
do I request a new award from the Budget Office?
Requests for new awards must be submitted to the UBO
via electronic mail to budget-new_award@virginia.edu.
The required form is available on the UBO website, http://www.virginia.edu/~budget/
How
do I request the creation or modification of award installments
from the Budget Office?
Requests for the creation or modification of award installments
must be submitted to the UBO via electronic mail to
budget-icom@virginia.edu.
The required form is available on the UBO website, http://www.virginia.edu/~budget/.
The following sequence of procedures must be followed
to create or modify an award:
-
The project manager must decrease the award budget
being reduced; then submit and baseline the award
budget.
-
The project manager must submit and baseline the project
budget being reduced.
-
The award manager must reduce the funding of the project
being reduced.
-
A request is submitted to UBO to request the installment
modification.
-
The requestor is notified that the requested installments
are increased/decreased.
-
The award manager can increase the funding for the
project being increased.
-
The project manager can increase the award budget;
then submit and baseline the award budget.
-
The project manager can submit and baseline the project
budget.
The
UBO cannot decrease an award installment until the project
funding and budgets have been reduced so steps 1-3 MUST
precede step 4. Conversely, award and project managers
cannot increase project funding or budgets until the
installment is increased, so steps 6-8 cannot be completed
before step 5.
As
always, an increase in an award must be offset with
a decrease in an award. One exception is if the
offset is to revenues or transfers budgeted in the
Integrated System
General Ledger. In that situation, the second section
of the ICOM should be completed with the GL information.
The second exception is to load cash balances in LS
or LO awards as discussed in the next section.
BACK TO TOP
Where
are my June 30, 2001 cash balances in my old ledger
4 sales and services accounts?
During the conversion of June 30, 2001 local sales
and services balances, cash was loaded into the revenue
project associated with the local sales and service
award. To review the cash balance in the revenue project,
you should review the UVA Cash Balance Report by Project
in the Integrated System General Ledger Standard Reports.
At
this point you have two options: (1) you can elect to
load no installment or operating budget and just manage
by your cash balance, or (2) you can elect to load an
installment and operating budget. To load an operating
budget, you should follow the procedures as outlined
above in Request for Installment Creation or Modification
(ICOM). This is one instance where you may have an increased
installment without an offsetting decrease. If that
is the case, please note this on your request.
When
and how will I see the carryforward balances from my
chaired research professorship accounts?
On June 30, 2001 the UBO will load carryforward cash
balances into the LC awards. We will provide the dean's
offices a report reconciling the year-end balances to
the installment amendments processed, and the dean's
offices can coordinate the funding and budgeting of
related projects.
For
new filled chairs or vacancies in chairs, schools must
provide the corresponding increases and decreases in
the LC awards via the Request for Installment Creation
or Modification (ICOM). There is a section on the form
that must be completed for LC increases or decreases.
BACK TO TOP
When
and how will I see the carryforward balances from my
state and local general accounts?
Carryforward balances in SG, SS, and LG awards will
not be allocated until approval from the state is received.
If and when such approval is received, the UBO will
contact individuals in parent organizations concerning
what award should be increased for the carryforward.
What
are the suggested GA Budget naming conventions?
Award Budget screen:
Version Name:
For the initial load by UBO: Fiscal Year 2001-02
Original For subsequent changes by units: Fiscal Year
2001-02 Revision 1, 2, 3, etc.
Change Reason: leave blank
Description: at the discretion of the unit
New Original Block: this option is not to be used
outside of the UBO
Project
Budget screen:
Version Name: at the discretion of the unit
Change Reason: leave blank
Description: at the discretion of the unit
Do
I select expenditure category or expenditure type during
budget changes?
Project and Award managers must exercise caution when
selecting an expenditure category vs. an expenditure
type during budget changes. If a budget is created at
the expenditure category level, while expenditures are
incurred at the expenditure type level, you can NEVER
budget at the expenditure type level in the future.
The UBO strongly encourages units to always budget
at the expenditure type level in order to maximize future
flexibility in budgeting.
When
and how do I perform project/award linkages and changes?
Link to Processing
Funds
Who
is responsible for putting an installment into a new
project and how we know when that has happened?
