Automatic Award Advance Procedures

This procedure streamlines the administrative steps needed to process certain award advances without increasing institutional risk. Use of an award advance allows for spending in the correct Award and Activity Period, minimizing cost transfers. Without an award advance, departments will need to record expenditures on a discretionary fund until the sponsor funds the award/budget period.

Which awards qualify for an automatic advance?

CGA Compliance will establish an advance in RAS for a continuation or supplemental year on a current award, including City and County of San Francisco (CCSF) awards, when:

• The department administrator sends an email to [email protected] requesting the advance
• The Activity Period has not been established for the next budget period
• There are no past-due receivables older than 90 days
  • All milestones have been met, i.e., installments have been billed
• Continuation is in progress
  • Must provide intent to fund from sponsor
  • Exception: All CCSF awards will be confirmed with the UCSF contracting officer;
• Active certifications are in place or in progress and visible in the appropriate certification system
  • IACUC
  • CHR
    • If no evidence in certification system, confirm with Contracting officer

What if I need an existing future year activated to initiate a funding entry?

Many awards are committed through the entire performance period. In these scenarios, awards are set up in RAS with multiple activity periods that correspond to anticipated future years on the Award Modifications page. However, they remain inactive until the executed agreement is finalized.

UCPath requires that the activity period in which a funding entry effective date falls is active at the time of funding entry in order to submit the transaction. For these awards, CGA will open the activity period to allow for the initiation of these funding entries. The above criteria must be met before sending the request. However, the requirement to provide a sponsor intent to fund is not needed in these instances. The agreement already includes the intent to fund through the end of the project period.

Once determined that the appropriate criteria is met, the department RSA should submit a request via email to [email protected] to initiate the entry.

The CGA Compliance team will process the automatic award advance by:

• reviewing all required documentation
• amending the activity period by adding processing begin and end dates
• documenting the update on the Terms tab in RAS

Note: An award modification line will not be added.

When should a formal advance request be processed through OSR?

The automatic award advance is not applicable and the Award Advance Request Form is required for:

• New awards
• Competitive renewal periods
• Transfer-In awards

When is an advance (automatic or formal) not allowable?

No-Cost Extension Pending – Federal and Federal Flow-Through Awards

During final financial reporting and closeout, departments notify Contracts and Grants Accounting (CGA) that a no-cost extension (NCE) is pending with the sponsor using Section C of the Final Reporting Certification Form. CGA will confirm the pending request via CACTAS with the contracting officer to ensure that there is sponsor intent to issue. If the sponsor intends to issue a NCE, then CGA will extend the processing end date of the current award 90 days. If the NCE is not received within 90 days, then CGA will discuss with OSR whether an extension is still appropriate.

No-Cost Extension Pending – Private Awards

When submitting the Financial Status Report to CGA for review and submission to the sponsor, departments should alert CGA that a no-cost extension is pending with the sponsor in the submission email. CGA will confirm the pending request via CACTAS with the contracting officer to ensure that there is sponsor intent to issue. If the sponsor intends to issue a NCE, then CGA will extend the processing end date for the current budget period 90 days. If the NCE is not received within 90 days, then CGA will discuss with OSR whether an extension is still appropriate.

Clinical Trials

Award advances will not be processed for clinical trials. The risk of continuing with this type of work is greater than the University is able to assume without the expressed understanding and approval of the sponsor. If you have a clinical trial that has an upcoming end date and the work will continue past the indicated end date, work with OSR to get the award extended.

How is an automatic advance processed?

Department administrators should identify continuation and supplemental awards, including CCSF awards, which qualify for an automatic advance (see section above), and send a request for an advance by email to [email protected].

CGA will verify that the award meets the required qualifications and:

• Establish a budget/modification at 50% of the expected budget
• Add new Activity Period or extend the existing Activity Period, as appropriate
• Send an email notification to the Principal Investigator, Department RSA, Assigned RSC, and Departmental Financial Administrator using the following Advance Award template: