Division of Financial Affairs-Grants and Contracts Accounting

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Overview

The Grants and Contracts Department is responsible for the post-award accounting activity of sponsored research. Specific functions of the department are as follows:

Account Establishment. On receipt of an award for a grant or contract, the Office of Grants Administration (OGA) formally requests that Grants and Contracts Accounting establish a separate account number for the project. Funds expended in the performance of the project are charged to this account number. When the account number is established, OGA sends a copy of the Award/Contract notice and a copy of the approved budget to Grant and Contract Accounting.

Management of Direct Charges to Awards. In order for a cost to be an appropriate charge to a sponsored research account, it must be:

Reasonable
Allocable
Consistently treated
Allowable

As outlined in the University of South Alabama Cost Accounting Standards, the Principal Investigator, with oversight provided by the Department Chair and Dean, is responsible for complying with all Federal/State/University regulations in the performance of a sponsored project, and therefore attests to the first two qualities (reasonableness and allocability).

Rebudgeting. Once a need to rebudget an award is identified by the Principal Investigator, Grants and Contracts is responsible for accurately obtaining the appropriate approvals from appropriate individuals within the University as well as the sponsoring agency.

Effort Reporting. The administration and maintenance of the effort reporting system is the responsibility of the Office of Grants and Contracts. While it is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator to accurately complete effort reports, Grants and Contracts maintains the completed documents and uses the information provided to prepare financial reports.

Sub-recipient Monitoring. Sub-recipient monitoring refers to ensuring that recipients of awards made to the University of South Alabama and "passed-through" to sub-recipients comply with OMB Circulars A-21 and A-133. Oversight for progress on an individual subcontract is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator.

Reporting. Grants and Contracts is responsible for the timely and accurate submission of interim and final financial reports to sponsoring agencies. Principal Investigators and Departmental Administrators share such responsibility. Reporting requirements differ among sponsors.

University of South Alabama - Mobile Alabama 36688-0002 / 1 (251) 460-6434
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Last date changed: July 26, 2007 11:16 AM
http://www.southalabama.edu/financialaffairs/grantsandcontracts/overview.html