Best Practices – Receiving an Award

Anticipation funds should be requested when there is a delay in award execution, but a high degree of certainty that the project will be funded. The unit may begin spending when all regulatory and compliance requirements have been met. Using anticipation funds is a best practice to minimize the number of cost transfers onto an award. The academic unit that owns the anticipation fund is responsible for covering the costs  if the anticipated grant or contract is not awarded.

See Anticipation Funds and Pre-Award Spending for further details.

The award document includes important award management information such as:

  • start and end dates
  • allowable costs
  • reporting requirements
  • billing and payment terms
  • carryover terms

It is important to understand this information to properly manage your award.

To access your award documents, use the Search feature in myResearch Portal.

The award document describes the billing and payment terms for the award. Billing and payments may be based on expenditures-to-date, periodic payments, project milestones, a fixed price, or other terms.

Most awards are billed monthly based on the actual costs posted in Banner. For many Federal awards, cash is “drawn” from the U.S. Treasury based on the costs posted in Banner. It is therefore extremely important that costs be reflected accurately in Banner.

Grants and Contracts is generally responsible for submitting invoices and collecting payments. (Some exceptions include Clinical Trials and Fee-For-Service Agreements.) The specialist who manages your grant can provide further guidance.

Many award documents set a date by which a final invoice must be submitted. If a final invoice is submitted after the sponsor’s deadline, or there are expenditures not reflected on the final bill, the sponsor may refuse to pay for these costs. In this case, the department is responsible for covering the costs.

See Billing and Payments for further details.

The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) – Pre-Award sends a Notice of Executed Award (i.e. congratulatory letter) to the PI, department, and the Office of Sponsored Programs – Post-Award when an award has been fully executed. Awards are generally set up in Banner within 10 business days of this notice being received by Grants & Contracts.  An award cannot be set up in Banner until this notice is received from OSP.

If you have not received a Notice of Executed Award from OSP, then your award is not fully executed. Use myResearch Portal or contact OSP to determine the status of your award.

If you have received a Notice of Executed Award from OSP, but have not received your Banner C-FOAP within 10 business days, contact the OSP Assistant Director associated with your College.

OSP will send a Notice of Banner Codes Assignment (NOA) containing the assigned C-FOAP to the Business Manager listed on the PAF when:

  • An anticipation fund is created
  • A new award is received
  • There is a change in funding for an existing award (Modification, Continuation, Incremental Funding, Supplement)

An NOA will not be sent for a No Cost Extension or an internal budget revision. Additionally, if there is a modification to the terms of the award, but no changes are made in Banner, an NOA will not be sent.

Review your fund in Banner to ensure that it is set up correctly and to monitor expenditures.

  • Basic Information: FZAGRNT – Provides the name of the PI, the name of the sponsor, the name of the project, the project period, and the award amount(s). Search by grant code.
  • Budget & Expenditures: FZIGITD – Provides inception-to-date budget, expenditure and encumbrance information. Search by grant code, and by fund if desired.
  • Bills & Payments: FZIBDET – Provides cumulative billing and payment information. Search by grant code.

Step-by-step instructions for using each of these Banner screens are in the GC101 Participant Guide.

The University has a set of policies that describe how awards should be managed:

The Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance) sets forth  how Federal awards must be managed and monitored. UIC must treat all awards consistently, using the same policies and procedures, regardless of whether the funds are from a Federal or a non-Federal source.

The most relevant sections for individuals managing sponsored awards are:

  • Administrative Requirements (Subparts A-D). These sections establish uniform administrative requirements for Federal grants and agreements including: financial & program management, payments, cost sharing, program income, property standards, procurement standards, reports & records, and closeout procedures.
  • Cost Principles (Subpart E). This section establishes principles for determining costs applicable to grants, contracts, and other agreements with educational institutions.
  • Audits (Subpart F). This section establishes standards for obtaining consistency and uniformity for the audit organizations expending Federal awards including: scope of audit, audit requirements, auditee responsibilities, and responsibilities of pass-through entities.