Billing & Payments

The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) – Post-Award is responsible for billing most sponsored awards, tracking the related receivables, and collecting money. Billing is based on actual expenditures posted to Banner, the University’s system of record.

There are exceptions where billing is best prepared by the department. Examples include clinical trial agreements or when the terms of an award call for specific information or deliverables. In those cases, the department will issue a departmental bill. Departments are expected to send their departmental bills to OSP to review and record in Banner. This will allow for timely follow-up on unpaid invoices if necessary.

Billing Terms

The contract/award document describes the payment terms for the award. On a cost reimbursable type of award, the sponsor agrees to reimburse for all allowable expenses incurred by the project after receiving an invoice from the University. On a fixed-price contract, the University receives a fixed sum of payments based on a pre-determined schedule, project milestones, tasks or other deliverables.

For many Federal awards, cash is "drawn" from the U.S. Treasury based on the expenditures recorded in Banner.

Final Invoice

Many award documents set a date for receiving the final invoice. If the invoice is submitted late or if there are expenditures not reflected on the final invoice, the sponsor may refuse to pay for those expenses. If this happens, the department may be responsible for the unpaid expenditures. It is therefore extremely important that expenditures be reflected accurately and timely in Banner. See the Closeout Award Section for more information on Final Invoices.

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