Award Management

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Award Management

Mercer is committed to supporting efficient and compliant award management. It is a shared responsibility of the PI, department, college, the ORSP post-award office, and the Grants Accounting office to ensure that each award is established, managed, and closed out in a manor that complies with award conditions and University policies, meets financial controls, and satisfies reporting requirements of the sponsor.

Each award has unique terms and conditions and the best way to manage an award is to thoroughly understand the requirements established as a part of the award. All federally sponsored grants and cooperative agreements must follow Uniform Guidance (2 CFR 200). These rules provide the fundamental basis for most sponsored programs.

Pyramid showing the order of precedence for determining requirements (details below)

This pyramid represents the order of precedence for determining requirements (such as allowable expenses) for grants and cooperative agreements. To determine applicable regulations, review the award documents first for guidance and direction. If the award is silent, move down the pyramid level by level until the information is located. Keep in mind that Mercer policies may be more restrictive than the terms provided by the sponsor. The most restrictive terms and conditions will typically be applied.

Below are some examples of areas where appropriate grants management is critical.

An initial sponsor-approved budget will be entered in Workday by Grants Accounting.

During the life of a project, it may become necessary to modify certain budget lines from the original project, such as re-budgeting of funds among expense categories. In order to minimize the administrative burden associated with revised budget request, many funding agencies allow some flexibility to adapt award spending patterns to match the changing circumstances of the sponsored project. However, this may vary by sponsor.

In general, a formal revised budget approval request to the sponsor is required in the following circumstances:

Budget revision restrictions are imposed in the terms and conditions: These restrictions may range from a prior approval requirement for any budget revisions to a requirement for a line item budget category or total budget revisions up to a certain threshold (e.g., re-budgeting flexibility up to 10% within proposed line item budget categories).
Budget revisions due to a significant change in the scope of work (SOW): SOW changes may require a considerable amount of funds to be shifted between expense categories. However, even if significant changes are not anticipated, all re-budgeting requests based on a change in the SOW must be submitted and approved by the sponsor

Budget revisions to reflect salary increases, new employees on the project, adjusted fringe benefit rates, etc., generally do not require sponsor approval. However, PIs should contact ORSP for guidance and/or clarification of budget revision requirements and compliance with sponsor terms and conditions.

Instructions for Budget Amendment in Workday

Purchasing for sponsored programs related expenses will be conducted primarily through Workday. It is important that the PI and any delegates who will be making payments or purchases on a grant account be familiar with the appropriate processes and regulations.

Helpful resources

As the sponsored program progresses, you will want to monitor the budget to ensure funds are being spent appropriately. It is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator to ensure that grant expenses are accurate. It is recommended that you check your budget at least once a month to ensure that expenses have been coded correctly.

All activity for a grant can be reviewed by running the report “Award Budget vs Actual” in Workday. This report can be found under Financial Management Reporting.

The PI should also use the “Award Budget vs Actual” report to identify areas of the budget that are in deficit or have the potential to be in deficit by the end of the period of performance. This areas may be corrected with a Budget Adjustment, as allowed by the terms and conditions of the award.

It is important to remember that all financial obligations for a sponsored program must be spent within the period of performance for the grant or contract.

In some cases, personnel costs are expensed to a sponsored program. This may include wages and/or benefits for personnel that were requested and approved by the sponsor and are involved with the project.

If the personnel are current Mercer employees, a Costing Allocation will need to be put into Workday so that the appropriate portion of their salary/benefits are being paid from the grant account. If the grant does not fund 100%, the PI will need to account for the remainder of the salary/benefits (e.g. College account or other grant accounts). Be aware that the percentages for costing allocations for wages/benefits may be different that the percent effort committed to the award (see Time and Effort below).

If the award includes hiring a new employee for a new position at Mercer, the PI will need to coordinate with HR. Helpful resources are available through the Workday Canvas course.

Time and Effort Reporting is managed by Grants Accounting. Questions can be directed to DeLaine Samples (samples_dw@mercer.edu) or Cheryl Tunstill (tunstill_cl@mercer.edu).

Forms and helpful information:

Time and Effort reporting is required for any Mercer personnel who spend time on a sponsored program. These reports are required, whether or not personnel are paid from the grant. Time and Effort reporting DOES NOT generate a payroll action, but instead functions as supporting documentation for the time and effort a person expends in connection with their work at Mercer.

If your grant was written stating that you will devote 30% of your time/effort each month to the grant, then the form should reflect no less than 30% each month. If in any month you spend more time/effort on the grant than was stated, then you should report that higher percentage. If your grant does not have a stated percentage amount per month of time/effort, then your monthly report could vary each month with some months having 0% and other months having varying amounts.

If your wages are grant supported and are allocated to various departments based on that grant support, then your time/effort reporting should reflect those allocations.

These reports should be filled out monthly and submitted quarterly. The current Mercer policy requires submitting them to the Grants Accounting Office quarterly. In a Mercer fiscal year this would be as follows: July, August and September reports due no later than October 10; October, November, December reports due no later than January 10; January, February and March reports due no later than April 10 and April, May and June reports due no later than July 10. You may, however, submit them monthly, if you prefer.

When an award is issued in response to a proposal, it is with the expectation the project will be carried out in accordance with the proposed scope of work, budget, and project objectives. However, it may be necessary at times to make changes to the terms and conditions of the award after it has been accepted. Many changes to awards will require sponsor approval and will need to be routed through the ORSP to the sponsor.

If award modifications need to be made, the PI should start by confirming what modifications are allowed in the terms and conditions of the award. If the award terms are not clear, the specific topic is not addressed, or if sponsor approval is required for the modification, the PI should contact the ORSP for assistance.

A no-cost extension is a common award modification that extends the award period beyond the original end date. No-cost extensions are not permitted solely for the purpose of expending the remaining balance on an award. All no-cost extensions require programmatic justification, including a description of the remaining work to be completed during the extended award period.

Each award must be reviewed for terms and conditions related to no-cost extensions. Some sponsors do not allow any extension, some require prior approval, and some allow Mercer to exercise an extension. For ORSP to provide appropriate support, all no-cost extension requests must be submitted to ORSP no later than 30 days before the award’s current expiration date, unless earlier notification is required by the sponsor.

Once any necessary approvals are obtained, ORSP will finalize the award modification and extend the award end date.