Responsible Offices: Sponsored Projects Accounting
Effective Date: Updated October 2023
Policy
On an annual basis, Principal Investigators (PIs) are required to authorize, in writing, the monthly salaries and effort percentages to be charged to all sponsored projects (grant, contracts and cooperative agreements) for which they are responsible. If salaries, individuals or effort percentages subsequently change during the fiscal year, written authorization is again required from the PIs.
This policy will ensure that all PIs have direct knowledge of, and approve, the planned/actual monthly salaries and effort percentages of the individuals working on their projects. This knowledge and approval helps ensure that sponsored project expenditures are related to their intended purpose.
Procedures
Business managers and/or departmental administrators should provide PIs with a salary authorization report that contains the information needed to verify the monthly salaries and effort percentages assigned to their sponsored projects (i.e., he/she is the FFR Owner in Workday). This report should contain the following data elements for each individual: employee name, employee ID (EMPLID), position name, percent of monthly salary /effort charged to each project, monthly dollar amount charged to each project, agency name, grant number (GR#), grant end date, and the effective period of the report. This data should be provided to the PIs in a timely manner.
PIs are required to review data contained on the salary authorization report, denote any necessary adjustments, and approve the information. PIs should perform these functions at the start of each budget period or at the beginning of each fiscal year (7/1/XX). The reports should also be provided to the PIs on a periodic basis (quarterly is a best practice), so that they can properly monitor and/approve changes in effort percentages and salary. Business managers and/or departmental administrators should retain the signed/approved reports for future review by internal and/or external auditors. Authorization should follow departmental practices of documentation which could include physical signature, email, electronic software that contains an audit trail, forms, etc.