Award Closeout.
Financial reporting and closeout is a shared responsibility between Principal Investigators (PIs), department administrators, and Post Award Financial Operations (PAFO). The financial closeout of a sponsored award begins after all required final financial invoices and reports have been prepared and are ready to be submitted to the sponsor. Financial close‐outs should be completed within 120 days of the award end date and include, but are not limited to, the following activities:
Commitments must be closed.
Removal of Over‐Expenditures ‐ the department must resolve all over expenditures before the award can be closed. Departments should take the initiative to remove over expenditures and not wait to be contacted by PAFO.
Completeness of Billing and Collections ‐ It is important to note that PAFO is responsible for billing and collecting outstanding accounts receivable. On occasion, PAFO may request the assistance of the PI and/or department administrator to assist with working with sponsors to resolve outstanding accounts receivable issues. Technical reports must be submitted to sponsors following the terms and conditions of the award to ensure timely collection of funds.
Residual Funds (see SPH Policy on Residual Funds)
Funds received for a fixed price, active research projects are restricted for the duration of the study and will be used for the support of that research project. Boston University expects that faculty and departments will direct charge all expenses, including, but not limited to, personnel, fringe benefits, lab supplies, and sub-awards. After the completion of a research project, the remaining residual funds will be transferred to the specified unrestricted account if the following conditions are met:
- Total funding received exceeds total expenditures
- The sponsored agreement is fixed price
- All deliverables have been met
- In the signed agreement, the sponsor does not require the return of residual funds
If the above conditions are met, residual funding will be distributed as follows:
- Indirect costs will be removed from the remaining cash balance at the sponsor-awarded IDC rate
- If necessary, F&A will be adjusted to meet minimal F&A rate of 26%
- The remaining balance (direct costs) will be transferred to faculty member/ PI discretionary fund account
- For a “multi-PI” project, funds will be distributed among principal investigators.
- For projects with “co-investigators,” funds will be distributed to the Contact PI.
Award Status Changes in SAP – After all expenses have posted, PAFO will change the award status in SAP to PAFO/OSP to prevent additional charges from being recorded on the award. Once all financial activity has been recorded in SAP (e.g., billings and collections are complete, budgets have been adjusted, and refunds and residual funds have been processed), PAFO will change the award status to Closed.
Other Resources
BU Sponsored Programs Blog – News and Updates from OSP
The SPH Sponsored Programs Operations Committee (SPOC) is made up of department directors, grant managers, and administrators involved in the applications, expenditures, and reporting of external funding sources. SPOC is a collaborative forum for research administration issues, including formal training and informal discussions related to the ongoing management of BUSPH research.
BUSPH Proposal Submission Timeline
Application Checklists (Prime and Subaward)
Sample NIH Budget Justification