The information entered into the system is integrated into Workday overnight. The award is reviewed in Workday for accuracy with the system record; invoicing and budget(s) are added to Workday. An email notification, including a copy of the notice of award, is sent to the investigator and department administrator informing them of the setup and asking them to review the record.
Division of Research
Set Up an Award
Notice of Grant Award
A notice of grant award (NGA, NoA or NOGA) is an award notification from a sponsor. Typically, it contains information about the amount of funds obligated, the time period for performance and the scope of work. In addition, the notice provides information about the terms and conditions associated with the award. If a principal investigator (PI) receives an NoA directly, they should forward it to their contact in Sponsored Projects for review, negotiation, acceptance and award setup.
Advance Account Requests
Advance accounts provide PIs and departments with an opportunity to initiate a project and begin accruing charges for that project prior to receipt of an award document. Advance accounts allow you to charge expenses beginning on the project start date. Expenses prior to the project start date (“pre-award costs”) should not be allocated to an advance account.
Though advance accounts allow most types of spending to commence, certain expense categories are restricted. Outgoing subcontracts to fund other institutions cannot be created using advance account funds.
Requesting an Advance Account
An advance account can be requested by completing a University Prior Approval System (UPAS) form. After the PI and department staff complete and execute the UPAS form, it is forwarded to Sponsored Projects or the BioMed Research Administration (BMRA) for internal review. Sponsored Projects will review the form for completeness and potentially request backup information if applicable.
University Prior Approval System Form [PDF]
Advance Accounts for an Incoming Subcontract
If you are requesting an advance account for an incoming subcontract, you must provide written confirmation from the pass-through entity that indicates a subaward is anticipated. This communication can be an email or memo and should include the anticipated start date of the subcontract.
Advance Accounts for a Federal Award
When requesting an advance account for a federal award (e.g., from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Department of Defense) you must include substantiating information, such as an email from a program officer indicating an award is forthcoming, as part of the request.
Internal Review of Advance Accounts
As with the setup of all awards, prior to creating an advance account, the Sponsored Projects team reviews internal documentation to ensure all pre‐award requirements are met. This may include any of the following:
- Evidence of a complete, approved record in Brown’s grants management system (required for all advance accounts)
- Documentation of Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee or Institutional Review Board approval, as appropriate
- Completion of all required trainings, particularly financial conflict of interest training (FCOI), as required by the sponsor
- Assurance from Research Integrity that the award is cleared for setup from a FCOI standpoint
With a complex proposal (i.e., one that combines multiple budgets into one submission), additional steps may be needed to assess the structure of potential advance accounts.
The Sponsored Projects team also evaluates the circumstances of the advance account request. Based on the award type and potential award terms, the team may need to contact the department for additional discussions regarding institutional or departmental risks associated with the advance account. The Sponsored Project team also makes determinations regarding flexibility of applicable compliance steps, such as FCOI clearance, in some circumstances.
Possible Negotiation Issues and Risk of Advance Accounts
In the majority of cases, the Sponsored Projects team establishes an advance account upon request without any further discussion needed. However, there are some cases that require significant negotiation of areas of concerns to the PI, the department and the University. In these instances, prior to establishing the advance account, the Pre‐Award representative will identify areas of concern and the associated financial and nonfinancial risks, to the extent these risks can be identified, to ensure the PI and their department are aware of the potential obstacles that must be addressed before an award can be accepted on behalf of the University.
Negotiation issues may include the following:
- Control of scope of work and key personnel
- Publication restrictions and confidentiality requirements
- Lack of criteria for acceptable performance
- Intellectual property terms
- Termination and default clauses
- Indemnification
In some cases the very act of creating an advance account could create negotiation difficulties because some sponsors deem the award agreement accepted when work commences on a project. The Sponsored Projects team will make the department aware of these potential impediments to award acceptance, and will create the advance account upon written confirmation that the dean, department chair or center/institute director is aware of these risks.
In requesting and accepting an advance account on behalf of a PI, the department, school or center assumes the total financial risk in the event the award is not made or not accepted or if the terms of the award deem certain expenditures to be unallowable. The Sponsored Projects team will use its best efforts to finalize an award but cannot guarantee a successful outcome of any award negotiation.
Advance accounts may not be possible in cases in which agreement terms can have a substantial impact on the University as a whole, such as awards that may put Brown’s Fundamental Research Exclusion at risk.
Anticipated Timeline of Advance Accounts
Advance accounts are created for short‐term purposes; therefore, all advance accounts are converted to active awards within a reasonable timeframe. As such, after six months, the Sponsored Projects team will need to re-approve accounts that remain in advance status for an extended period of time. A rationale for extending the advance account will be requested as part of this evaluation, and the Sponsored Projects team will then determine whether it is reasonable to extend the period of the advance account and communicate its decision to the department. If the extension is not approved, the advance account must be closed and all charges will be transferred to departmental accounts.
Closing an Account in Advance Status
The Sponsored Projects team is responsible for removing expenditures from the advance account if the award is not made, not accepted or if the terms of the award deem expenditures to be unallowable. The expenditures will be written off against the cost center or other preferable worktags provided by the department.
