Account Setup
Advance Accounts
Establishing an advance account:
- Allows for the timely start-up or uninterrupted continuation of extramurally financed programs before applicable award documents are executed.
- Minimizes transfers – Upon award execution, the program retains the same account number. Transactions do not need to be transferred from one account to another.
Guidelines:
- To establish an advance account, the following criteria must be met:
- The sponsor gives preliminary notification that an award should be forthcoming, and
- The advance account is required to meet critical needs which cannot be delayed without impairing project deliverables.
- The Principal Investigator (PI) and all key personnel must complete their Conflict of Interest (COI) disclosures and complete any required training.
- No activities that require research compliance protocol approvals may take place unless proper approvals are received.
- The PI’s department/school bears the ultimate financial risk associated with expenses incurred in the advance-funding period that are not subsequently covered by the award.
Procedures:
AP 12.405, Advance Funding Accounts for Externally Finance Programs and Activities
ORS Form 1 – Request for Advance Account Approval
Instructions for ORS Form 1 – Request for Advance Account Approval
Project Accounts
For questions on award and account set-up, please contact your assigned ORS accountant. To find your ORS accountant, see the ORS Accountant Assignments
Procedures:
Project Account Set-Up Process Overview
Upon receipt of an Extramural Award Notice (EAN) from ORS Contracts & Grants, the assigned ORS accountant will establish the award, initial account, and initial sponsor-approved budget in the Kuali Financial System (KFS).
This process will generally be completed within 3 business days. However, delays may occur due to or missing or incomplete information.
Help ORS expedite this process by:
- Processing proposals and agreements through myGrant in a timely manner.
- Ensuring proposals include complete and accurate information such as budget detail and sponsor information (address, etc.).
- Ensuring the Indirect Cost Rate is either the Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA) rate, or support for a sponsor capped rate or Facilities and Administrative (F&A) waiver is included in award documents as required.
- Obtaining compliance protocols and other required approvals prior to award execution.
- Ensuring that the PI and all key personnel complete their COI and any required training.
The Fiscal Administrator (FA) will receive notification of award/account/budget setup through KFS. The FA shall review all award and account attributes and the initial budget and initiate changes, if any, through KFS.
Initial Project Account Summary
| ORS Accountant | Fiscal Administrator | |
| Initial account for an award | Initiates and blanket approves in KFS:
|
|
| Cost share sub-account*
(if applicable) |
Initiates and approves in KFS:
|
|
*Only ORS can initiate cost share sub-accounts. ORS cannot blanket approve cost share sub-accounts.
Account and Budget Maintenance
For questions on account and budget maintenance, please contact your FA or your assigned ORS accountant, as applicable. To find your assigned ORS accountant, see ORS Accountant Assignments
Procedures:
Account and Budget Maintenance Process Overview
For subsequent changes to awards, accounts, or budgets:
- The FA initiates the appropriate eDoc in KFS.
- If an agreement amendment or modification is required, the FA shall not initiate the eDoc until receipt of an EAN from ORS Contracts & Grants.
- The ORS accountant will review and approve the eDoc.
Time Extensions
The PI may initiate a request for a no-cost extension (NCE) from the sponsor, which must include an endorsement by ORS. The format of the request may vary depending on the terms of the award. The PI should contact their assigned ORS specialist for assistance.
Approvals, if transmitted to the PI, should be forwarded to the PI’s assigned ORS specialist. After the EAN is received from ORS Contracts & Grants, the FA should submit the ACCT eDoc to update the end date in KFS.
Principal Investigator (PI) Award Transfer Procedures
For questions regarding PI award Transfer Procedures, please contact your ORS specialist.
Account and Budget Maintenance Summary
| Fiscal Administrator | ORS Accountant | |
| Additional Accounts |
|
|
| Sub-account
Other than cost-share sub-account (sample eDoc 7303805) |
|
|
| Time extensions
Include No Cost Extensions (NCE) (sample eDoc 7267722) |
|
|
| Incremental funding
(sample eDoc 7265988) |
|
|
| Re-Budget
(sample eDoc 7156462) |
|
|
| PI Change |
|
|
| De-Obligation
(sample eDoc 7283173) |
|
|
Allowable, Allocable, & Reasonable Costs
PIs are responsible for review of expenditures to ensure the allowability, allocability, and reasonableness of all costs.
Costs charged to extramural projects should be in accordance with Subpart E – Cost Principles at 2 CFR 200 http://go.hawaii.edu/JTo.
To be chargeable to an award, costs must be:
- Allowable: UG 200.403: http://go.hawaii.edu/2pJ Permitted by federal or governmental regulations and/or the sponsor’s award terms and conditions, and consistently treated.
