Grants Accounting

Policies & Procedures

ESTABLISH YOUR ACCOUNT

When you receive your award letter, confirmation letter, or official notice, you should forward a copy to the Controller preferably by e-mail for account number assignment. If the letter cannot be scanned and sent by e-mail, a hard copy should be forwarded as soon as possible.

The Controller will assign a restricted account number and give notice to you of the assigned number. Other employees may be notified of this number for informational purposes only. One of the employees notified will also be your assigned grants office account contact.

Depending upon the size and scope of a new grant, a group meeting with Finance & Administrative Services personnel may be recommended.

ESTABLISH YOUR GRANT ACCOUNT CONTACT & BUDGET

Once your account number has been established, your grants office account contact will need a copy of your grant budget as well as the award letter. The account contact will prepare the necessary form to “load” or post it to the Banner system according to the grant budget and NSCC guidelines. Additional details may be needed by your assigned account contact to properly load your funded amounts.

After the budget has been loaded, the grant payroll and expenditures will pull from these budget totals and leave you with an “available balance” on your monthly financial reports. This available balance is helpful in identifying overspending.

Budgets will need to be loaded each fiscal year. Your budget load for a fiscal year may consist of carry-over funds and/or new funds. The grant administrator is responsible for contacting the grant account contact to verify that these funds should be and have been loaded each year.

ACCOUNT RESPONSIBILITY

Account responsibility ultimately rests upon the grant administrator. No one is more familiar with a grant than the person initiating it or working with it on a regular basis. While you are working with your grant exclusively, grant account contacts in Finance & Administrative Services are assigned and work with numerous and varied accounts each day.

Account contacts act as advisers and executors of your instructions. We review accounts according to NSCC policy and try to incorporate any differences in overriding Federal policy. While we cannot always see the individual items that you order within your account, we can see the vendor name and the purchase amount. From this information, we may ask for more details about a purchase.

You are responsible for providing any copies of purchases, award letters, financial communications that are requested by your account contact. Again, no one has easier access and knowledge about your account than you. You are a major resource in helping us keep your financial reports accurate.

We recommend that you review your account regularly (at least monthly). If you need account print-outs with to-date information, you may print your report directly from your computer screen from the Banner finance system. You may also request copies of your account information from anyone in our area. Reviewing your account on a regular basis will help alleviate discrepancies as they arise. Your account contact can help you with problems or questions about your account or will be happy to refer you to someone that may be better able to assist you.

FINANCIAL REPORTING & REQUIREMENTS

NSCC is required to follow TBR and State policies and procedures for the majority of our grants. Some grants are governed by Federal guidelines as well.

Invoicing schedules for grants vary – monthly, quarterly, yearly -- within a specified number of days or with an expiration date. It is our responsibility to provide as complete an invoice as possible according to grant specifications.

Grant personnel are required to have documented proof of the charges that are invoiced. When charges are in doubt within an invoice period, we may omit or include these charges with the intention that we can reconcile them with the grant administrator. The grant administrator is responsible for justifying purchases or charges within their grant. Proof and justification may be required by the grant account contact, the grantor, or State or outside audit personnel.

Purchasing privileges for grant (restricted) accounts are not subject to the NSCC purchasing cut-off date. Restricted accounts may continue to purchase as needed until the grant expires. It is helpful to Finance & Administrative Services personnel for you to keep in mind the fiscal year-end deadlines. While there is no purchasing cut-off date for restricted accounts, it is greatly appreciated if major purchasing activity slows or suspends (if possible) during June of each fiscal year.

We strongly recommend that grant administrators attempt to complete account transactions as far ahead of the grant expiration date(s) as possible to minimize encumbrances and differences in P.O. amounts and actual invoice amounts. Once a grant is financially closed, the grantor will not normally reimburse or refund any differences in outlays. Any overage or shortage in amounts after the grant has been financially closed will be charged to the grant administrator’s NSCC account or an account that has been approved to accept the charges.

You are also encouraged to provide blanket approvals when possible for food purchases and update Employee Access Forms as necessary.

CLOSING YOUR EXPIRED GRANT

Your grant account contact is normally responsible for financially closing your account. The grants office does not provide program evaluations or project summaries that lean toward the actual administration of the grant. The grant administrator may need cost figures from our office to complete these reports and we are happy to help.

Most grants have a specific expiration date. You should be aware of your expiration date and contact your grant account contact well in advance to initiate the final grant closing requirements that may be needed.

In the few months before your grant expires, ideally your costs and purchases should dwindle down to payroll (if applicable) charges only. This does not mean you cannot purchase. But, purchases made close to an expiration date have little time to be paid and cleared in the account. This leads to possible overages and shortages after the grant has been financially closed. When making last minute purchases, you should be very diligent in getting actual amounts (not estimates) for purchases. Remember, any overage/shortage cannot remain in the expired grant account and will be charged to your NSCC account instead.