Bloomfield College Grants Financial Management Policy April 2014
This document provides for policies and procedures for the fiscal grant management process for Bloomfield College. Grants include awards from federal, state, or local governments and private sources. Because grants are provided by outside agencies it is important to understand the appropriate procedures to meet the needs of these agencies and at the same time meet established fiscal policies of Bloomfield College. The process for developing grant submissions and administering grants is a collaborative one between the various offices that are involved in grant activity This guide is in addition to existing written procedures or policies produced by the College s Human Resources Department, Purchasing Department, Controller s Office, or funding agencies. 1. Definitions a. Grant. A grant is a financial award from a federal, state or local agency or a private foundation or organization that provides funds for a specific program, activity of function usually detailed in a formal submission. Grants do not include funds from individuals. b. Program Director. The program director is the person assigned by the appropriate Vice President to oversee the financial and operations of a grant. 2. Before a formal grant proposal is submitted: The budget and the cost portion of the grant application must be reviewed by the Vice President of Finance and Administration or designee before submission. The grant requestor should work with the Vice president for Finance and Administration or designee and the Accounting Office in the development of the budget to ensure that funding requests are compliant with both institutional and federal/state guidelines. Items that will be discussed include but are not limited to: appropriate indirect cost (if any), benefit rate, salary projections for future years, salary information, cost of services to be provided and any matching or institutional commitments to be made. Grant applications must be approved by the appropriate Vice President of the College. This section does not cover letters of intent or informal discussions with various funding organizations. 3. After a grant has been awarded to Bloomfield College: a. The grant requestor or his/her Vice President should inform the Accounting Office of the grant award and the name of the Program Director for the grant. The Program Director will be the person who will approve all invoices, contracts and reports under the direction of the appropriate Vice President. b. It is the responsibility of the Program Director and Principal Investigator (PI), as well as the Accounting Office, to manage the funds appropriately. c. The award document should be read thoroughly. Please carefully review the following items: the proper use of the funds (following the budget) identify the existence of special terms/conditions
note any deliverables (reports, products) and make the Accounting Office aware of them term of the award and annual allocations of funds d. It is the responsibility of the Program Director to forward a copy of the award notifications, contract, budget revisions or modifications and all other grant documents to the Accounting Office. A copy of all fully executed award notifications will be kept on file in the Accounting Office. e. The Program Director will compare the awarded budget to the final proposed budget and contact the Accounting Office if there are discrepancies. f. The Accounting Office will establish a unique fund/account number for each new grant under the auspices of the College upon receiving the grant award documentations and notify the Program Director and PI where appropriate 4. Responsibilities during the grant period a. Accounting Office i. The College s accounting system operates in compliance with OMB Circular A 21 which facilitates the monitoring of grant expenditures as well as the preparation of required reports. It is extremely important that both the Program Director and Accounting work together in the budget management process to ensure that budgets are not exceeded. Equally important is the need to limit the underexpenditure of funds which might denote efficiency of operation but at the same time indicate that the sponsor is not receiving the level of expected output. The appropriate Vice President has final budget approval for grants. ii. The Accounting Office will sets up the fiscal accounts, maintains account journals, produces financial reports and provide information to the college auditors as requested. b. Program Director (in consultation with the PI as appropriate ) i. The Program Director will notify the accounting office of any changes in the award period of the grant. ii. The Program Director will monitor expense on a regular basis via Colleague s Web Advisor iii. The Program Director will follow the college s policy on contracts for employees and independent contractors. The college s policy on contracts for employees and independent contractors can be on our web site: http://www.bloomfield.edu/resources/admin services/policies forms iv. The Program Director will follow the college s policy on purchases. The Purchasing Policy is posted on our web site http://www.bloomfield.edu/resources/admin. v. All Human Resource policies and procedures of the College are applicable to grants. vi. If you are going to make a purchase that is not outlined in original budget submission: All purchases not originally included in the budget must be approved by the Vice President of the appropriate area The Programs Director will forward approved budget changes from the funding agency
vii. The Program Director will maintain official copies of all invoices and contracts related to the grant. 5. Reporting: a. Technical or narrative reports required by the funding agency are to be prepared by the Program Director in consultation with the PI as appropriate. b. The Program Director will work with Accounting Office in the submission of all financial reports. c. All due dates for reporting should be communicated to the Accounting Office by the Program Director, including the final close out report. d. Meeting deadlines dates is critical. Failure to meet deadlines can have a serious impact on future funding. e. All drawdowns will be reported to the Program Director in a timely manner by the Accounting Office. f. All reports to the funding agency are to be reviewed by the appropriate Vice President prior to submission. g. The Vice President of Finance and Administration and other appropriate Vice President needs to review any report that contains financial data. h. Once the Vice President and PI where appropriate have reviewed and approved the report, it will then be forwarded to the funding agency. 6. Closing out the grant: a. Accounts will be closed within 45 after the grant s ending date. The Program Director should inform staff that no further charges against the grant account will be approved. b. The Program Director will complete all termination paperwork for all grant s staff and notify the Accounting Office of all payroll changes for staff that are transferred to new or continuing grant. A Personnel Action form is required; see: http://www.bloomfield.edu/sites/default/files/revisedrequesttohire2013%283%29.pdf c. Make sure all goods and services have been received prior to the end of the grant. d. Match equipment purchases with invoices, requisitions and check receipt of items. e. Arrange for appropriate storage of grant/contract files with the Business Office
Bloomfield College Grant Set Up Form Once a grant award has been made to the College, please submit this form to the Accounting Office. Name of Grant: Amount of Award: For Multi year awards list the budget for each year: Period of Grant: Name of Program Director Name of Principal Investigator Please attach grant award document and grant submission document. Vice President Signature Program Director or PI Signature Assigned Account Number: The Accounting Office will return this document to the Program Director or PI and Vice President with the assigned account number. Copy to Institutional Advancement.