- Reasonable: UG 200.404: http://go.hawaii.edu/Jpk Such that a “prudent person” would have paid the stated amount for the goods and services. “Prudent person” is generally defined as a person of “ordinary prudence and intelligence”.
- Allocable: UG 200.405: http://go.hawaii.edu/XpJ Necessary to carry out the scope of, and provide a benefit to the project.
Note that per UG 200.405 (d),
…If a cost benefits two or more projects or activities in proportions that can be determined without undue effort or cost, the cost must be allocated to the projects based on the proportional benefit. If a cost benefits two or more projects or activities in proportions that cannot be determined because of the interrelationship of the work involved, then, notwithstanding paragraph (c) of this section, the costs may be allocated or transferred to benefitted projects on any reasonable documented basis.
For further guidance on allowable, allocable, and reasonable costs, refer to Extramural Award Cost Guidelines.
Which Transactions should be processed through UH and which should be processed through RCUH?
Per AP 12.203, Service Orders to the Research Corporation of the University of Hawaiʻi, the UH financial system shall be the book of original entry.
The RCUH web based system shall be used to process transactions on extramurally-sponsored research and training accounts except for the following types of transactions which shall be processed through the UH financial system:
- UH Personnel Costs
- Journal Vouchers
- Split Funded Transaction (procurement involving a sponsored research account and a general fund account not service ordered to RCUH)
- Student Fellowship and Trainee payments
- Scholarship and Grant Payments
- University of Hawaiʻi Purchasing Card Transactions/Payments
- Payments on Outstanding UH Purchase Orders.
All commitments and disbursements of project funds made by RCUH on behalf of UH shall be recorded in the UH financial system.
Hiring
UH Office of Human Resources (OHR)
Research Corporation of the University of Hawai’i (RCUH)
Procurement
UH Office of Procurement Management (OPM)
Research Corporation of the University of Hawai’i (RCUH)
Recording Cost Sharing
Guidelines
- Only committed cost sharing shall be recorded in KFS.
- Timely Recording – Best efforts should be made to record cost sharing in the period that expenses were incurred to allow programs to properly monitor their progress toward meeting their cost sharing commitments. Cost sharing for UH personnel salaries and fringe should be recorded in the KFS cost sharing sub-account based on the pay period/service date and must be recorded in the proper fiscal year in order for the year end cost sharing effort certification report to generate properly. In addition, cost sharing entries for direct costs should be recorded when the direct expenses are recorded in the KFS source account. Failure to record cost sharing in a timely manner may lead to increased scrutiny by both sponsors and auditors.
- Failure to meet cost sharing requirements may result in de-obligation of awarded funds.
- RCUH salaries and fringe are recorded as Direct Cost (NOT Personal Services and Fringe Benefits) since RCUH employees do not certify their effort through KFS.
- See Cost Sharing FAQ for further guidance on cost sharing
Process
FAs record cost sharing in KFS via the Distribution of Income and Expense (DI) eDoc as follows:
- Organization Document Number field – Enter the source account (i.e. MA1234567). A separate eDoc must be submitted for each source account.
- Sub-account – Enter CS001 for all line items.
- Org Ref ID – For both personal services and fringe benefits entries, enter the employee’s 8-digit UH ID.
- Cost sharing object codes are as follows:
| From Object Code | To Object Code |
| 7820 – CS Contra Personal Services | 7810 – CS Personal Services |
| 7821 – CS Contra Fringe Benefits | 7811 – CS Fringe Benefits |
| 7822 – CS Contra Direct Costs | 7812 – CS Direct Costs |
| 7823 – CS Contra Equipment | 7813 – CS Equipment |
| 7824 – CS Contra External Support | 7814 – CS External Support |
| 7825 – CS Contra Unrecovered F&A (f.k.a. IDC) | 7815 – CS Unrecovered F&A (f.k.a. IDC) |
| 7826 – Contra CS Tuition Waiver | 7816 – CS Tuition Waiver |
Training Manual
Prepare Cost Sharing Entry‐Salaries & Fringe
Prepare Cost Sharing Entry‐Direct Costs & Equipment
Prepare Cost Sharing Entry‐Indirect Costs, External Support, Tuition Waiver
Cost Transfers
Administrative Procedure 8.926 Administrative and Financial Management Requirements for Extramurally Financed Research and Training Programs/Activities of the University of Hawai’i Section III.E.5 states,
Cost transfers are an after-the-fact correction or reallocation to move costs from or to an extramural project account. With the FA’s assistance, PIs shall review and reconcile all sponsored accounts in a timely manner. Cost transfers should generally be processed no later than 90 days after the date of the original transaction (preferably within 60 days after posting of original transaction) in order for the UH to prepare accurate financial statements and receive proper reimbursement from our sponsors. An explanation of why the cost was incorrectly charged in the first place, and why a transfer is necessary shall be provided. Documentation to support the authorization of the cost transfer shall also be attached, if applicable. If the transfer is to a sponsored account, certification that the charge is allowable, allocable and reasonable is required. Unallowable charges should be transferred to a non-extramural or departmental account. Reason for any untimely cost transfers should also be provided.
