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| The Controller's Office >
Sponsored Financial Reporting |
Q & A
Q. What does Sponsored Financial Reporting (SFR) do?
A. SFR works with departmental staff and principal investigators (PIs) in the preparation of invoices and financial reports to
sponsoring agencies; collection of sponsored revenue; and account closeout.
Q. How do I find out who is working on my account?
A. A full list of the SFR staff is available under the category labeled Organizational Chart. Each Fiscal Officer for the specific
funding group (e.g. Federal or Non Federal) along with the entire staff is listed. This list is also provided in the "Research Review".
To find out which accountant is assigned to your account, refer to the accountant code listed on the GDES table in CUFS then either
look up the code on the GCAT table or look at the org chart.
Q. How do I determine whether it's a SFR or Sponsored Projects Administration (SPA) question?
A. SFR handles all financial aspects (financial reporting and closeout of a project) of the research project, SPA handles all aspects
of the agreement and revisions to that agreement. SPA also handles sub-contracting agreements. In those instances where the issue
touches on more than one area, the units work together to come to a resolution.
Q. How do I find out if a financial report or invoice has been submitted to the sponsor?
A. A copy of the financial report/invoice that was sent to a sponsor is also forwarded to the PI and departmental accountant. If you
need additional verification, contact the SFR accountant assigned to your account . Refer to the GDES and GCAT tables to find out who
the accountant is.
Q. Who should I have a sponsor contact if they have a call on a financial report (e.g. status of a financial report, questions on a
submitted report, questions related to an audit)?
A. For questions related to an audit, please contact the Director of SFR directly. For all other questions, contact the accountant
assigned to the account via the GDES and GCAT tables.
Q. How can I find the balance on my account, including any adjustments that have been made?
A. There are a number of reports available on sponsored accounts, including the Agency Specific Expense Category report that provides
varying levels of financial information. These may be found at http://www.financial.reports.umn.edu under the Sponsored Button, and can
be accessed with your University x.500 password.
Q. How can I tell if my account has been closed out and who does it?
A. Once all the PI's deliverables have been met, the final financial report or invoice has been submitted, all the revenue has been received
and overdrafts have been removed, SFR will code the STATUS of the account in GDES as Inactive. The account will be purged from the University
system a weekend in November to be determined by FSS. Once this is done, no additional reports will be generated. Reports can also be turned
off at time of inactivation.
Q. How do I stop charges from hitting my account?
A. Principal Investigators and departmental accountants must contact the appropriate parties to update the accounts for payroll and recurring
charges (ISOs), in addition to working with SFR to closeout and inactivate the account. This will ensure that additional charges are not posted to the account.
TRAINING
Q. What training is available for the award process?
A. Training Services offers a two-day course specific to sponsored projects management: Proposal Preparation, Management and Award Closeout.
You may contact Training Services at http://training.finop.umn.edu to sign up for one or all of these training courses.
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