Fabricated Equipment Requests
A fabricated equipment request is needed when equipment cannot be acquired off the shelf to meet a researcher’s needs. Instead, the equipment is fabricated from individual parts and is built on campus. The total cost of the materials used in the equipment fabrication must be estimated to equal $5,000 or greater and have a useful life of at least one year.
Fabrication is the transformation of materials, nonconsumable supplies and hardware into a one-of-a-kind piece of equipment that meets a unique research need. Additionally, every component of a fabrication must be essential and necessary to the function of the entire fabrication unit. Applicable fabrication costs may include materials and supplies that are integrated into the fabricated unit, freight, construction, installation, training or assembly labor.
Materials and supplies that are necessary for the construction process or testing of the fabrication but are not integrated as final components of the fabricated unit must be charged as supplies and are not deemed capitalized fabrication costs. Examples include fuels, gasses or compressed air.
The University owns the property title to all fabricated equipment, unless specifically stated otherwise in the applicable sponsored award terms and conditions. PIs and departments cannot authorize University-owned equipment to be transferred, delivered or sold without prior approval from both Strategic Procurement and Contracts (SPC) and Sponsored Projects.
Requests for the expenditure of a fabricated equipment item on any sponsored project award will require a fabricated equipment account and must be submitted to the Fixed Asset Accountant in the Controller’s Office at property@brown.edu prior to the assembly and capitalization of the item, regardless of whether the item was included in the original proposal budget.
If you have received an award on which you will be building a fabrication (or adding to an existing work-in-progress fabrication), please contact Strategic Procurement and Contracts (SPC).
- Movable Equipment Manual (PDF)
- Equipment Capitalization Policy
- Fabricated Equipment Account Request Form (PDF)
Roles and Responsibilities of Fabricated Equipment Requests
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PI and Department Administrator
The PI and department administrator are responsible for submitting the request for a fabricated equipment account, coordinating sponsor approval as required, tagging fabricated equipment items, reviewing expenditures for allowability and transferring expenses from the fabricated equipment account to a capital recruitment account at the time of completion. The PI and department administrator also must notify the Sponsored Projects team and staff in SPC of equipment transfers in accordance with Brown’s Equipment Capitalization Policy. -
Controller’s Office
The Controller’s Office is responsible for reviewing and approving a request for a fabricated equipment account, verifying that budget items are allowable fabrication costs and providing asset tags to the PI and department. -
Sponsored Projects
The Sponsored Projects team is responsible for establishing the fabricated equipment account and coordinating sponsor approval requests, as required.
Fabricated Equipment FAQ
Fabrication accounts should be created when equipment cannot be acquired off-the-shelf to meet a user’s needs. Instead, the equipment is fabricated from individual parts and is built on campus. The total cost of the materials used in the equipment fabrication must be estimated to equal $5,000 or greater and have a useful life of at least one year.
To request a fabrication account, the department administrator or PI completes the Fabrication Account Request Form at the start of a fabrication project. The form is forwarded to the Fixed Asset Accountant for first review. The form is then routed for review to the Pre-Award grant and contract accountant assigned to the department.
On the request form, the department provides a parent account number under which the grant and contract accountant creates a child account for the fabrication. The accountant then communicates back to the requestor and the Fixed Asset Accountant to provide the created fabrication account number, which the PI and department can then begin using.
Purchases for parts and materials will take place over time; therefore, a fabrication is considered a “work in progress.”
All modifications to the original fabricated equipment request must be initiated by the PI or department and submitted to the Fixed Asset Accountant for review and approval. Modifications may not be used for adding individual components to an existing item of standalone equipment, such as upgrades to computers or other existing equipment.
Rebudgeting
If additional costs beyond the approved budget are needed during fabrication, a revised budget should be submitted to the Fixed Asset Accountant and Sponsored Projects for approval; otherwise, these costs will not be acceptable as part of the fabricated equipment item and cannot be applied to the project.
Scope Change
Requests for changes in scope of the fabrication that significantly modify the fabrication description or purpose require additional justification and must be submitted to the Fixed Asset Accountant and Sponsored Projects for approval.
Extension of Time
Requests for an extension of time for the fabrication must be submitted to Sponsored Projects for approval. Fabrications that extend beyond estimated completion dates with no significant progress or sufficient justification will be disallowed. The new completion date must be on or before the sponsor award completion date.
Reduction of Time
If the fabrication is completed sooner than expected, the PI or department must notify the Fixed Asset Accountant and Sponsored Projects to begin the closeout process.
The unit should be marked as “presently in use” with the Fixed Asset Accountant when a fabrication has completed development, it is ready for use and it meets the $5,000 threshold. It is now considered active equipment for depreciation. The department must transfer the fabrication charges posted to the child fabrication account to the parent account for capitalization purposes.
The PI and department are accountable for their fabricated equipment items, including maintaining appropriate financial records and tracking the location and status of equipment items. After a fabrication equipment item has been completed, the PI and department must coordinate the closeout process with Sponsored Projects and the Fixed Asset Accountant in the Controller’s Office.