Sponsored Research

Research CCHIP #016

CLARIFICATION OR CHANGE IN PROCEDURE (CCHIP)

Budget Errors on Sponsored Awards

OVERVIEW

The purpose of the CCHIP is to introduce the business process as it relates to managing budget errors on Sponsored Awards. It is important to keep in mind that budget errors will occur. This CCHIP should explain the types of errors that you may receive, the various financial transactions that will receive errors as well as the process in clearing budget errors. Some of the language used will be technical in nature, in an effort to explain the process as it pertains the budget controls in FAST.

Commitment Control is a feature of the PeopleSoft Enterprise Financials (FAST) that enables USF to control expenditures against predefined, authorized budgets.

Budget Definitions enable USF to control budget at a high level (parent budget) while still being able to control budget amounts at a detail level (child budget). Normally the detail budget is the budget amount allocated for the Operating Unit, Fund, department, product, initiative, project (if applicable) and budget account code.

The parent budget is the Total budget and FAST enables a Parent control that prevents overspending the entire project. The child budget is the budget allocated for a single budget account code. Transactions may be controlled at the child level if required by the sponsor, which safeguards against deficits in any single budget category. This is necessary when are restricted.

Budgeting sponsored projects has additional complexity within FAST because the Budget Definitions function has multiple sets or levels of budgetary codes depending on the source of funds from the sponsor. While this essential functionality facilitates both internal and external reporting needs, it may also at times contribute to the incidence of budget errors.

In order to be considered eligible for an override, the transaction must be allowable, allocable and appropriate to be charged to the Sponsored award.

DEFINITIONS

FAST – The acronym for the Financial Accounting System at the University of South Florida, which refers to the PeopleSoft Enterprise Financials system.

Chart Field – The individual components, or fields, that when combined make up the Chart Field String, which defines the accounting structure.

Types of errors:

No budget exists – a transaction is attempting to post to a chart field string (i.e. child budget row) where no budget exists.

Budget date out of bounds –the accounting date of the transaction is prior to the begin date or after the end date of the award (project).

Exceeds budget tolerance – the transaction exceeds the available budget (parent, child, or both) depending on whether the error exists on the CC_GM_CHD (child budget) or CC_GM_PAR (parent budget) ledger group.

Types of transactions:

Requisition Initiation – Departmental Users will initiate a purchase request using the online Requisition functionality in the FAST Purchasing module. Some purchases do not require online requisition. Payment Request Forms are completed and routed directly to Accounts Payable when purchasing specific items.

Requisitions generally should not be overridden as they pose an audit risk to the University of South Florida. 

Exceptions to this general business process will be reviewed by Sponsored Research on an individual basis.

Purchase Orders (PO) - Online Workflow approval and receiving processes provide signature approval. Once the requisition is approved, the system generates a purchase order (PO) which is the official Authorization to purchase goods or services. There is no automatic notification to the requestor when POs are created or printed. The requestor/user is responsible for monitoring their requisitions and knowing when a PO has been generated and purchase authorized. Authorization to pay is confirmed via online receiving and acceptance of the goods or services by departments. 

Purchase orders generally should not be overridden as they pose an audit risk to the University of South Florida.

Exceptions to this general rule occur during the year end PO rollover process. Additional exceptions will be reviewed by Sponsored Research on an individual basis.

Voucher – Accounts Payable enters the vendor invoices as vouchers into the PeopleSoft Payables system in the order that they are received. The vouchers are matched to the purchase orders and online receipts. Exceptions to the matching process (quantity or price variances) over predefined tolerances are routed via Workflow to the departments for review. Once the vouchers are successfully matched, the payment is generated when due based on payment terms and invoice dates. There is no automatic notification to the user/requestor when invoices are entered and paid. The user/requestor is responsible for monitoring his/her requisitions and knowing when invoices are entered and paid.

Travel Authorization Request (TAR) - The Travel Authorization is the Traveler’s permission to incur expenses and travel, and should be approved through Archivum and FAST workflow by the Expense Manager and Supervisor before any Travel activities occur. The Authorization is an estimate of the travel costs.

Travel Authorization Requests generally should not be overridden as they pose an audit risk to the University of South Florida.

Exceptions to this general rule occur during the year end process. Additional exceptions will be reviewed by Sponsored Research on an individual basis. Travel Expense Report (TER) - The Expense Report serves the purpose of reporting all Travel Expenses as well as requesting reimbursement to Travelers for additional out of pocket expenses.

Payroll – Payroll errors are managed by central offices. All budget corrections should be made during the period between RSA check and the actual posting of payroll to avoid defaulting charges. Payroll distribution should be updated to reflect accurate chart field strings.

Remaining Spending Authority Check (RSA check) – RSA check is a budget checking tool and does not require an override as there is nothing to override until payroll attempts to post. However, if you anticipate that budget corrections will not occur prior to the payroll posting, send an email notifying Sponsored Research of the potential override to override@usf.edu (refer to the RSA Check Guide for guidance regarding appropriate times to submit).

Banner – Campus wide journals post tuition daily. If you are contacted regarding a budget error on a Banner error, it is imperative that corrections occur swiftly to avoid delays in posting student tuition. Because of the urgency to correct these errors, Sponsored Research will default the charge(s) to your departments unrestricted account if a swift response is not received.

Interdepartmental Transactions

CLARIFICATION OR CHANGE

If you receive a no budget exists error:

Confirm the accuracy of the chart field(s) you are using as follows: 

  • Operating Unit
  • General ledger account code
  • Fund Code
  • Department ID
  • Product
  • Initiative
  • Activity ID
  • Project ID

Validate the chart fields by checking commitment control (FAST Navigation: Commitment Control>Review Budget Activities>Budget OverView.

  • If Chart Fields are incorrect in commitment control, contact your Grant Financial Administrator in Sponsored Research Post Award.
  • If the chart fields are incorrect on the transaction, correct them using the appropriate mechanism.

If you receive an exceeds budget tolerance or budget date out of bounds error:

Since commitment control (KK) end dates correspond with the actual end date of sponsored awards, it is probable that transactions will attempt to post after the award end date. Sponsored Research Post Award and AP work together to relieve these errors without input from the department. These do not generally require the department to send a notification to the override email box; however, exceptions will occur.

If you receive a budget date out of bounds error or an exceeds budget tolerance error notification, Sponsored Research Post Award and AP were unable to resolve the error without additional information. Please send an email to override@usf.edu requesting the transaction be overridden. Your email should include the type of transaction, the transaction number (i.e. Voucher number, TER number, journal ID, etc.) and the reason for the override request along with supporting back-up documentation.

Upon receipt of your request, Sponsored Research will review for eligibility. If the project has ended, it will be reviewed to confirm the transaction is attempting to post during the adjustment period per CCHIP #011 Closeout Procedures on Sponsored Awards. If the project is still in the adjustment period, an override tab will be added to the workbook indicating that the backup documentation was reviewed and deemed appropriate for the project.

In order to be considered eligible for an override, the transaction must be allowable, allocable and appropriate to be charged to the Sponsored award.

CONTACT

Please address your comments or questions regarding this CCHIP to Sponsored Research Compliance.

RELATED REFERENCES

CCHIP #011
Payment Request Form
Purchasing Specific Items
RSA Check Guide
FAST Requisition Initiation

AGENCY GUIDELINES

Not Applicable.

EFFECTIVE DATE

This CCHIP is effective as of the date of revision and rescinds all previous versions pertaining to the Budget Errors on Sponsored Awards.

ISSUED: December 8, 2009
LAST REVISION: August 16, 2018