Government Property Management Plan
Account Monitoring
Continuation Accounts
All project accounts require a continuation account. Expenditures charged to a project account more than 30 days after the Account Expiration Date will automatically book to the continuation account, with the exception of certain system feeds. FAs shall transfer costs from continuation accounts to their appropriate account in a timely manner.
For cost-reimbursable awards, only transactions included in the project account will be invoiced to and paid by the sponsor. Transactions remaining in the continuation account after project closeout need to be covered by other departmental funds.
Per AP 8.650, Continuation and General Clearing Accounts, continuation accounts shall be monitored on a monthly basis by the FA assigned to the accounts. Continuation account transactions must be transferred to the appropriate project account prior to award closeout and cleared at the end of each fiscal year.
Programs should minimize the number of continuation accounts they oversee. However, at a minimum, each FA code shall have a continuation account established for each of its extramural sub-funds. Continuation account attributes that must be consistent with project account attributes are imposed status, depository of funds, sub-fund group type.
See: Continuation Account Transactions by FO Code, under Jaspersoft Reports below
Jaspersoft Reports
The following Jaspersoft reports can be used to monitor extramural accounts:
CBMR090 (CG Account Summary by Account)
Folder University of Hawaiʻi > UH Financial Reporting > Reports > CG
This report provides information pertaining to a specified award. The report displays the total budget, actual expenditures, encumbrances, and the available/unexpended balance.
CBMR091AWFO (CG Consolidated Statement by Award & Account)
Folder University of Hawaiʻi > UH Financial Reporting > Reports > CG
This report provides information for all accounts under a specified award. The report displays the total consolidated budget, consolidated actual expenditures and encumbrances, and the consolidated available/unexpended balance for the award.
CG Accounts with Deficits
Folder University of Hawaiʻi > UH Financial Reporting > Reports > CG
This report assists in identifying extramural accounts that are in deficit. The report should be periodically reviewed to ensure that all adjustments have been made timely to resolve any accounts in deficit.
Continuation Account Transactions by FO Code
Folder University of Hawaiʻi > UH Financial Reporting > Reports > GL
This report allows users to look at all transactions that have been automatically booked to continuation accounts. The user can filter the report to look at a specific account number, fiscal administrator, and/or fiscal period.
PageCenterX Reports
FAs have access to PageCenterX reports through the Financial Management Office. The following are samples of PageCenterX reports that may be used to monitor extramural accounts:
CGT090A CG Account Statement (Balance Sheet) by FO Code
CGB090B1 CG Budget Summary by FO & Account
CGT090F CG Account Statement by FO Code
KFS Lookup
Invoices, LOC Drawdowns, & Financial Reports
Periodic Payment Request Process
ORS accounting is responsible for preparing all extramural project invoices and and/or drawing down cash on letters-of credit (LOC). Since KFS is the University’s book of record, only transactions recorded in KFS will be included in invoices and financial reports.
Programs shall ensure that their transactions post to KFS in a timely manner and that all transactions are posted and encumbrances cleared prior to issuance of the final invoice.
Final Invoice/Reports
- Prior to the closeout period, ORS Accounting will request confirmation from FAs and PIs to ensure all the expenditures are recorded in KFS.
- Before confirming closeout to their ORS accountant for a FINAL Invoice, FINAL LOC drawdown and/or FINAL Financial Report, as required by the sponsor, it is the FA’s responsibility to confirm with the PI that all expenditures are recorded properly in KFS.
- The FA shall verify that:
- All encumbrances are liquidated in KFS;
- There are no KFS continuation account transactions that should be transferred to the project account; and
- Costs are recorded to correct budget categories.
- Once ORS Accounting receives the confirmation from the FA, ORS Accounting will submit the final invoice, final LOC drawdown, and/or final financial report as required. No further expenditures will be allowed, the department/unit will be responsible for all expenditures not included in the finals.
- In accordance with AP 12.412, Extramural Closeout Procedures, if no response or notification by the FA is received within a reasonable amount of time to confirm closeout to finalize an account, ORS Accounting will prepare the final LOC drawdown and/or file the final invoice and/or final financial report as required. The amount of the final invoice/LOC draw will be sent to the FA, PI, and Dean/Director for their concurrence. If the FA or PI does not respond in a timely manner, the invoice will be sent to the sponsor. No further expenditures will be allowed, the department/unit will be responsible for all expenditures not included in the finals.
View Invoices in KFS
FAQ