Final Financial Reporting, Invoicing and Closeout of Sponsored Awards
The following guide outlines the necessary steps for departments and Contracts & Grants Accounting (CGA) during final financial reporting, invoicing and closeout for all types of sponsored awards. While federal and non-federal awards are treated differently in some cases, in general the principles are the same. Variances are highlighted where appropriate.
Award Closeout Requirements
- All end of project financial reports must be received per the sponsor’s requirements and deadlines.
- The financial report must accurately account for all expenditures.
- Institutions must liquidate all obligations incurred per the sponsor’s requirement and deadline.
- All awards must be closed out in the institution's financial system within 120 days of the project end date.
- All technical reports, progress reports, and other deliverables must be completed per the sponsor’s requirements and deadlines.
Establishing the Award Trail Out Period
At award setup, CGA establishes the award’s Trail Out Period by populating the Processing End Date field in the Research Administration System (RAS) to prevent the posting of expenditures 65 or more days after the budget/project end date.
- When the deliverable due date is 65 days or less after the budget/period end date, the Processing End Date will be set to the eighth business day after the GL close for the month following the Period End Date.
- When the deliverable due date is 66 days or later than the budget/project end date, the Processing End Date will be set to the eighth business day after the GL close two full months following the Period End Date.
- Examples (note that GL month close is 5 business days after month end):
- Final Invoice is due 45 days after the award end date of 7/15/24: Processing End Date will be set to 9/19/24.
- Final Financial Report is due 90 days after the award end date of 9/30/24: Processing end date will be set to 12/18/24.
- Sub-awardees have 60 days to close and invoice UCSF per the contracts; therefore, the last invoice will be received after the Processing End Date.
- Accounts Payable (AP) will notify CGA when the invoice, approved by the PI, is received.
- CGA will modify the Processing End Date to allow the invoice to be paid, as long as the invoice is received prior to CGA filing the final deliverable.
For more information, see Understanding Award Processing Dates.
Final Reporting Certification and Closeout Process
The Final Reporting Certification (FRC) process is initiated by CGA, who will notify the Research Services Analyst (RSA) and Principal Investigator (PI) indicated in the RAS award record by email 45 days prior to the end date. This system-generated email indicates when the reporting and closeout process will begin and instructs departments to take the necessary steps to ensure expenditures are posted prior to the Processing End Date. The email includes details about the award and a link to the award record in RAS.
- For federal awards, use the award details to complete and submit the FRC form in RAS for CGA review and approval. The form will route to the correct CGA analyst based on the award number.
- For non-federal sponsors, department administrators or RSAs prepare the Financial Status Report (FSR) and submit it to CGA for review. Use the recommended FRC form or submit it by email to the CGA Service Desk.
- While currently not required for clinical trials and privately funded awards, CGA recommends as a best practice that departments complete and submit the FRC form for all award closeouts including clinical trials and private awards. By submitting the FRC form, the department communicates pending transactions and expected final expenses. The draft FSR or final invoice should be included as an attachment to the FRC in RAS.
If the department believes additional payroll or non-payroll expenses not yet posted to the General Ledger are allowable and belong on the award, the department should draft accrual journals in PeopleSoft with adequate supporting documentation. Transactions should be listed on the FRC form with justification and the associated journal ID(s). For guidance on creating accrual journals, refer to Accruals for Financial Reporting, Invoicing and Closeout.
Before submitting the FRC form, all submitted journals and salary or benefit cost transfers should be reviewed and have the informal approval of the Department Approver (notify the approver outside of the RAS system workflow). If approved, the journal may be in error status if past the established processing end date. If denied, the approver should request that the journal be deleted. Any transactions requiring late cost transfer approval are required to be approved to be included in the final financial reporting/invoicing.
The RSA or their delegate must complete and submit the FRC form with associated attachments 15 days prior to the deliverable due date. If not received by the deadline, CGA will escalate to the Award Management Services Officer (MSO), and a response must be received within 5 days. If no response is received, CGA will proceed using the General Ledger, and the department will be liable for any variance between the final report/invoice and pending expenses.
CGA reviews and validates the information provided in the FRC form. CGA may request additional clarification or information in order to adequately verify the allowability and reasonableness of the expenses, prior to accepting or denying charges.
- If all information is accurate and the justification to support accruals is acceptable, CGA will modify the Processing End Date and notify the department to process the journal/salary cost transfer/benefit cost transfer within two business days.
- Certain expenses, though allowable, may be denied if they meet CGA’s Small Balance Write-off Threshold.
The financial report/invoice will be submitted to the sponsor by the due date. CGA will submit FFRs to all federal agencies and FSRs to private sponsors that have an online portal. For private sponsors without online portals, the FSR will be provided to the department administrator for submission to the sponsor.
Any expense adjustment requests not included in the FRC or discussed during the completion of the financial report or invoice will be evaluated per the exception process (see the following section).
The award will be closed in RAS by CGA by 120 days after the award end date.
Exception Process for all Refiles and Revisions
The exception process is used if a department identifies expenses they believe should have been reported to the sponsor after the end date of the award.
Instances when a refile/revision will be allowed:
- All refunds to the sponsor
- CGA will determine if the refund is to be processed against the individual award or the clearing house. If processed against an individual award, the report will be refiled.
- If after liquidation, refile requires sponsor/PMS permission, CGA will proceed to gain approval.
- Expense against Award Unexpended Balance (private/clinical trial awards only)
CGA will not consider any amount under $5,000.
If the department believes additional expenses not yet posted to the General Ledger are allowable and belong on the award, they must file a revised FRC form for the award. The department should draft the journals, salary cost transfer, or benefit cost transfer with adequate supporting documentation, and justify them on the FRC form noting the associated Journal ID/Direct Retro ID.
Before submitting the FRC form, all submitted journals, salary cost transfers, and benefit cost transfers should be reviewed and have the informal approval of the department approver (notify the approver outside of system workflow). If approved, the journal may be in error status if past the established processing end date. If denied, the approver should request that the journal be deleted. Any transactions requiring late cost transfer approval are required to be approved to be included in the final financial reporting/invoicing.
If approved, CGA will modify the Processing End Date in RAS and will notify the department to process the transfer within two business days. Certain expenses, though allowable, may be denied, if they meet CGA’s Small Balance Write-off Threshold.
CGA will inform the department of the final treatment of the expense(s) and the structure for the journal.