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» Project Reporting and Closeout
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Time and Effort Reporting Policy
Purpose:
To comply with the federal Office of Management and Budget Circular A-21 (Cost principles for Educational Institutions) for documenting salary expenses charged directly or indirectly against federal sponsored projects.
Policy Statement:
The time and effort reporting system addresses employees funded by or cost shared on sponsored programs at Chapman University. Individual effort reports are required for all employees who are directly charged or cost shared on sponsored research projects.
The Time and Effort report must represent - in percentages totaling 100% - a reasonable estimate of an employee's compensated effort for the period being reported. Effort reports must be completed and signed by either the employee or Principal Investigator/Project Manager. The Principal Investigator/Project Manager shall review and certify all Time and Effort reports associated with the sponsored project using suitable means of verification that the reported work was performed.
The Grants Administrator is responsible for the collection, review, and retention of all Time and Effort reports. The Grants Administrator will make individually reported data available only to authorized auditors.
Time and Effort reports must be completed and signed following the end of a reporting period.
Personnel Activity Report
Cost Transfers
In certain circumstances, a charge may be posted to an incorrect project code. When this happens, a correcting journal entry is required to move the cost to the correct project code. Contact us for explanations for how the need for a cost transfer arises, the requirements of a cost transfer journal entry, and the method for processing cost transfers through the accounting systems.
Financial Closeout of Sponsored Projects
This policy has been established to aid Principal Investigators (PIs) and departments in closing sponsored projects upon project expiration. Chapman University is responsible for meeting reporting deadlines established by an awarding sponsor and, consequently, it is important to conclude certain program activities in order to generate the final closing documents. Failure to do so can result in negative consequences to the Principal Investigator and/or the University.
Residual Balance Amounts on Fixed Price Sponsored Agreements
A Fixed Price Sponsored Agreement is an agreement where Chapman University agrees to perform an agreed upon set of specified deliverables in exchange for a set (fixed) amount of compensation. Typically, the sponsors agree to the scope of work to be performed, with an agreed upon value, but provide no details on how the funds are to be spent. Such agreements may result in a situation where a residual amount (payment for the specified deliverables exceeds expenses) or a deficit amount (expenses exceed the agreed upon payment amount) exists upon the fulfillment of the agreement.
It is important that the project code used to collect payments and record costs accurately reflect the true costs of the deliverables. In addition, costs used directly in support of fulfilling the agreed upon terms, are subject to the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-21, Cost Principles for Educational Institutions.