Identifying Unapplied Sponsored Research Payments

Identifying Unapplied Sponsored Research Payments

Departments are responsible to ensure that billing is complete and payment is received per the terms and conditions of each award. In some cases, payments intended for research projects may not have enough information included with them to identify the correct project and distribute the funds appropriately. The Controller’s Office maintains the following tools to support departments in identifying incoming funds and distributing them to the correct sponsored award.

Unapplied Cash Deposits

Lockbox deposits, Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments, and wire transfers that have been identified by Contracts & Grants Accounting (CGA) as possible CGA monies are transferred to the Research Administration System (RAS) through a deposit journal pending final payment application. These funds have already been researched by CGA and determined to be, or highly likely to be, sponsored research or clinical trial payments. The main reasons why funds have not been applied to a sponsored project invoice are:

  • Fixed price invoice has not been created on an existing award
  • The payment does not match an existing cost reimbursable invoice
  • Insufficient information is provided by the sponsor for CGA to determine the correct awards/invoices

Unapplied cash deposits are integrated into the Deposit/Payment Inquiry Report available from the Department Based Reports folder in RAS. Departments should run the report regularly to identify and claim payments received but not yet recorded against the correct award in RAS.

To identify unapplied cash deposits in the report, set the report Payment Status filter to “Unapplied Payments”.

See How to Run RAS Inquiries for step-by-step instructions to access the Deposit/Payment Inquiry Report. All questions related to this process should be directed to the CGA Billing and Collections Team by emailing [email protected].

Unclaimed Cash

The Controller’s Office Cash Operations Team manages cash, lockbox, ACH, and wire payments that have been deposited into the UCSF campus bank accounts but have not been claimed and distributed in the general ledger. Deposits may include funds across campus activities, including sponsored research, gifts and donations, department accounts receivable, and student fees and payments.

Access to the Controller's Office Unclaimed Payments folder in UCSF Box is granted upon request and includes access to the following:

  • Unclaimed Payments List as of Month DD, YYYY
  • Lockbox Detail and Images

Review the Identifying and Handling Unclaimed Payments how-to guide for more information. Contact the Cash Operations Team at [email protected] for further support.

Claiming Unclaimed Cash and Unapplied Deposits for Sponsored Awards

To request that deposits, ACH, and wire payments identified on any listing be credited to your sponsored research project:

  • Email CGA at [email protected], indicating all electronic payments identified.
  • Specify the Project, other key identifying information, and include any back up information in support of each claim.

To prevent payments from appearing as unapplied in the RAS Deposit/Payment Inquiry Report and to ensure CGA can apply payments to the correct award in a timely manner, review the how-to guide, Payment Remittance Procedures for Sponsored Projects.