Grants

Cash Management of Grants

jbreitenbucher@wooster.eduby Dr. Jon Breitenbucher•Posted June 29, 2021

Policy: Cash Management of Grants (in accordance with 2 CFR 200.305 of the OMB Uniform Guidance)
Effective: October 1, 2024
Source: Finance

  1. Federal awards are typically managed on a reimbursement basis, since this is the preferred method of payment of Federal awarding agencies.
  2. When an award is provided on a reimbursement basis, program costs must be paid for with College funds, before reimbursement can be requested.
  3. Requests for reimbursement should be performed on a quarterly basis by the Senior Grants Accountant, and reviewed and approved by the Controller, unless otherwise noted in the terms and conditions of the award agreement.
  4. Federal awards will typically require electronic reimbursement requests via the Federal awarding agency portal.
  5. Subawards will typically require an invoice for reimbursement to be sent to the pass-through entity.
  6. In order to verify what has been expended each quarter, the Senior Grants Accountant should run a General Ledger Trial Balance (GLTB) in Datatel, and enter the expenses for that quarter by line in the Grant Unit Summary Report in the shared Grants folder. In addition to direct expenses from the GLTB, the Senior Grants Accountant should also itemize indirect costs on the Grant Unit Summary Report.
  7. When grant funds are advanced, the payment methods of The College must minimize the time elapsing between the transfer of funds from the United States Treasury or the pass-through entity and the disbursement by The College.
  8. Advance payments to The College must be limited to the minimum amounts needed and be timed to be in accordance with the actual, immediate cash requirements of The College in carrying out the purpose of the approved program or project.
  9. Federal award funds are received from each granting agency via wire transfer to The College.
  10. Subaward funds and other private grant funds are received via check.
  11. Under the Cash Management Improvement Act of 1990 (CMIA), The College may be required to pay interest to the Federal Government in some circumstances.
  12. If by chance a reimbursement request in incorrect, the Senior Grants Accountant will adhere to the policy of the federal agency to make the correction.