Link to Processing
Funds
Who
is responsible for project funding and budgeting?
Link to Processing
Funds
How
are new projects and awards created; what are the guidelines?
Link to Processing
Funds
BACK TO TOP
When
can I reduce an award budget?
You can only reduce an award budget (enter a negative
amount) for the initial budget period. While it is
okay
to enter a budget increase in subsequent periods, users
should never enter negative amounts in subsequent periods.
If you do so, the next time you attempt to make an
award
budget modification, you will receive an error message
that "your budget cannot exceed project funding", and
you will be unable to proceed.
To
avoid having this error occur, users should never
reduce
budgets (enter a negative amount) in periods subsequent
to the beginning fiscal period . Please note that
it
is okay to have a negative budget (i.e., recoveries)
in the initial fiscal period because the project
funding
reflects this.
Why
can't we install gift revenues in advance of receipt?
It is against University policy to install gift revenues
in advance of receipt due to the unpredictable nature
of cash flows associated with gift funds.
Budgeting
non-State money requires more effort than it
did in
the legacy system. Can this be made any easier?
This is the result of differences in how the two systems
work. The Integrated System requires that you create/increase
an Award installment and create/increase a Project’s
funding before it can be budgeted. There is no automatic
budget bump capability. A helpful report for tracking
changes to installments, funding, and budgeting is
a
standard report run from the application called UVA
PA Installment vs Project Funding vs Expenditures.
This
report is available to all GA responsibilities. In
addition, reconciliation training
will assist users in the
budget process.
I
have to overwrite my budget when it is reduced/increased.
Can this be addressed?
The Integrated System requires that you install, fund,
and budget so there is an accurate depiction of the
budget in Grants Management. This process also gives
users more control and input to their budgets. It does
not, however, have a budget amendment capability. Users
can note increases and decreases in the Description
field so they will be reflected in reports.
How
do I drill down from the Award Management screen
to the Award Budget form?
To drilldown from the Award
Management screen to the Award Budget form. From the
menu bar, select Tools, then Award Budgets.
What
concurrent process do I use when submitting and
baselining Award budgets?
Depending on the circumstances,
two different concurrent processes may be submitted
when submitting and baselining Award Budgets. When
the “Submit” button is selected, a
concurrent process may be submitted. If you choose
to do this, click “OK,” then click
the “Find Draft” button to refresh
the budget. You will know that the submit process
has completed when the budget status changes from “Working” to “Submitted” and
the “Baseline” button becomes available.
You then select the “Baseline” button,
and another concurrent request may be submitted.
You can click on the “Find Draft” button
to refresh your screen. You will know that it has
completed when the budget status changes from “Submitted” to “Working.” Typically,
the Submit and Baseline actions only submit concurrent
requests when transactions exist against the PTA
combination being baselined.
Can
I create an award before the project status has
changed to "Approved"?
When a project is funded by an award for the first
time, the project goes into workflow to be reviewed
and approved by Award Oversight and Central approvers.
Users should not create their award budgets until
the project status has changed to “Approved.”
How
do I verify that budgetary controls have been enabled?
The system will automatically enable Budgetary Controls
on an Award/Project combination when the
Award
Budget is baselined. To verify that budgetary controls
have been enabled, drill down from the Award Budget
screen – select “Tools” from the
menu bar, then "Budgetary Controls."
Is
there a short-cut for submitting and baselining budgets?
On
the "Award Budgets" screen, after selecting
the "Submit" button, you can simply
select the "Find Draft" button to refresh
the screen. When the "Submit" concurrent
process completes, the "Baseline" button
will appear and can be selected. Using the "Find
Draft" button is easier than closing out
the Award Budget screen, retyping the award number,
finding the appropriate project, and then selecting
the "Submit" button.
During
what hours
should I NOT baseline a budget?
ISDS recommends
that you avoid baselining budgets from 12 Noon
to 1:00 p.m. each day, if possible. A program
is running during that time to update actuals,
including Award Status Inquiry. As a result,
the baselining process is delayed until this
program completes, and you will experience delays
in baselining during this time.
|
