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'Successfully Managing a Research Award'
Managing Budgets and Reporting
27th October 2011
FINANCE RESEARCH TEAM
Team of 5 looking after approximately 400 live projects.James Allman – Manager Ian Bailey – (ISTM Hartshill)Anne Budgen – (EPSAM & ISTM Huxley)Carla Vardy - (PCHSc, Humanities)Tracy Armstrong - (Soc Sci)
ADMINISTRATION OF RESEARCH GRANTS
Pre award stagesDiscuss proposed application with RI
managerFEC costings prepared on PFACT systemSalary costings to Finance for approvalEnter costings onto application formSubmit application to RI DirectorUniversity submits application to funding
body
ADMINISTRATION OF RESEARCH GRANTS
Post award stagesOffer letter/notification received by
Research ServicesResearch Services generates ERF formERF form received by FinanceCode notification form sent to PI and RI
ManagerProject is confirmed for operation
DISCUSS PROPOSED APPLICATION WITH RI MANAGER
Directly Incurred costs Staff costs – Research Assistant, Technician,
Fellow, visiting researcher Travel & subsistence Equipment (less than £50k) Consumables Books Survey Fees Publication costs Licences Recruitment & Advertising
DICSUSS PROPOSED APPLICATION WITH RI MANAGER
Directly Allocated CostsPrinciple investigators timeCo-investigators timeEstates costs
DISCUSS PROPOSED APPLICATION WITH RI MANAGER
Indirect Costs (Overheads)General office and laboratory consumablesSecretarialCentral and distributed servicesCost of capital employedNote any unfunded balance covered from
Indirect CostsFinancial benefit to the University
DISCUSS PROPOSED APPLICATION WITH RI MANAGER
Exceptional costsProject studentshipsLarge equipment (more than £50k)
FINANCE INVOLVEMENT Pre-Award
Check with Finance for VAT implicationsFor all applications submitted via pFact,
Finance will check the salary costings where salary costs >£50k Inflation rates Increment datesGrades and points
Finance request a 2 DAY notice period for checking of a final pFact file
FINANCE INVOLVEMENT Post Award
Act upon receipt of an ERF (External Funding Agreement Form)
Allocate an “R” code & enter basic grant details into our database
Set up the ledger codes – i.e. to allow you to spend from your grant
Issue a “Code Notification Form” to PI & RI Manager
FINANCE INVOLVEMENT Post Award
Load the budget into systemUse an Automated Diary system to
monitor the grant & to flag up important deadlines:
Start certificateClaims due to be completedRaise invoices to the sponsorFinancial statement deadlines - & for Research
Council grants, PI Final Report deadlines to avoid any sanctions
FINANCE INVOLVEMENT Post Award
Confirm to HR that funding for staff is available for new appointments or extensions
Provide reports / guidance to PI’s / RI Managers upon request. Level of support depends on type of grant.
Close grants down shortly after end dates Important note, for Research Council grants it is not
permissible to incur expenditure on a grant after the end date (Keele may be required to return unspent funds to the sponsor)
FINANCE INVOLVEMENT Post Award
Prepare any financial reports requiredRaise any claims / invoices required to
the sponsorLiaise with sponsor regarding financial
issuesProvide support for project extension
requests
DIFFERENT SPONSORS
Variety of different sponsors, each have their own rules but key principals remain the same.
Important to read terms and conditions very carefully EU grants – timesheets required, Keele has
procedures in place to protect against £ $ fluctuations. University has services of Martin Pickard, a consultant
specialising in EU funding.
AUDITS
Individual grants can be subject to audits by the sponsor
Grant sponsors can send in auditors to review a number of grants provided by that sponsor
A selection of grants are reviewed each year by the University’s external auditors
How you can help Finance
Pre award, allow time for costings (including salaries) to be checked
Agree a profile of the budget of your grant once it has been awarded - & notify finance.
Keep finance informed of any problems/delays to start dates/extensions etc on your grant – preferably copy in your finance contact on important e-mails regarding the project administration.
Spend as planned!
