Managing an Award

Notice of Award/Award Document (NOA) - Notice of Awards and award documents are sent directly to the PI and Business Manager from ORSP. NOA's are also stored and archived in Kuali.

Award Requirements - Sponsor award requirements can be found in the NOA. Most NOA's will include information regarding award limitations,  sponsor expectations, billing and reporting requirements. Award requirements will also be sent to the PI and their department business manager when an award is established.

Sponsor Payments - Monetary payments are sent directly to Grant Accounting in the Comptroller's Office. Grant Accounting is responsible for processing, tracking and collecting all sponsor payments. 

Project related expenditure can start to be incurred on the start date of your project period (and in some exceptions, up to 90 days pre-award). Contact your department's Business Manager to learn how to make authorized purchases, how to charge your grant account and how to properly submit expenses through the university financial system.

Authorizing Salary - The PI is responsible for initiating Salary Authorizations for him or herself and all those who receive salary from the grant or who have committed effort as cost share. For instructions and forms related to the Salary Authorization process, PIs should contact their unit business manager or department chair.

Hiring Document

Additional guidance related to Salary Authorization

Purchasing Department - Expenditures charged to grant accounts must adhere to the University's business policies and procedures in addition to any award specific requirements. The Purchasing Department is responsible for qualifying and selecting vendors. Policies regarding the University's policies and procedures related to purchasing, vendor selection, vendor registration via COUPA, receipt/return of merchandise, and processing payments via MARQETplace (restricted to campus) and be found here. 

Office of the Comptroller - Additional financial forms (restricted to campus) are available online.

Cost-Shared Expenditures - The University will use companion accounts to charge cost shared expenses to  a project with a prior sponsor/university approved cost shared component. Cost share expenses that are a condition of an award, must be accounted for in the companion account in order to be documented for the sponsor. The PI must initiate cost-shared expenditures against the companion account in the same way and using the same forms as other grant expenditures.

Unallowable Costs - The PI is responsible for ensuring charges made against the grant account comply with the University and the sponsor's policies and any special terms and conditions attached to the award. Charges deemed unallowable by the sponsor are the responsibility of the PI's department. Unallowable expenditures incurred outside the project period of the award are also the responsibility of the PI's department.

PIs should review account statements on a monthly basis to ensure that they accurately reflect grant-funded activity. Business Intelligence is MU's database that provides reports essential to managing, tracking and maintaining grant account activity. PI's with active grant awards can access the following reports for their awards: 

Postaward PI Checklist

Project Statement - this report details charged monthly expenditures and the cumulative project expenditures to date.

Journal Entries with iExpense Report Detail – provides a detailed report of expenditures charged to the account, including description, merchant, invoice #, payment #, justification, purchase order (PO) #, and amount.

Labor Distribution Report – shows individuals, pay dates, and amounts of wages charged to the account

Encumbrance Report - this report details open purchase orders associated to grant accounts

Business Intelligence (BI) instructions and guidance

Subawards - If your award includes a subaward to another institution or outside organization, contact Grant Contracting to begin the contracting process (GrantContracting@marquette.edu). Before payment can be made to the subrecipient, the PI should ensure the subrecipient institution is registered in Coupa. Based on sub-contractual agreement terms, the PI should receive all invoices directly from the subrecipient institution, review invoices for accuracy and submit to the MARQETplace financial system for approvals and payment. The PI's unit's Business Manager will provide training on how to complete this process or PI's can reference Coupa, MARQETplace and procedural documents on the Purchasing Department's website. 

Grant Expenditure Transfers - An expenditure or cost transfer is a direct-charge expense transferred from one account to another after the charge has been posted in a financial accounting record. Marquette University's policies and procedures on cost transfers are consistent with OMB Circular A-21 Part C.4, Allocable Costs. 

Grant Expenditure Transfer Form 

Budget Transfers - If a budget transfer is needed, contact the unit Business Manager or ORSP Post Award staff to determine if a re-budget is allowable without prior approval by the sponsor. A budget transfer moves budget dollars from one natural  to another within the same account. 

Budget Transfer Form

Account Overdrafts - An overdraft occurs when expenditures charged to a project exceed the funds awarded by the sponsor and/or the funds committed as cost share in the proposal. The PI must resolve all overdrafts in a timely manner so that Grant Accounting can submit financial reports to the sponsor. Payments for overdrafts are the responsibility of the PI's department.

Marquette University uses after-the-fact activity records, specifically Effort Report Statements, to account for effort. Effort reports reflect the distribution of activity expended by employees as indicated by the allocation of payments from the payroll system. The effort report accounts for 100 percent of the activity for which the employee is compensated. Effort is expressed as a percentage of total employed time and is not reflected in hours. The total effort expended cannot be more or less than 100 percent.

Principal Investigator Role

• The PI is responsible for reviewing and completing effort report statements for project personnel. These statements are prepared by the Office of the Comptroller at the end of each academic term.
• The PI makes corrections where needed and returns the forms to the Office of the Comptroller.

Office of the Comptroller Role

• The Office of the Comptroller is responsible for preparing effort reports, transmitting them to PIs at the end of each academic term for approval or correction, and maintaining documentation pertaining to effort reporting.

Please contact the Grant Accounting staff for further information.

Most sponsors, including NSF and NIH, allow Marquette to extend the final budget period for a period of up to 12 months beyond the original expiration date shown in the notice of grant award. Only ORSP can approve extensions or request extensions from sponsors. The University's request should be submitted to the sponsor at least 30 days before the scheduled termination date. No-cost extensions cannot be granted after the termination date.

To initiate an extension, the PI must provide ORSP with a written request that states the project title, the proposed ending date, and the reason for the extension. The PI must also provide updated or modified regulatory approvals and assurances (e.g., human subjects protocols) if these are required in the extension period. The fact that funds remain at the expiration of a grant is not, in itself, sufficient justification for an extension.

Once an extension has been approved by ORSP and/or the sponsor as required, ORSP will update the end date in Kuali and inform Grants Accounting in the Office of the Comptroller to extend the grant end date and to update the reporting due date. 

No Cost Extension (NCE) Request Form

No Cost Extension (NCE) FAQ

Invention and invention reporting guidance can be found here.  

Interim Technical Reports and Progress Reports - The PI is responsible to submit timely technical reports as required by the sponsor. Technical reports typically describe progress towards the aims stated in the proposal and explain any problems that may have arisen during the course of the work. PIs must provide ORSP with a copy of any report submitted to a sponsor so that a complete account of the application and award is accessible to the sponsor in one central location.

Financial Reports - The Office of the Comptroller, Grants Accounting, prepares financial reports as required by the sponsor. Grants Accounting provides the financial reports to the PI for review and approval. Grants Accounting transmits the financial reports to the sponsor.

Reporting Responsibilities - Principal Investigator

• The PI is responsible for ensuring that progress and final reports are submitted in a timely manner.
• The PI is responsible for providing ORSP with a copy of all reports submitted to the sponsor for the Kuali award record.
• The PI reviews interim and final project statements prepared by the Office of the Comptroller, ensuring they are accurate, include all expenditures incurred to date, and not overdrawn. These project statements serve as the basis for the financial reports submitted by the Office of the Comptroller to the sponsoring agency.

Reporting Responsibility - Office of the Comptroller/Grants Accounting

• The Office of the Comptroller, Grants Accounting is responsible for preparing interim and final financial reports as required by the sponsor.
• Using the final project statement as the basis for its final financial report, the Office of the Comptroller prepares and transmits the same to the sponsor in the sponsor's required format.