Office of Accounting Services Monthly Newsletter - Finance and ...

Sponsored Program Accounting continued...Service CentersSalary for employees charged to accounts establishedas a service center cannot be used as cost sharing on asponsored agreement. If the employee was committedto cost share on a project, one of the following actionsmust occur:1. Assign a replacement person who will work on theproject to fulfill the cost sharing obligation. If theperson is considered key personnel, the sponsormust be notified of the change in personnel.2. Request a reduction in the cost sharingcommitment. A letter would have to be submittedto the sponsor and routed through OSP.3. Process a change in source of funds for theemployee to put them on the appropriatedepartmental funds. In this case, the charge ratefor the service center will be reduced.Internal Prior Approval FormWhen processing an Internal Prior Approval Form forequipment acquisitions, a budget adjustment must beattached to transfer the funds from the appropriatecategories to the equipment category. Equipment isdefined as an article of nonexpendable, tangiblepersonal property having a useful life of more than oneyear and an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more per unit.Internal No-cost ExtensionsLSU can only grant one no-cost extension for up to 12months on certain grants and cooperative agreementsusing the Internal Prior Approval Request Form. If a PIrequests a six-month extension internally andadditional time is subsequently required, anotherrequest must be submitted by the PI to the sponsorthrough your campus OSP.Sponsor DeadlinesIn order for us to meet agency deadlines for submissionof invoices and financial reports, we request principalinvestigators (PIs) or their designees to ensure that:1. appropriate charges are reflected on the officialUniversity ledger,2. cost sharing is documented,3. the required monitoring/technical reports aresubmitted, and4. property and patent reports are returned promptlyto the SPA contactMonthly and quarterly invoices and financial reportsare usually due within 10 to 30 days of month-end andfinal invoices within 10 to 90 days of expiration.2Final invoices will not be revised for additionalexpenditures. It is essential that departments notify usof any pending items in process, such as personnelaction forms, before the final is billed.Subrecipient invoices should be forwarded to SPA forreview after it has been approved by the PI. We willreview the invoice and forward it to Accounts Payablefor processing. Please remember to reference the LSUaccount number on the invoice prior to sending it toSPA. In addition, refer to the PI Checklist forSubcontractor Invoices on the SPA webpage at http://w w w . f a s . l s u . e d u / a c c t S e r v i c e s / s p a /paaManual/2006/31.pdf to expedite processing ofinvoices.Travel Expense Reimbursement RequestsWhen charging travel expenditures to a sponsoredagreement account, the purpose on the travel expensereimbursement request must relate to and/or benefitthe sponsored project and the travel must be within thetime frame of the agreement.Early TerminationIf an agreement is terminated for any reason, pleasenotify OSP and SPA in writing (e-mail is preferred). Ifthe sponsor sent any written correspondence relating tothe termination, including e-mails, it must also beforwarded to both offices. Our offices will work withthe PI, department, and sponsor to close the project.Board of Regents (BOR) Graduate FellowsGraduate fellowship status reports are due to MarieHamilton, Assistant Dean, Graduate School. She willforward them to SPA to include with invoices which aredue to BOR by January 31, 2011.Personnel Activity ReportsThe following FY 2011 have been forwarded todepartments:PAR A & B Due 11/08/10PAR C & D Due 12/06/10PAR 5 Due 11/29/10Please certify and return all outstanding 2010 PARs. Ifapplicable, please ensure cost sharing is documentedbefore returning the PARs. Also, copies of PARs shouldbe kept in the departments for three years.